The First Time

I am taking a little pause from the gift ideas, I posted this little thing on my family blog, and I liked it so much and though so many people could learn from this, that I wanted to share it on here.




I really love being a Mom. It is so great having someone love you so much, no matter what.

 I love that feeling when they rest their head on your shoulder as you are carrying them to bed, or that big smile when you walk into the room.

Children teach us amazing life lessons that no amount of school, or number of books could.

They teach you to love and trust with out question.

They teach you that just because something isn't suppose to be a toy, doesn't mean it can't be, and that it can't be fun!

They also teach you that sometimes, you just need to throw your Cheerios on the floor, then laugh about it.

But one of the things I love most about them, is that they teach you to enjoy everything like it's your first time. This really hit me the other day when Nick was out watering the flowers and I brought William over to feel the water coming out of the garden hose. To him, it was the neatest thing ever, because he had never experienced it before.

We take so many things for granted in our busy days, how beautiful the sun is when it rises and sets, the sounds of the birds chirping outside or the occasional chicken or bunny wandering through your yard.

So tomorrow lets try to be more like them. Enjoy being you, and everything that means. Even if you have to spend a few minutes looking in the mirror telling yourself how wonderful you are, especially to your family. 

Enjoy nature and all this world has to offer, the laundry, dishes or checking your email can wait for the unplanned trip outside to see what kind of adventures are waiting.

The ABC's of why I love you!

Another gift I made my husband, this one while we were dating is a scrapbook of the ABC's of why I love him. Each letter had it's own page, with a corresponding word.

Some pages are fancier than others,

 And I had to pull out the dictionary for a few, or even make one up!

That is the fun of this kind of project though, you can make it to match you and your style.

I went through all of my magazines and got a bunch of words and letter to use and I hand wrote the rest, trying to make it more personal but typing it up and printing it will give it a more clean, sharp look.

 You don't need a bunch of do dads, specials brads, cutters or charms. A lot of the pages I just cut out paper, usually backing it with another color, and glued it on. Totally simple.

 I love this because each one is different, depending on when in your life you make it, and who you are making it for.

It doesn't have to just be for your significant other either, have your children help make one for the grandparents, aunt or family friend. Anyone you want to show just how much you care.

Wedding Song

One of the first gifts I made for my husband after we were married is a framed set of the lyrics to our song. The song that we had our first dance to, the one that always makes me cry when I hear it.

This is by far the easiest thing I have ever done, just type up the lyrics (or simply find them online, copy and paste) I did mine in purple, since our wedding colors were purple and white. Print it off, I just used my home printer on regular paper, but you can use a patterned paper (nothing to bold though, or else you font will be hard to read) or take it some where and have it professionally done.

Buy a coordinating frame and mat, if you can't find a mat the color you want/need, just over to any craft store or even Wal-mart and buy a little bottle of acrylic paint.

 

In the corners I put two flowers from our wedding to add a very special and personal touch. All of the men in our wedding party had wooden flowers, and they worked great for this. Just secure on with some tacky glue. Silk flowers will work, or even your dried real flowers. Don't have any left, who cares, run over to the store and buy a stem in whatever color you used.

Some great things you could do to make it even more special, buy a frame that has two or more sections, and fill the others with pictures, wedding pictures, engagement pictures, or a symbol of your love, a heart in the sand, whatever fits your love, relationship and feelings.

One last things, don't forget to have fun with this! Adapt it for you, change it to the song you danced with your Father and use as a Birthday or Father's Day gift, or for you Mother. In the crafting world, anything goes.

Creative Gifting

I am sure I am not alone in the quest for unique gifts. My husband is a very hard person to shop for. The only hobby he has is reading, and since we don't even read in the same genre, I never know what to get him, and I was awfully tired of giving him Barnes and Noble gift cards. So, my search for something unique started. I looked and looked, I found TONS of cool things, things I would love to have, and wish he would love to have, but nothing I knew for a fact he would use.

My husband and I are very different, he can fit everything "he" owns in a couple of duffel bags, and he would be happy with just that. Me on the other hand, I like stuff. I love all of my jewelry, my shoes, purses and such. I especially love all of my craft things. Boxes, paints, feathers, flowers, buttons, you name it. I made almost all of the decorations in our home, and I am very proud of all of them, he finds my amount of stuff annoying.

