Baby Shower Gift Card Bouquet for the Mom to Be

I was looking for an idea for a baby shower gift that focused on pampering the mom to be and loved the idea of gift card bouquet.

I thought about some of the things that became my reality when my babies were born. Aside from a Starbucks habit to combat my sleep deprivation, I spent time wondering how to make myself look presentable by way of beauty shortcuts and exercise. I decided to find some gift cards to meet those needs for her!

The Starbucks gift card is great for any mom but especially for the mom of a newborn. Because I know this mom is super fit and anxious to start getting back in shape, I included an Itunes gift card so she can download some new workout music for days that only new music will motivate a tired body off the couch. 

I included a Sephora card because I remember searching the site myself when my littles were newborns for new makeup, concealer, and moisturizer to hide the new mom face that I'd find in the mirror after a long night of no sleep!

I also included a gift card for Buy Buy Baby so that she could grab something from her registry.

Instead of buying a gift card to a spa or for a massage, these cards could all be used from home. I know when I had a newborn, as nice as a massage sounded, I just didn't feel like I'd be able to enjoy myself going out and leaving him. I was always up for online shopping though!

To make the bouquet, I used a small yellow bucket and fit a yarn covered styrofoam ball inside. I cut flowers from scrapbook paper with my Silhouette Cameo and attached them to stick 'stems' pressed into the styrofoam ball to look like flowers.


I wrote this little ditty to go with the bouquet and explain why I chose the cards that I did:

Your new baby boy will be here in no time,

So I got you some cards and wrote you some rhymes

And as your nights run into your days,

I hope this bouquet helps in a number of ways:

When you’re tired, dragging, and been up all night,

These ‘bucks’ will revive you and make it alright

When your patience is dwindling and it’s all going wrong,

Just login to Itunes and buy some new songs

When it’s time for a shower but the baby won’t let you,

Use the Sephora card to buy dry shampoo

When all else has failed and the madness non-stopping,

Just go to BuyBuy Baby and have some fun shopping!

I  love that the gift card bouquet was a way of treating the mom after the long months of pregnancy and to help her ease into the new schedule that is sure to be a challenge. 

The poem I wrote might be a little on the silly side but what better way to welcome her new role than with a sense of humor?!

Heart of Gold Ornament

Even though I doubt there's a gift teachers like to receive more than a gift card, I wanted to make something to include with it for our son's teachers.

I used a sparkly sequined paper to cover an mdf heart and created a shiny ornament with a message on the back that we appreciate their heart of gold.

To keep the paper from tearing and to keep the tiny little bits of sequins from falling off, I coated the heart with sealer before threading the rope back through.

I wrote a message on the back with a gold marker.

I might use the ornament as a gift tag on the gift card box. I think it would also be really cute to make a gold star for a teacher gift!

Last Minute Gift Idea: Housewarming Style

I know the blog name paints a pretty clear picture of my time management situation and no one really wants to hear me talk about how I can't find time for things like picking up last minute gifts for friends. But.. I'm going to say it anyway.

'Hopping' in the car for me includes but is not limited to feeding the baby right before leaving so she won't scream in the car seat she hates (often while walking through the house using my free arm to herd older child), packing snacks and the rest of the diaper bag, managing diaper and last minute potty stops, etc. then dressing and hauling two kids to the car who might otherwise still be in pajamas. All this to drag them to a store to shop for a gift for someone where they'll sit in a cart or stroller waiting for me to amuse them while I try to find the perfect item as fast as possible. Sound like fun? If it sounds familiar we both know the answer to that question!

Instead of the fun time described above, I chose to make a housewarming gift for a friend this morning and I think it's cuter than what I could've just picked up at the store!

I used a 5x7 frame without its matte, cut flower patterned scrapbook paper to fit, and applied a 'Home Sweet Home' sticker from the same package of stickers that I've been using for the projects around our house that I showed you here and here.

I made this framed Home Sweet Home 'print' very last minute using items I had on hand while the babes were still sleeping. Although it might seem like it should be easier to run out and pick up a gift last minute, making something from what I had at home actually saved me time and the results are (hopefully) a gift that stands out from others.

There may be days where all I can manage for a last minute gift is a bouquet of flowers but until then, I'm crafting one!

Striped Skeleton Halloween Wreath: Using Spray Paint on Styrofoam

Over the summer I bought a styrofoam ring to make a life preserver style wreath for the door but just never got around to it so after a coat of orange spray paint it was ready to use for Halloween.

Last year I had a wooden skeleton hanging on our door but it blew around in the wind and banged into the door so loudly that there's no way it was going back on there this year.  I decided a 'quiet' wreath out of styrofoam would be better. Black and orange spray paint with polka dots can be considered quiet, right?

After the coat of orange spray paint dried, I taped off stripes. When I had them lined up how I wanted, I went around and really pressed the tape edges down because I thought there might be a lot of bleed through with painted foam.

Here's the painted wreath. It looked like Tigger! (Anyone need an idea for a Tigger party?)
To finish the painted wreath I went through my stash of Halloween gear and found skeletons and bats.

Because they open down the middle and never seemed practical as boxes that would hold anything I decided to split these cardboard skeleton boxes and use them for accents on the wreath. I covered them with a couple of coats of black spray paint.

I topped the wreath with a paper bat and tied a polka dot ribbon on the bottom.

Corsage pins served double duty and both fasten my spooky flare onto the wreath and give the bat and skeletons eyes to glare at the trick-or-treaters coming to the door.

Now I'm ready to start the rest of our Halloween crafting and decorating!

Shark Tooth Shadow Box

We collected hundreds of shark teeth walking along the beach when we lived in North Carolina. Part of the reason we found so many was because we spent our time on a beach where it was more common to run into this than a group of beachcombers...

I kept all of the teeth in a ziploc bag that was packed and unpacked each time we moved but I always planned to display them. With a shadow box style frame leftover from another project I decided to make a collage out of as many of the teeth as I could fit.

With a sea star spray painted black for the center, I started sliding the teeth around until I liked the pattern they made and then glued them in place. Some of the teeth are so tiny that I needed tweezers just to grip them and one is big enough to scare me.

Gluing the teeth down was tedious but I'm glad to have found a home for some of our North Carolina souvenirs after keeping them in a bag for seven years!

While I was gluing them in the frame, there was shark play going on next to me at the table in a blue kinetic sand "ocean" that we made this morning.

Even though we spent a lot of time at secluded parts of the beach on base, I found the biggest tooth while walking our dog on a heavily populated part of Topsail Island. When I told my father about my find he asked me to send him a photo of it next to a tape measure.

That's the photo I sent him. (I hope because I was trying to be funny.)

Here's a close up look at the teeth arranged on the frame backing.

As for where I'm going to hang the shadow box, it seems only fitting to hang all of these teeth in the dining room!