Honeymoon Gift Bag

There are still many people in the world who believe in abstinence before marriage, true abstinence.  My husband and I are some of those "believers" and so are my sister in law, Katie and her fiancee Luke.  There were things I wish I would have  had while on my honeymoon while experiencing "love making" for the first time.  So...I put together a little honeymoon gift bag for the happy couple.  I am sure there are other things I could have included, but I wanted to keep it clean and practical.  They can buy all the naughty things they want on their own. :)   With each item, I included a little tag of explanation.  I had some cute craft paper lying around, so I cut heart out of it for my tags and attached them with crochet thread.

I bought some orange scented lotion.  My husband actually picked out the scent because it is good for guys or girls.  The tag says, "Couple's massage?  Or just to smell good."

I ran into a friend of mine while I was at the store shopping for honeymoon items.  I told her what I was up to and she said, "You know what I wish someone would have told me?   Not to be gross or anything, but I wish someone would have told me about panty liners.  You know?"  Of course!  I totally knew what she was talking about.  The tag reads, "For Katie, you'll figure it out."  

Kissing sessions with my hubby are great, but when he hasn't shaved for a few days, it can make my face feel like it was rubbed with sandpaper.  I am sure the same goes for husbands when we don't shave our legs for a few days.  That's why I put the tag, "Just in case.  No one wants "stubble burn"".

Serious make out sessions require serious lip moisture.  The tag on these puppies reads, "For all the kissing you'll be doing".

I remember being pretty sore the day after our wedding.  We'll just leave it at that.  That is why I threw in ibuprofen.  The tag says, "In case you're sore the next day-or have a headache."

There was a jacuzzi tub in the room we stayed in our first night as newlyweds.  We were so excited and jumped in.  My Aunt had given us a gift bag of yummy treats, candles, lotion, and bath gel; so we broke out the bath gel to add to our lovely jacuzzi experience.  Well...we turned the jets on and there were so many bubbles that we couldn't find each other.  I think on this experience and know that it is fun to take a bath with your spouse, so long as the tub is big enough. :)  That's why I threw these in.  They're not romantic, but, "His and hers bath time fun".

It's easy to be a little self conscious when sleeping in bed together for the first time.  That's why I picked these up.  If you haven't seen them, they are little strips that dissolve in your mouth and freshen your breath.  "To eliminate "morning breath"".

"Honeymoons can get messy" is what this tag reads.  Love making, as wonderful as it is and can be, can also get a bit messy.  That's why it is a good idea to keep baby wipes next to the bed.

I talked to the lovely bride and asked what the couple's favorite road trip treats are.  I included some of them in the bag too.

I found this cute little reusable shopping bag at Walmart for 88 cents to put everything in.

If this is a gift you want to make for someone, be creative!  Gift cards to restaurants or cash are also pretty good things you can include.  

Shabby Apple Giveaway

http://suziblu.typepad.com/a_lovely_dream/2012/03/blog-giveaway-shabby-apple.html

There is a Shabby Apple giveaway at the above blog.  Check it out!

Jewelry display

My friend Carmen is a crafting genius.  She suggested using chicken wire for another project I am working on and it gave me another idea for a way to use chicken wire.  I have been trying to figure out a good way to store/display my jewelry so it is easily accessible and doesn't require hours of untangling necklaces.  I decided to take this great frame I got at a garage sale last summer and turn it into my jewelry display.  

I first used the same automotive primer from my previous post, a grey color, to spray the whole frame.  Once it was dry, I took some other automotive paint we had, chrome, and lightly "dusted" the parts of the frame that are more prominent.  

Then I put a screw in each corner of the back of the frame and tightened them ALMOST all the way down. Then I stretched the chicken wire over each screw and then tightened them down the rest of the way.  

Then I hooked conventional picture hangers on the chicken wire for my necklaces.  

TA DAAA!

No Empty Chairs

A while back my friend Kimberly posted this on her blog.  There is a quote from Ezra Taft Benson that says, "God intended the family to be eternal... May he bless us to strengthen our homes and the lives of each family member so that in due time we can report to our Heavenly Father in His celestial home that we are all there--father, mother, sister, brother, all who hold each other dear. Each chair is filled. We are all back home."  

Then she cut out chairs out of pages of old books, framed them, and tied a ribbon around the frame with each person's name in her family. 

Well...I liked the idea so much, that I wanted to do it too, but I wanted to put my own spin on it.  I bought 5x7 shadow boxes from Michaels with the intention of finding a cute dollhouse chair for each family member.  Well, after months of searching and not finding what I wanted, I settled on these cute plastic Barbie chairs from Ebay.

Then I used grey automotive primer on them (that's all we had) and then I used white acrylic paint once the primer was dry. 

The shadow boxes were black, but my living room is primarily brown, so I bought this super cool spray paint.  It has metallic flecks in it and gives a nice texture to whatever you spray.  I sanded down the shadow boxes, took out the glass, and sprayed them.  I ended up having to keep the glass out of all the shadow boxes because the chairs were barely too wide.  I backed the shadow boxes with craft paper and voila, my own version.

Each chair has a tag on it with a family member's name.

My new blog!

Welcome to my new "home" blog.  This blog is dedicated to the craft projects I make, the rooms I decorate, and the recipes I try.  So enjoy this journey I am taking into discovering myself and my homemaking abilities.