12 Days of Christmas - Abridged

Can O' Dates

I made this Can o' Dates for my friend's wedding! I got the clear paint can from Michael's and the idea from My Creative Stirrings. I printed off a bunch of their date ideas and added in a bunch of my own, to personalize it to our city and to my friend. It was super easy to make and looks pretty cute! She just said it was one of her favourite gifts. Aww :)

Menu Board

I made this Menu Board for my sister-in-law for Christmas last year. The idea was that she could write her family's favourite meals on the blank slips and put them up as she liked!

To start I went to a sheet metal place in our town and asked them about remnants. They had this 1 foot by 2 foot piece of galvanized steel that I could purchase. I got my father-in-law to bend the edges over with some tools from his work, but you could probably do it if you had some clamps and a strong husband :) I got my grandparents to drill the holes for the ribbon, and the base was done!

***IMPORTANT*** Make sure you sand down the steel before you try to Mod Podge the paper to it, otherwise it will just peel off. Sand it enough so that the surface feels rough to the touch.

For the days of the week magnets I used tiles from Michael's and placed stickers on them. I was going to put a coat of Weld Bond over top but it made it a little too matte for my liking. I affixed magnets to the back with Weld Bond as well. 

For the food cards I cut up place cards that I got from Walmart, and just used the side with the silver border. I made a pocket for them using a blank card and a bit of cardstock. I glued the sides together but if I had had a sewing machine I would have used that to make it more secure (plus the stitching would have been cute.) 

For the recipe holder I used the same colour cardstock as I had used to make the food card holder cute,folded it in half and then stuck on the bit of the blank card I had cut off to the top of it.

I used Weld Bond (but Mod Podge would work just as well) to stick the paper to the steel underneath. Make sure you lay it down evenly, starting at the top and pressing down the paper as you go. Don't try to just lay it down flat, otherwise you will end up with a bunch of bubbles trapped underneath. I had my husband help me with this part - four hands are better than two! I also used Weld Bond to secure the ribbon that covered the seam between the two papers. 

I stuck a magnet pad of paper on the bottom half for her to write her grocery list on, stuck some stickers in strategic places, and voila!

Menu Board!

Mother's Day Cards

For Myself, Just Because.

Between a personal epiphany and something I saw in a movie (Eat, Pray, Love), I've decided something. I'm going to stop doing things for other people and start doing them for myself. That sounds worse than it is, I promise. What I mean by that is that so often I think, "Gee, I'd love to decorate my house for <insert holiday> but no one will see it, so what's the point?" Or, "I could get dressed and look cute today, but I'm just going to Walmart and I probably won't see anyone I know, so why bother?" 

But now, I'm going to do things for myself, just because. I love having my house decorated for holidays. So what if no one else sees it? I will see it, and it will bring me joy. I feel better about myself as a person when I feel cute, so you know what? I'm going to wear whatever will make me feel happiest. I know I need external validation, but do I really? If I put on a cute outfit and no one of importance sees it, does it make the outfit any less cute? If I decorate my house to the nines and the only people that see it are my husband and my visiting teachers, does it mean that it was a waste? Of course not! As long as I find joy in things, that is all that matters.