One Thousand Years Wall Hanging

anyone who knows me really well will tell you that i love to shop. i do. love it. love it. love it. doesn't matter if it's groceries or shoes or paint; online, at a store or an outdoor market. i'm a shopper. for some reason though, when it comes to valentine's day, i don't head to a store to buy a gift for my sweetheart. i'm all about the handmade kind. the hearts and doilies, cut-out collages, finger-painted chocolate-smeared glitter-sprinkled kind of gift.  this year, i went big with the creativity. wall-hanging big.

if you're on pinterest (of course you are) you've probably seen this pin from sugarbeecrafts in which she takes a small picture and blows it up super big and then mounts it on foam board.  i had repinned it to my "totally trying this" board and when it came time to come up with a v-day gift for my husband, i knew what i wanted to do. ok...so there is some shopping involved. but only for supplies, not the actual gift. smile.

for my wall hanging, i chose the words to 'one thousand years' by christina perry. gorgeous song. and since my picture consisted of text instead of an image, i first created what i wanted in picmonkey. saved the finished product as a jpeg image onto my flash drive which i took to staples and had them print out their largest print: 3'x4'. only $6.99! then i walked down a few stores to michael's for some spray adhesive $7.99 and then down a few more stores to lowes for a big piece of styrofoam $9.99. gotta love town centers.

because i chose text instead of an image, this project took a couple of days to do. for me, this means getting out some of my favorite movies to play while i'm working. one's i've seen so many times that i don't have to watch them to know what's happening. and some snacks are definitely in order too! one thing i hadn't really counted on was that the font i chose pixilated A LOT when it was enlarged. i'm thinking this probably wouldn't have happened if i'd chosen something like helvetica or verdana. not completely sure. what it meant, as you can see, was me outlining and coloring in EVERY letter. all i can say is that he's lucky i love 'im!

once i finished the letters, it was time to mount it onto the styrofoam and here's a little tip: it doesn't cut well. at least it didn't for me and if you have any tips please pass them along.  be sure to peel off the shiny lining on one the side of the styrofoam that you'll be putting your image on. for me, this was the aluminum foil-looking side. i started to paint the outside edges and got three of them done before i stopped because i decided instead to buy some ribbon -5 yards of gray twill - to attach to them instead which, in my opinion, gave it a more finished look.

i really love the way it came out! and my husband loves it, too. he teared up. that's the kind of guy he is and it's why i'll love him for one thousand years. and then one thousand more...

Mason Jar Valentine Votives

last year i thought it would be a kick to have a valentine's day party. one that was actually on valentine's day. first off, it's murder to go out on that day. it's crowded, expensive and can often require getting a sitter; a herculean feat any night of the week. and i had some friends who were single or going through a divorce or just feeling topsy turvey in their love life so i figured that having a party would eliminate some awkward life stages along with the "what do i do with my kids" question that can come up on a romantic holiday. PLUS! i wanted an excuse to have a candy bar! you know, those adorable ones with apothecary and mason jars filled with red, white and pink candy, chocolates, candy necklaces and little metal scoops for pouring everything into cellophane bags. the house gets "loved up", as my husband calls it, and there's valentine decorations all over.  even for the candles.

putting votive candles into decorated mason jars isn't anything new and i don't have any kind of tutorial to go with this post. the pics are pretty much self explanatory. i had the yarn, ribbon and trinkets already (you can pretty much use anything and, of course, any color you want). i picked up a box of candles from michael's and the conversation hearts came from the dollar store. believe it or not, i had the hardest time finding the red hots. knew i could get them at powell's (fancy candy store in our neighborhood) but wanted to keep that as a last resort. kinda pricey there and i'll save that for some of the candies i'll serve in the bar.

aren't they fun?!? i'm soooo looking forward to lighting these! now i just need to finish decorating my house, painting valentine words on the wood pallet i found and plan my menu. last year i went mexican. kinda thinking about doing it again. or lasagna. or pulled pork sliders or chili...

check back because i'll definitely give an update of how the party went and post more pics! until then, happy early valentine's day!!!

What's Up With The Dots?

i have some pet peeves.

cottony apples.
incompletely buttered toast.
weak handshakes.
weaker hugs.
chipped nail polish in blog tutorials and etsy shop pictures.
to name a few.

you probably have some too. maybe something that i do. like...what's up the seemingly endless times that i use "..." at the end of a word or a sentence that i put on a facebook post or my instagram descriptions? the way i just did in the previous sentence. why can't i just use regular punctuation like everyone else? maybe like you?

i get it. and i'm not actually sure why i do this so often. well, that's not entirely true because when i think about it, i do know why. it's because, for me, there's more implied. more to say. more meaning in what comes before those three little dots when i add them. not just saying the word or ending the sentence. i want to keep going and deepen the thought. or let the reader add their own meaning or just 'get it'.

another hat to keep you warm and toasty...

newest knitting fun. little birds...

"looks like i picked the wrong week to stop taking amphetamines..."

well...that's just because you're older than me

first...it's my absolute FAVORITE time of day.    

eventually, i'll probably do something else quirky. like type in all uppercase letters (smile) or never add any kind of punctuation and the latter is strange even to me as i'm one of those annoying people who will correct your grammar if i've known you long enough.

it's crazy.

in the meantime, what do you think of my new blog header? it's getting closer to what i really want it to be which is something that represents the fact that i dabble in all sorts of creative veins; not just one thing in particular. and i've shortened "make it give it" to migi. cute, easy to remember and it's already the name of my online shop. there will be a few more aesthetic changes coming soon so keep a weather eye open my lovelies...