Oh, How Smashing!

Wow, the month of February is just flying by! (Get ready for sarcastic tone) We all know that everyone's favorite holiday is in this month...Valentine's Day! Ry and I had an awesome D-Day...oops I mean V-Day. Now that I have long-gone given him his gift I can now share this with all my fellow followers!

Awhile back I came upon this gift idea on Pinterest in which she took a Smash book and put words of scripture into it for her child to read to them as they continued to grow...AWESOME IDEA RIGHT?! Check it out at Lowercase Letters.

Lowercase Letters

I took this great gift idea and made Ryan a Smash book full of his favorite scripture, quotes, humor, entertainment, and mushy notes from me! I love Smash book because the pages are already decorated with fun designs, all you have to do is add your special notes and journaling to it.

Supplies:

• Smash book (I ordered mine off of Amazon)
• Decorating accessories, mine that I ordered came with a ton of SWAG all for $30!
• tape, glue, stickers (smash book comes with pen and glue on the other side of it)
• Photos, favorite sayings, quotes, scripture,etc...

Took scrapbook paper, printed off letters, and glued them to cover.

*WARNING* The following pages may be cheesy to you...I apologize in advance for all the mushy gushy stuff you see...ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK ;)

A lot of the scripture and quotes I found off of Pinterest and then printed them off! 

Little table of contents

2012 a year of great changes for us! 

Found some printable "love coupons" like free 5 min back rub, pick out movie for the night, etc... on Pinterest. Also, found great date idea list! Thew them in the envelope attached in Smash book.

 The next pages are some of Ryan's personal interests that I captured for him! Abe Lincoln his favorite President, and wise quotes by him. 

His trip to China.

 Humor that he loves. 

 Favorite Bible Verses

King David and other heroes that Ry likes. 

 A place to jot down favorite entertainment...

 Summer Vacation with a list in the envelope of questions for each other on the next roadtrip.

Our Songs.

There you are, the very smashing book that can be oh so personal. There are also additional pages I left blank for us to add to it! The best part was when Ryan opened it and how much he enjoyed looking through each page! This gift can be given at anytime and will surely be liked because of how different it is from other gifts. Hope you all made it through all the mushy gushy pages! Until next time...

~Wishing you creative bliss~

DIY Natural Sugar Scrub

The official countdown to Christmas has begun! Happy December 1st! :) This is my favorite time of year for many reasons...

1. The main reason for this season...celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior!

2. My husband and I will be celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary!

3. Being with family & friends, decorating & listening to Christmas music, eating lots of splendid food, and giving gifts! That's right, I LOVE to give gifts! 

One amazing gift that I am doing this year is natural body scrubs! It's a win-win for this gift, because it's inexpensive (for you), all natural, and therapeutic. Here is how I made mine, I couldn't help but share this amazing gift idea ;) 

Here's what I used:

• Mason Jars (Half pint wide mouth)
• Cane Sugar
• Coconut Oil
• Lavender & Peppermint essential oils

1. The measurements are going to vary depending on what size of jar you have. For mine I used: 3/4 cup of sugar, 5 tablespoons of coconut oil, and about 3-5 drops of oil. You add all the ingredients together and mix until you get a satisfied consistency. Very easy :) 

2. I made some round labels for the tops of the jar and added some ribbon for a personal touch. 

Need labels? I used scrapbook paper and made these labels (jar labels).

Remember you can use different essential oils and also experiment with your base oil. I used coconut because it is good for the skin :)

Hope your scrubs turn out as awesome as mine!

Aromatherapy: What your Mom needs this Mother's Day

Homemade Reed Diffuser Vase

Working at Yankee Candle I have seen many different forms of aromatherapy. One of these is the amazing reed diffusers. The reed sticks shown in the picture above soak up oil (which is put into vase) and diffuse a fragrance.

This Sunday give your mother the gift of aromatherapy and a homemade reed diffuser vase! I did it under a budget of $15.00!

Supplies needed: 

• Mod Podge, Patterned Paper, & Paper Trimmer (The Essentials)
• Glass Bottle  (recyclable bin)
• Sponge to apply Mod Podge (Dollar Tree)

• Yankee Candle Oil Refill ($9.99)
• Yankee Candle Reed Diffuser Sticks ($2.99)

Here are the steps that I took to make the vase:

1. Cut patterned paper into strips

2. Apply Mod Podge with a sponge on the glass bottle. Wrap the strip of paper on the glass bottle. Apply a layer of Mod Podge on top of the strip. (You will have to cut strips to fit your glass bottle, especially towards the bottom)

2. Repeat step 1 until the glass bottle is covered with paper.

Back Side

Front Side

3. Towards the bottom I did cut squares so they would fit to the shape of the bottle.

4. Let the bottle fully dry, and then you are ready to gift it!

5. Here is what it will looks like displayed:

Front Side

Back Side

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mom's out there :)

Especially mine!

Love you Mom!

My mother & I :)

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. The have clung to me all my life.

~Abraham Lincoln 

~Wishing you creative bliss~