Give Thanks

A friend of mine saw a "give thanks" banner for sale online and fell in love with it. She was going to order one and then she thought "I bet Shana could make this. I'll ask." So ask she did, and I said "sure". This one isn't quite like the one she saw online {I like this one better and hope she will too!}, that one had glitter and I'm not a huge fan of glitter. Rachel said she could do without the glitter too, so here is the glitter-free finished product; I think it turned out great::

A creative afternoon

For some reason, as I was sitting outside reading a very good book, I was overwhelmingly compelled to begin this project. I hadn't planned to do any projects at all today. I was really enjoying my book and had planned to enjoy it the entire time the littles were napping, but then those plans went right out the window!
I found a board {not too old even, but pretty beat up} in our yard and got to work. First I slapped a pretty thin, messy coat of white paint to the board, rubbed in a little anitiquing glaze and let it dry. Next I sanded it a little. Then I traced some chipboard letters onto the board {I didn't measure before I started tracing, I had just eyeballed it. When I got to the end I realized I would only have room for "199" and I didn't want to do '96, so I erased it all and started again}. Then I painted the letters with black paint and let that dry. When it was all dry I sanded it again and then hosed it down to get all the dust off {and age it even more!} and I was done!
I love it!
I can't decide if we should put it in our bedroom {it would look great in there} or somewhere more "public" so that people will actually see it. Not many people venture back to our bedroom when they come for a visit!

Note: This idea was not original with me. I saw it online a few weeks ago and didn't really think much about it . . . until today. {I would love to give credit to it's originator -- whose sign read "Farm Fresh Eggs" -- but I tried to find it again today and couldn't for the life of me! So just know, it wasn't my idea in the beginning. I would have bookmarked the site if I thought I would be making my own, but I hadn't really planned on it at all.}

Fun!

If you have not yet discovered Wordle you have GOT to check it out! It is amazing and wonderful and fun and addicting and just plain great! I love it! {Big thanks to my sister-in-law for bringing it to my attention!}

I went to a baby shower for a friend who is soon to have a set of twins and this was {part of} the gift that I brought. I think they turned out really cute. Unfortunately, they are going to spell Ellah's name with a H at the end. {it's not unfortunate that they're going to spell it that way . . . just unfortunate that I didn't know that ahead of time. I was going to double check on the spellings, but, #1, I didn't think you could really screw up Ella or Eddie. -- little did I know! -- and, #2, I wanted it to be a total surprise and not clue her in that I might do something personalized}. I didn't know this and thus will need to do them again. But, it's so easy it won't really be a problem. Except for the fact that I don't have any more of those exact coordinating papers, so I'll have to pick some different prints.

Want to make your own? Here's what you do:

• Come up with fun words {the more times you type the word, the bigger it will be}.
  
• Create your Wordle
• Print it on to fun paper
• Stick it in a clear, plexiglass box frame.
• Wrap a little ribbon around the outside for some dimension and added fun {or don't!}

Now you're all done, wasn't that easy? And super fun too! Of course you could put it in any type of frame, but for this particular project, I really like the look of the clear box frame with the ribbon on the outside. If you wanted the sides to coordinate you could cut paper to fit in there too.

If you don't mess around with the fonts and colors and layouts for too long {don't follow my example, I tend to over-mess!} you could be done in about 10 minutes and for a grand total of about $5 each.

Give it a shot next time you need a gift and want something unique and personalized. I'm pretty sure it will be loved and treasured!

Another project

A big {8x8}, antiqued wooden tile for my sister-in-laws birthday with my favorite picture of my nephew. I made them a similar one with a picture of their wedding 5 years ago, so, now they have a little set! A fun, unique gift and way to showcase a special picture.

Late night

Every once in a while I really get "in the groove" and stay up way, way too late making cards. Well, I did it again this week. I'm sure that I'll be paying for it for at least a few more days {with crabbiness, limited patience and eye-drooping exhaustion -- wait, that sounds like most days around here}, but I got LOTS done. Long after everyone in the house was sleeping {Dad included} I was still downstairs working away. Here's what I came away with after my {nearly} all-nighter:


I think I made over 50 cards in one sitting; no 2 of them alike. It was fun and relaxing {well, except for the missed sleep part!}

Handmade gift pack

I made this gift pack to donate to a silent auction for Northern Voices, a school for children with severe hearing loss. The daughter of a friend of mine goes there and asked me if I could donate anything. And I was happy to!

The gift pack contains a 6x9 inch {memo-sized} decorated clipboard, a jumbo clothespin {a fun, unique way to display a favorite picture, or keep your recipe right there as you cook or hang on to important little papers that may otherwise get lost!} and an assortment of 10 all-occasion cards {birthday, thank you, new baby, get well, thinking of you}.

Here's hoping it will bring some money in for a worthy cause.

Retail value of the gift pack: $35

Baby gift

8x10 framed baby name and birth date with verse "Children are a gift from the Lord. They are a reward from Him." {Pslam 127.3}

This one was made as a baptism gift, but would be great for a new baby gift or a special gift on any other important day early in life {baptism, dedication, first birthday}.

wedding: print only

8x10 print only . . . ready to be framed

wedding gifts

Here are a couple wedding gifts that I did recently. They followed the color schemes of the wedding invitations and I'm hoping that for years to come they will remind the couple of their big day with fondness!


The frames are 16x20 and the art in the middle is matted to 8x10. These show last name and wedding date but could be customized with initials instead "K & S" or "est. 2009" rather than the exact date or whatever your heart desires! Shorter last names (6 letters or less) work best if you want entire last name, though, otherwise it would get too small to look good.

Framed: $45
8x10 Print only (frame it yourself): $17

{See a similar project for the birth of a baby here}

Graduation Gifts

personalized small clipboards (approx. 6"x9")
and a coordinating set of thank you notes

Personalized notecards

A set of bright, spring-inspired notecards personalized with a name (or a simple "thanks") make a perfect gift for most any occasion.
($8 for a set of 5)

Wedding Set

Framed verse with initials & wedding date, matching clip and card.

Fridge Fun

Here are some fun magnets I've been cranking out lately.

Some sets of "Fruit of the Spirit" magnets ($7 for a set of 9):

and a set of fun tree magnets that I love ($5 for a set of 5):

Dress up your fridge today!
These also make a great, unique gift.
Magnets can be customized with words or images of your choice. {My 8-year-old daughter and I just made some with cute pink cupcakes as prizes for the girls at her birthday party}.
Just let me know what you want!

fun card

I just finished making this card for my brother who had lasik surgery yesterday. I got the idea for it in the middle of the night and, amazingly, still remembered in the morning without writing anything down or scribbling a little picture. I think we'll run it over to his house with a bag of carrots . . . you know, since they're good for the eyes!


If your brother (or anyone else for that matter) is having lasik, I'd be happy to whip up another one!

Time to get to work!

My "office" (actually a closet in our partially finished basement with our old dining room table and some shelves in it . . . we outgrew our old dining room table a few years ago and got a new bigger one to seat our crew -- 5 kids! -- so I inherited the old one for my workspace) has been such a mess lately that I can't even get anything done. see:

So the other morning I got up early (thanks to my 10-month-old daughter's nasty cold) and went to work spiffing it up so that I could work again! Ahhhh, much better!



It took the better part of 2 hours, but it's once again organized and cleaned up, so . . . "let's get to work!"