Busy, busy ::

A couple things I've been up to lately::

another sweet babe::

another one . . .

Happy 15th Anniversary Mr. & Mrs. Buckman!

baby crafting

I've been busy making some personalized baby gifts lately. Thaddeus is the 2nd little person to enter the family of some friends of ours, so I made him a personalized piggy bank and a wooden block {roughly 3 inches x 5 inches} with his name and birthdate on one side and a blessing from Numbers 6.24-26 on the other.

Then, as it turns out, Thaddeus's parents needed a baby gift for another little man in their lives, so I was asked to make a set of blocks for baby Kyler. The blocks have his name on the front and his birth date on the back. My 2-year-old gave them a little test as I was working on them and they were a hit. She loved playing with them. So, hopefully they'll be both fun and decorative too!
Welcome to the world little Thaddeus and Kyler!

the latest

I made this over the past day or so for a wedding we are going to this weekend. I also helped my mom design a very similar one for a wedding gift she needed to give. I figure while you're making one, you might as well make two. Right? With all the humidity we've been having, I just hope it dries completely in the 4 days between now and the wedding. With our super-sticky weather, I'm afraid it will still be tacky by then!


I also made all the invitations for this wedding {along with RSVP cards and a sheet with directions and other wedding info} and designed the programs. The wood for the gift is cut from a big 2x10 if I remember right. It measures roughly 10 inches square and is about 1-1/2 inches thick. There's a sawtooth on the back for hanging, otherwise it props up nicely against a wall or on a shelf.

{Retail price $20}

Personalized Wedding Gift

Here is the personalized gift set that I made for a wedding that we attended over the weekend:: A wooden sign {about 4 x 11 with a sawtooth on the back for hanging} personalized with wedding date and last name, as well as a set of notecards for the couple to use either as wedding thank you's or for general correspondence from this day forward. {pun intended!}

I think a personalized wall hanging like this would make a great baby gift too . . . on some really fun paper with less formal fonts. I'll have to keep that in mind until the next baby I know comes along!

Banners

It all started when my friend Rachel asked me to make her a "give thanks" banner like one she had seen online. So, I did::

It turned out so cute, I made one for myself too.

Then my mom wanted a "Merry Christmas" one. So I made that. Then, that one turned out so cute that I made this one for myself::
Everyone {well, the women anyway} at our Christmas Open house loved them and wanted one too, so I figured they'd made pretty good Christmas gifts, so I made a few more.

Then people saw those and it just kept growing! Rachel, decided she needed one for New Year's as well, so I made her this one::

Then my friend, Jenny, is in town from California for the holidays and hinted strongly at how cute a "Home Sweet Home" one would be . . . so I made her this one::

Now, I'm helping my mom make a "Celebrate" one for a friend of hers {great for just about any occasion, wouldn't ya say?} then I might take a little break . . . or maybe not.

What would your banner say?

{Banner prices are based on length of sentiment, but are roughly $15 each.}

I've been busy!

I've been crazy lately crankin' out orders for Christmas gifts right and left::
Personalized, commissioned stuff.
Hopefully everyone will be happy with their finished products!

Sets of magnets {18 to be precise}::

A Christmas banner {this one was actually for me!}::

and I LOVE it:

so I made 4 others that weren't for me.

A few little fun "match book" notepads::

On top of all that {literally, since it's taking place upstairs} we're in the middle of doing this::

Actually, I'm not having to much to do with it. It's my parent's Christmas gift to our girls to give their room a little makeover, so they are doing the work!

Now I've got to get my crack in gear and start working on my list of projects that I need to make for my Christmas gifts . . . I'll need them before I know it, next week is coming fast!

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!