To celebrate my last day at home, my mom took me on a spa day. It was the perfect way to spend some quality girl time together and to relax after tons of work for the move and before the stress of a cross-country drive. I took this photo of a waterfall wall in the spa because it was so pretty and tranquil. I would love to have one of these in my home someday!
I just found out about this today through my friend Hannah’s blog! I think it’s a really fun idea and I’m going to give it a try. I’m giving you fair warning that I won’t be able to post EVERY day… I’ll be in the process of moving across country as of Friday, so we’ll see how it goes!
If you want to hear more about this, get involved, and get your button please visit Susannah Conway’s website. I was unfamiliar with her blog until now, but it seems pretty good so far!
You can join in anytime you like. The best part is there are NO RULES! Sounds fun to me!
Will you be joining in on the fun?
Ever have an occasion (birthday, Christmas, congratulations, etc.) for which you need a gift for someone… but have NO idea what to get them? Sure, you care about them enough to give a gift, but maybe not to spend a fortune on it. Or maybe you just enjoy crafting, like I do!
One of my favorite gifts to give is picture frames. I try to never give anyone an empty frame. I usually try to find a photo that is related to the occasion in some way (ie. using a photo of the couple in an engagement gift) or include a carefully written or prettily typed quote. Of course, the recipient can always put whatever he/she wants into the frame later, but I think it’s nice to give them something that’s already ready to go.
There are different ways to go about this, depending on your level of skill and enjoyment with crafting, your budget, time constraints, etc. Here are a couple of examples:
Crafty Frame:
I made this frame for a friend’s engagement gift. I took a plain wooden frame (I found it at Michael’s, but you can get them at just about any craft store, Wal Mart, etc.) and painted the edges white and the main front blue. I used some of my favorite scrapbooking stuff to decorate the frame, including alpha stickers, 3-D decorations, sticky rhinestones, and rub-ons (on the bottom left). I also bought wooden letters to spell “love”, painted them, and stuck them on with a hot glue gun. I chose a photo that I found on her facebook page of her new fiancé proposing. She LOVED the frame and it still adorns her office nearly two years later! The total cost to make the frame was about $5-7, but I admit that I did already have some of the decorations, the paint, and other supplies. It may have been inexpensive, but she definitely appreciated the time and personalization that went into the gift.
Photo Collage Frame:
I was going to a wedding, and the bride and groom had this photo frame on their registry. Rather than just sticking an empty frame in a gift bag and calling it a day, I filled the frame with photos of the couple and put their wedding invitation in the center spot. They LOVED it! It was a great way to give them something on their registry but personalize it to make it a bit more special. Plus, I figure every married couple is getting tons of things to set up their home, and this one was ready to hang!
These are only a couple of examples, but I hope it’s a good start to convey the idea. If anyone is interested, I’d be more than happy to do a “part 2” post later and share some others. Or, if you have any “perfect gift” ideas you’d like to share, please leave a comment… I’d love to hear!
Here are a few things that I did to enjoy this year’s Independence Day…
Sweet Treats:
Firework Marshmallow Pops
I got the idea from http://www.laurenconrad.com/post/sweet-tooth-last-minute-4th-of-july-treats. I couldn’t find any red, white, and blue only sprinkles, so I used rainbow ones instead to make them “firework” pops. You can find instructions at the link!
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
With the leftover chocolate from the marshmallow pops, I made some refreshing chocolate covered strawberries. PERFECT use of the leftovers! They were SO easy to make and turned out to be a great summer treat!
Funfetti Cupcakes
Straight out of the Pillsbury box, these turned out fluffy, festive, and delish!
Cool Photo Ideas:
I found the “firework” setting on my digital camera and had tons of fun making these! It was a bit tough to juggle the sparkler in one hand and the camera in the other (you can’t have someone else take the photo unless you can write backward!), but it was totally worth it. You can make pretty much any design, but these are a couple of my favorites…
Class and Creation 