Memory game and my first Giveaway!

Good Morning! I hope you all had a nice weekend. I have spent the last few days trying to catch up! I have a cute project for you today, though. Do you grandparents have grands that live away from each other? Do you grands have cousins that you hardly ever see? Well, here is a fun way for all the cousins to be able to remember each others faces, so when they DO get together, they know who is who!  It's a matching game, with photos of the cousins on one side and cute scrapbook paper on the other side. It's really easy to make, so let's get started.

We used to live in a little, tiny town that only had a couple of restaurants and they both had bars in them. (It was, after all, Nevada.) I myself do not go to bars, I am LDS (Mormon). But there isn't much choice when that's all there is, and the bar was separated by a wall, because they were family dining establishments, too. Anyway, a few years ago, when the beer companies started furnishing them with these neat coasters, I started collecting them. I didn't know what I would do with them, but they were so cool that I knew I would find a use. Well, I have. I get to use the cool coasters and cover up the beer advertisements, all in one fell swoop! Now, if you don't have access to the whole alcoholic beverage coaster thing, you can buy chipboard coasters at Target or Michael's or even at JoAnn's, and sometimes four for a dollar! I don't know about the dollar store - I never thought to look fort them there. (BTW-I have round and square and rectangle ones, but I chose to use the round ones to make it more fun.)

Anyway, decide how many you need for your game and choose some nice scrapbook papers to cover one side.I am using 16 coasters so the game will be square when all laid out. I didn't have enough paper to do them all in one design, so I chose two coordinating prints, eight coasters each. I actually thought at first that I might do each one a different paper and use up some scraps, but then I remembered that my little ones are very good at memorizing. The two little grandsons had a Backyardigans memory game, and some of the corners got bent, the backs a little scratched, etc. and they knew exactly what was on the other side of every one of those dinged cards! So I decided different papers was NOT a good idea. I think it will be a little harder with just two prints. Lay your paper with the right side down and glue your coasters onto the paper. Put them close so you can as many on one sheet as possible and don't waste paper. I used decoupage medium to glue mine. I let them dry for a little while I worked on the can.

The can is a little cookie can from the dollar store. It's like those Danish cookies that you can get in the giant blue cans, only these are miniature! I didn't know what I would use it for when I bought it, but I bought one just because I knew I would need it for something, I cut a strip of one of my papers to go around the can ( it actually took a part of another one) and a circle from the other one to go on the top. I attached them with scrapbook adhesive, the permanent kind.

Then I cut around my coasters and sanded the edges. I sand the edges for two reasons: one, I like the way it looks, and two, it seems to keep the edges from lifting. After I was finished with the patterned side, I started looking for photos of the kids that I could use for the game side of the coasters.

Print your photos and glue them to the coasters the same way you did the scrapbook paper. Sand the edges just a little and let them dry over night. Now, if you want them to be a little more durable, you can give them a coat of decoupage medium or make a mixture of 2 parts glue to one part water and use that. Give them at least two good coats, drying completely between coats. And that's it! A cute memory game that will help the cousins to know one another! (Or at least to recognized one another.)

Now, I didn't put family photos on mine, because I am going to have a giveaway! My very first one!Leave me a comment and tell me what you like or don't like about this blog and your name will go into a drawing for this game. You can put your own photos on the coasters and have a cute family game! Or you can email your photos to me and I will do it for you. And you will get a personalized card from Crackers, too!  So everyone go - NOW - leave a comment! I really want to give this game away to someone who will love it. Be sure to leave me your name and email address so I can get in touch with you if you win.

Crackers is my crash test duck!

I have another coaster project coming up, and you will really like this one, too. It will actually be two games in one! Crackers is so excited about this one, so keep a watch out for it. Goodbye and love to all,

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