Happy Birthday to ME.......A project finally complete!

November 11, 2015 -- My 31st birthday. Where does the time even go? I feel so old some days but I remind myself the best is yet to be! Chris asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I went the non traditional route requesting a hand made spice rack. I love to cook and bake and my spice collection is forever expanding. The chaos of having random containers was driving me crazy. After shopping in several stores and online, I could never find just what I wanted. Being the amazing husband that Chris is, he graciously brainstormed with me and came up with this design.

On my actual birthday, we had a Lowe's date to pick and purchase the wood we would use.

As it seems to go with our lives, we were busy with plenty of other things so Chris didn't actually get to start until several months later.

 

And then once he completed it, it took me awhile to get it painted. What was I thinking? All those boxes and tiny corners/crevices! Whew.

Over the course of the project build, we slowly worked on the actual spice jar aspect of it. I decided I wanted to use half pint glass canning jars so Chris based the measurements of each hole with that in mind. The actual spice rack was the perfect custom size to fit under my kitchen cabinets in a specific spot on my counter. Here are the labels he designed for me to stick on each jar lid which I am completely in love with!! (All the pictures can be viewed larger and with more detail if you click on them.)

And finally!! After several months of working at this project little by little, our dual efforts successfully completed my long awaited birthday present. :) It makes my heart so happy!!! Every single time I pull a jar out or just look at it, I can't help but smile.

And I even had him make labels for my spices/blends that need refrigeration so they don't get clumpy.

Thank you, Chris, for all the time and love you put into my very special gift! It is even better than I imagined it would be! :)

Spring Wreath

Over the last several years I have been attempting to purchase wreaths for my front door that I can use for each season. Apparently I am extremely picky as this hasn't been an easy task. About 2 years ago I found a winter wreath that I actually liked, and more recently found an autumn wreath that wasn't super cheap looking so I added it to my collection as well. I'm not sure why it's been such a process but I like to find ones that at least look a little realistic and not pay an arm and a leg for them. Even some of the super fake looking ones are ridiculously priced! Okay that's the cheap Mennonite in me talking. :)

With the "summer like" temps that we had last week (50's HAHA!!) and everything in stores being sold two or three seasons ahead of time, I decided I should probably start looking for a Spring wreath. The other day I checked at Michael's and wasn't impressed so yesterday I drug my Mom into Hobby Lobby while running our weekly Monday grocery errands. Let me assure you that she did NOT go in the store kicking and screaming but the scrapbooking paper purchases she made were simply not my fault.

After seeing the price tags on the pre-made wreaths and not really being impressed enough to want to break the bank on them, I thought maybe my door would just remain wreath-less for another warm season or two. Since this seems to be a trend each year, I decided to look around for any pieces that caught my eye that I could use to make my own. I found some pieces that I liked and then proceeded to do what any good daughter would do -- I called my Mom who was on the other side of the store and interrupted her scrapbook paper shopping to come help me decide which color flowers were best. :) We are dangerous, let me tell you!

Thanks to the wonderful weekly Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon and their fabulous sales, my items totaled $32.82. I went home nervous and excited to tackle my new project, hoping that it would turn out at least half decent. My hands don't always create what my brain dreams up. :) I started with the following items pictured below...a plain grapevine wreath, 6 feet of berry garland, and a stem of both purple/cream flowers.

And for a better view of each item...

My blank wreath canvas!

I wanted some color but nothing super bold.

I always love the looks of this berry garland stuff.

Definitely stole Chris' sidecutters temporarily. ;)

As you can see in the above picture, I started with the berry garland, attaching it every few inches with some green wire that I already had here. After I had the garland securely in place, I cut apart the purple/cream flower stems and positioned those around the wreath.

And here is my finished product proudly displayed on my front door!

I was pleased with it for being my first wreath attempt and for the price I paid for everything. And the best part was that I had fun creating it! Now I'm ready if Spring ever decides to show up. :)