Date Night Wine Birthday Gift

Ok, so I don't know much about wine, but I know how to gift!  My friend's birthday (earlier this year, cough, cough) called for a more sophisticated gift, not your average - here's a box of wine and call it a day gift...  But the major problemo?  I know nothing of selecting wine... 

My most expensive wine, you know, in the ten dollar range, tastes just as good as the 'good' wine my husband gets from his work for Christmas...  With my very good friend being such an eonophile (wine lover for you and me), I was too embarrassed to even try to get her wine.  So, I did the next best thing, I got her a date night gift basket and everything but the wine!

This came together super quick and looks great and with her bottle of wine, she can have a great evening with her boyfriend (after just the girls go out for dinner!)  :)  Anywho, here it looks and I just love getting her a gift like this!!  Besides, I was getting a rash just thinking about buying the wine! 

What do you like to give your best girlfriend on her birthday?

Take Care,
Morgan

Easy End of Year Teacher Gift

So, you know I love a good Teacher gift as much as the next person and I HAD to give my boys' teachers gifts for the end of year, last year (cough, cough).  They are finally showing up here!!  Ta-da!

Basically, I wanted to give the teachers a movie night - minus the movie...  They got popcorn, candy, cookie mix, drinks (all specific for the teacher, since my eldest could tell me the drinks and candies he saw the teachers with during the day,) and the made clipboard in this post.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any clear wrap, so they got red wrap and a personalized tag made like these.  All in all, the teachers were happy with their movie night gifts (from the prompt thank you notes I received!)

These were very economical because I was able to purchase most with coupons and on sale as the end of year approached. What do you like to give your favorite teachers?

Take Care,
Morgan

Linking up to:
Cheerios and Lattes Saturday Show and Tell 

Knock Off and Better Bag

So, I always seem to need bags, which can stand up, to pack my boy's stuff in for campouts, overnighters and what not.  Well, you know me, I didn't want to pay for one, so I found some clearance, heavy weight fabric from Hob Lob and sewed them up, easy peasy. 

Well, not really easy-peasy, because I didn't have a pattern I was going by, but basically they are mitered bags with interfacing and lining.  I eyeballed a lot of the placement of straps and pockets and just folded over and held the lining as I sewed, but since there isn't a tutorial, I didn't want to totally make you think it was a walk in the park. These are lined, have a zippered pocket and have stiff interfacing to stand up at attention like good, little soldiers.  These took an afternoon and I don't have any pictures...  I just wanted to show off these beauties!

Enjoy!

Knock Off Toybox

Okay, so I LOVE crafting, but not so much the taking pics and blog posts... I really am trying to get better about this, but it's really hard, you know, with life getting in the way and all... So, needless to say, I will be binge blogging for a while because I have made the resolution to not begin any crafts until I have posted the ones I have worked on thus far... So, it's getting to be time to craft for the end of year, so momma is going to bust out some blog posts! :)

Anywho, so I was driving down my street three months ago the other day (ahem) and saw this wooden, storage box and knew I could make something cute with it.  I don't have any before pictures because apparently that is how I roll...  :)  Plus, as you can see the pics are in the garage and I just had to get busy with it! 

Now, it had great bones, but saw the love of three boys and was 35 years old!  It had LOTS of dings and missing parts (especially on the lid.)  My neighbors just didn't have the room or use for it anymore.  Well, momma snapped it up!  I knew that I didn't have any room for it either, so I decided to give it some love and personalization for a friend's daughter who was turning one.

After sanding, wood filler, sanding, painting and a little more sanding, I wanted to find the perfect monogram font for a girl.  I don't get to do anything too girlie around here, so it had to be perfect and I found it!  I found it on Graphics Fairy here, and used this same technique with paint pen and a couple of coats of sealer later...  Tada!!

Finished!

See the paint pen and pencil!  Decided to do the K bigger because it looks puny...

This was virtually free because I had all of the materials: paint, paint pen, wood filler, spare wood for easy drying.  Virtually because we had to purchase more discs for our sander, but I don't really consider that part of the gift, you know, it's the cost of doing business.  Still for a solid wood, antique, vintage-y vibe, this toy box was utterly enjoyed by the gifted family.  I really enjoyed making this renewed for my friend's daughter, who has since filled it with her toys and stuffed animals.


It looks similar to the Land of Nod one here, but luckily mine was smaller, fits perfectly in the little girl's room and was virtually free!  What do you like to remake for gifts?

Take care!
Morgan