Making A Memory - The Perfect Gift

Earlier this week, I shared our Memory Jar so it should be no surprise that we would want to *create* memories with people we care about. Joe and I have made a decision to give experiences rather than things when possible.

To give the impression of an actual gift, I wrapped a big box with a special note and a correlating gift card with tons of tissue paper.

Some ideas:
A zoo membership
A pottery class
A girl's night out
Painting with a Twist
A wine tour
A cooking class
A pre-planned date night
Sporting event tickets
Go-karting gift certificates

Our two favorite kids 'cashed in' on their presents this weekend. It was probably the best couple days that I've had in awhile. We had themed days for each of them and let me just say, my heart is full.

(Sidenote: During college I nannied full-time for the most delightful family. The two oldest children were in our wedding and I still make time to babysit whenever they ask.)

A Few of My Favorite Things - Christmas 2013

I miss Christmas so much already. I was raised in a Russian Orthodox home so I we got a 'second' Christmas on January 7th -- Little Christmas! Joe isn't totally in on it (so no presents or fancy family meal here), but at the very least, we keep the tree and all of the decorations up until then. Even after the Epiphany, I have some really fabulous reminders of this year's gaiety -- some of the most thoughtful gifts ever. 

Did you get any gifts that warmed you to the core? These are a few of my favorite things from Christmas 2013

This fantastic hedgehog planter from West Elm

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My ultimate beauty crush - the Clarisonic Mia2 in Amethyst from Sephora

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The very cutest owl salt and pepper shakers from West Elm

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Luscious shades of beauty from Essie's 2013 Holiday Gift Set at Target

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I cannot wait to get a full season out of these Nutcracker Ornaments from Land of Nod

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A top quality Krups panini press from Williams Sonoma

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The only stocking stuffers any girl needs: each and every single baby lips electro & dr. rescue medicated lip balm, care of Target

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A truly meaningful Japanese Daruma from KarmaLoop

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The most darling (and inexpensive!) flamingo scarf in the whole wide world, from ModCloth

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the perfect everyday initial bracelet, Alex and Ani of course!

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the prettiest pens you ever did see from your dear friend, Vera Bradley

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and one more present that I plan on using everyday - caramel ombre faux fur throw from PB

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Sometimes, you just gotta brag, right?

So, now I have to ask -- what were YOUR favorite gifts?? I've seen a lot of Silhouette cameos, fuzzy slippers, shiny stand mixers, fancy cameras, handmade goodies, gorgeous sweaters, and a whole lot more. 

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How to: Paper Bow + Free Template

A couple of weeks ago I shared a tutorial for crepe paper flowers and today you'll see another easy gift topper idea: a paper bow. I know how hard it can be to get a perfect bow with ribbon, but with paper, it's almost error-proof (and there is no fraying, yay!). Using my template, a sheet of your favorite scrapbook paper, a few dabs of glue and a sliver of tape, you will have the prettiest bow on the block.

Paper Flower Gift Topper Tutorial

There are a ton of crepe paper flower tutorials out there, that I know. Unfortunately, all of them seem to be for super amazing realistic flowers. Sure that is generally what you want, but a flower on a stem is not necessarily the best gift topper out there. I wanted something classy and fun to put on top of the bridal shower gift to my sister-in-law and a big floofy flower was just what the doctor ordered.

The materials were less than $3 (and with that, you could make SEVERAL large flowers) and the whole process took less than 15 minutes. Let's get started!

Elmo Present {Printable}

Today is our nephew's second birthday party! We got him a sweet techy gadget (if you knew the Mr. you would completely understand). While I'm positive he will absolutely love it once he figures out what it is, it won't have the allure of the Fisher-Price packaging. This is why I thought I might go about doing something a bit more creative with the wrapping.

The baby LOVES Elmo, probably about 10x more than he loves me. His parents put together quite the Sesame Street themed celebration.  What better way to dress up our gift than with Elmo's face? Yeah yeah, I could have just gone and bought some Sesame Street wrapping paper, but I wanted something fun and unique. This was just that.

Materials:

• My FREE Elmo Printable
• 8"x11" white cardstock
• Color printer
• Ink
• Scissors
• Red wrapping paper
• Adhesive: glue stick, glue dots, etc

Instructions:

1. Print out the Elmo face shapes onto white cardstock (it absorbs the saturation of ink better than normal copy paper)
2. Carefully cut around each shape
3. Arrange the face as shown above (Left eye slightly overlaps the right, nose sits between both eyes, and then the mouth in a big smile)
4. Wrap your present using the red wrapping paper
5. Adhere the face shapes to the package in the correct layout
6. Presto finito, you are done!

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