28 While 28 #24 - Send 3 Care Packages

24. Send 3 Care Packages. I think it would be fun to gather a few of my favorite things and send them to people. Not for a birthday gift or anything, but a friendly just because! I haven't decided yet who will be the recipients, maybe a friend who has had a bad week, or a complete stranger. We'll see!

Maybe something along the lines of this one, by You Are My Fave.

Anniversary Gift for your Wedding Party

One Year ago today I married the love of my life! It is insane how time goes by so quickly. I think it was about June before it all felt "real" (aka: we were getting into a decent routine). June is also when I came up with this little project.

Ideally I would of had pictures printed for our wedding party/family in February, but of course that did not happen. June came around and I started thinking of a fun way to get them a few special pictures from our wedding day. I made a mental note (which I'll often do and then they magically get erased 90% of the time) of sending them pictures closer to our anniversary. You know, the weekend of Thanksgiving and right before Christmas season gets started. Hey, I never said I was very bright. Anyways, when October came around and I still had the idea in my head, I knew I needed to get it done.

I got the pictures printed and started working on this little gift. First, I used my Cricut to cut out these tags that I wrote "thank you" on. I'll use any excuse to practice calligraphy.

Then I wrote out a little note to each person. You know... full on sappy style. I couldn't help it...it really allowed me to relive my wedding day emotions!

 

Next I bundled the note and pictures with some twine and my thank you tag. 

I also tried my best at calligraphy while addressing the envelopes. Not super easy (note to self: invest in a light box) but I can tell you that paper matters. The envelopes I used were pretty cheap quality and I could tell! It did not take the ink very well at all.

There you go! Super easy, cheap and thoughtful little anniversary gift you can send out to your loved ones who supported you the most during the wedding process!

Envelopes, Ink, Twine, Cardstock: Hobby Lobby
Return Address Stamp: Empress Stationary
Washi Tape: Target
Tape Dispenser: The Container Store (FYI: this might be one of my most favorite purchases ever! It was $9.99, compared to some of the other acrylic office supplies which run around $35 or $40! Needless to say, I bought two!)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Now, I'm off to celebrate with my hubby and indulge in some bundt cake!

DIY Dr. Who Terrarium

My friend Keith (you know...the great gift giver I've mentioned before) is a big Dr. Who fan. So, when his birthday came around I knew I wanted it to be Dr. Who themed. Never having watched the show myself, I went to Pinterest...what I lovingly refer to as "creative google" and typed in: Dr. Who gift ideas. This is what showed up...

I was sold immediately! The idea is from Blythe Ponytail Parades. She doesn't use real plants, and she makes her own tardis, which turned out way better than if I would have attempted it myself.

Here is a list of supplies you'll need:
Jar
plants
soil
rocks
tardis, or any other fun object you want to add!

If you are using real plants you will need to ventilate, so just keep that in mind when picking out your jar. When I went shopping for a jar, I saw the mason jar and thought it was perfect. Don't get me wrong, it looks cool, but you can't see the details like I would have liked.

First, you will clean out your jar and put rocks down at the bottom. Since I used real plants, I had to put to rocks at the bottom to help with drainage.

Then you are going to add the soil and your plants. I bought plants that were different heights so that it would create some depth.

My jar was too small for all three, so I planted my dad some aloe. He has the only green thumb in the family, so I'm not too worried about it's survival. I thought the middle succulent was so cool and creepy looking...I had to add it!

I then put a layer of rocks on top of the soil, and added in the tardis. I played around with the placement of everything and used a spoon to help move the soil and pack in down. Then I gave it a good watering and let it dry in the sun.

Instead of making my own tardis, I went to Hot Topic and bought a keychain. I had Jake take the chain off and we were good to go!

They sell these mason jar lids at Hobby Lobby and are PERFECT for letting the succulents breath. 

Jake thought this was so cool, so it looks like we'll be adding one in our home as well! Happy Birthday Keith...move to Oklahoma already! :)

Groomsmen Gifts

Oh, man....men giving men gifts. Could life be more awkward?

When time came for us to start putting ideas in the hat about what to give our groomsmen, we were coming up with nothing! We both really wanted something out of the norm for groomsmen gifts.

Back in the deep pockets of my mind I had remembered seeing this pin on Pinterest of a couple who gave their groomsmen their own bobbleheads. 

I thought it was absolutely hilarious but just knew Jake would think it was dumb...so with zero confidence I casually mentioned the idea and he totally surprised me. He LOVED the idea. Score!

So, after a lot of research between different websites, prices, shipping times, etc we chose to order our bobble heads from Likenessme. They offered a coupon at the time as well, so that sealed the deal even more! Wonderful website and customer service. A little bit of a language barrier, but nothing major. I would totally order from them again!

Once we chose the body for each of our guys, it came time for the most difficult part...getting pictures of 5 guys, some of them more stubborn than others (Kevin..) and a squirmy 4 year old without letting them on to what our gift was going to be. Every submission needed a left and right profile and a close up of their face. After we had gotten the guy's pictures taken care of, you had to submit the pictures and choose different features you wanted (eye color, skin color, glasses, did you want the head to "bobble"...um YES!). This was seriously time consuming...but so worth it!

When Jake & I got them in the mail it was like we were kids on Christmas morning. We would guess who was in each box before we opened and squeal if we were right. When it came time to give the gifts I think we were just as nervous! They turned out to be such a big hit, and just seeing the look on the guy's faces was so worth it!!

Here is Jake with all of the guys and Bryson!

Kevin. Best Man. Hunter.

Julian. Groomsman. Photographer.

 

Brandon. Groomsman. Musician. (I don't have one of his up close)

Joseph. Groomsman. Firefighter.

 

Paul. Groomsman. Soccer player.

Bryson. Ring Bearer. Professional Cutie.


We are so lucky that these are just some of the awesome guys in our lives! Thanks to Julian for most of these pictures!

Mal