So, I figured I would use what I am good at, crafting, in order to make him gifts. I am not very good with words, I have a very hard time saying what I mean, and how I feel, but when I put it on paper, or express it with some form of art,  feel that I get my point across much better.

So here it goes, I am doing a little section of unique, handmade gifts perfect for those hard to gift people. Husbands, Wives, Parents, Grandparents, anyone in your life who seems to have everything, and therefor needs nothing.

I would love to hear about things you have made. My husband still has birthdays and Christmas's coming up and I am always looking for new things to give him!

Measure twice, cut once

I just wanted to pound that into your head ONE more time. I'm sure your Grandfather told you, your Grandmother told you, no doubt your parents told you and probably other people in your life as well.

The old saying "Measure twice, cut once" is certainly a great, and use full piece of advice but we don't always follow it do we?

My parents came in town for a visit to see their newest grandchild, and brought with them news of a nursery design contest. I was very excited about this, because I had pretty much designed or made everything in my sons nursery myself.

I still had a few final touches to do, and having just gotten my new sewing machine in the mail, it was perfect timing. So I set out tied the last bow, finished the knobs on the dresser and set out to sew the bottoms of the curtains.

I had bought curtains years ago, on clearance thinking navy blue is great, it goes with almost everything, I will use them one day. And I did, but when I pulled one out of the package, and held it up to the window, it proved to be to short. So, I went over to Joann's, picked out some cute fabric, came home and got it all ready to sew onto the curtains themselves.

They were attached, ironed and slipped over the curtain rod. I hung one side up, hung the other side up and stared at them in disbelief.

One was side was longer than the other.....

I couldn't believe my eyes, I instantly burst into laughter, and called my parents in to come look. Turns out, I had picked up two different sizes. It could have been a lot worse, so I set to the task of picking out the seam, to try again.

I layed it out, measured the correct curtain and cut the long one according. Went through the same process and when I hung it up, assuming I was done and they looked perfect, this is what I saw.

One side was still to long.....

I had measured the length of the whole curtain, and sewn the fabric there, not the length of the blue part of the curtain.

So, once again, I had to remeasure, and stitch it over again. This time, I measured twice, and cut once (for the third time).

So, please, learn from my mistake. I know what it is like to be excited about a project, so want to finish it, and have that great feeling that you made something, and it looks great! But slow down, make sure you are cutting and sewing correctly, so you can avoid a curtain fiasco.

Hat Box Review

I sent out a hat box to a wonderful women named Kathy who does reviews on just about everything online on youtube. I sent out a small version of the hot pink Hello Kitty box to her to review. Check it out!

http://youtu.be/6Q2Fy2MeCmw

Growing your skill and confidence

We had our first baby on Christmas of last year, and he is such a joy. I have three other friends who had their children (all firsts) within two months of me. Anyone with children will know that it is so hard not to compare your kids to everyone else's, especially with Facebook and Twitter around where you can share anything and everything at a moments notice.

 The same things happens with any skill. It is completely normal to compare yourself to your neighbor who makes beautiful wind chimes and dream catchers. To your best friend who is an amazing scrap booker, and your sister who draws and paints like a master. We all do it, even when I don't particularly enjoy a certain craft I still look at someone I know who can do it well and say, I wish I could do that. The thing you have to remember is, we are all beginners at some point in time. You don't pick up a craft and immediately begin producing finished product like a pro. You have to work up to it.

 People say that practice makes perfect, but a very wise women, my Orchestra teacher taught me that that is not true. You can practice something all you want, but unless you practice it right, you wont get anywhere. So keep working, and keep trying. Whatever it is you love to do, just keep doing it because you love it. Do your research, look at what other people are doing and decide what is right for you, then work on that. You don't need to be amazing at something to enjoy it. I love to scrap book. I don't ever end up with anything award winning or even worthy to sell to anyone, but I made it, I like how it turned out and that makes me happy so that is all that matters.

So lets recap, practice your art or hobby in the way you would like to accomplish. Do your research and most of all, have fun with it. Crafting should bring you joy, no matter what it is you make or do with it once it is finished. Just enjoy what you do.