picture this

Ok, I'm going to start off by bragging a little. I am SO ahead of the game right now with my Christmas shopping. As in, I have most of my gifts shopped for AND wrapped (that happened last night with a Sparkling Snow candle burning by my side) and tied up with ribbon. Yay! I have a few gifts to buy yet and then I'm done! 

Due to my not-procrastinating, I decided to be a little crafty and try my hand at personalizing a picture frame. It's a project I've seen spread across Pinterest, and always thought it was cute but never had an occasion or the time to try it.

I had one of those moments where I KNEW my game plan for making this thing. I didn't need to look back at those directions online for help (haha yeah right). So I Mod Podged my frame with cute scrapbooking paper, hacked and slashed with my Exacto knife, struggled to put the darn thing back together (scatterbrained moment, don't ask) and then took a step back to look at my work.

Ehh...It was alright....

But not something I would feel fully proud of giving away as a gift. Yeah, it would have suited me, but the edges were a little rough and cut crooked. It looked more 4th grade classroom project than Pottery Barn treasure. So I decided to try again (and I gave Dan a nice new frame for his room :)).

After more crafting, sighing, throwing a mini tantrum (yes, by this point I was getting very frustrated), I finally finished.

This time around, I embellished my frame with paper flowers and buttons. It still needs a little sanding and tender loving care, but I'm pretty satisfied with the final result. Is it something I'd do again? Maybe, if I have another occasion, the time, and a LOT more patience :)

mr. 22

Throwback to Tuesday...

You guessed it, I was celebrating a birthday! Not my own, but my boyfriend Daniel's. I'd say it was quite a successful evening- we ate dinner with his family (homemade enchiladas- yum!) and then he opened his gifts. 

Slight confession- I am the WORST gift-giver ever...I always get the wrong size, wrong thing from what the receiver wanted (although they kindly refrain from saying so) wrong something. So I was a little nervous for Dan to open my gift- because he means the absolute world to me and I wanted to get him something that I know he'd love and appreciate.

His family went first, giving gift cards and other novelties (which included new Nike socks from his sister, Amy, that he'd been eyeing up on our trip to NYC a few weeks back). They all gaped at the large box I'd brought in, guessing what it was and making me even more nervous- were their wrong guesses a gift that I should have considered? (I know, I know, I take a lot of pride in trying to find the right gift!)

But his smile of sheer delight when he opened his new Beats by Dre Beatbox was enough for me. He loved it:)

Daniel with his new Beatbox! (That would be his mother on the right dancing her little heart out;))

We wrapped up Dan's birthday with a chocolate chip cookie cake. I think it was a perfect night:)