Father's Day Gift Guide {Giveaway}

While Mister reigns supreme as Floyd's papa around this part, this year Father's Day certainly has a whole new meaning in our house :)

With that, I knew Mister needed some extra spoiling this year in honor of Father's Day.

Per usual though, as most men, he is not the easiest to shop for.  I thought I would help us all out by putting together a gift guide of Mister's favorite things that I have no doubt would quickly become favorites in your man's life as well.

And if you keep reading there's a giveaway at the bottom from one of my new, favorite, local (!) companies!

Jumper Threads Undershirts : Guys, I mean ladies, get these for your men immediately.  These are THE softest undershirts I have ever felt in my life.  I know I can speak for Mister when I say that we have plenty of white t shirts in this house that have seen better days.  They are past the point of bleach.  So when Jumper Threads reached out to me to ask if Mister wanted to try these shirts out we screamed yes!  These undershirts are perfect for slimmer fitting button up shirts when guys want a slimmer fit undershirt underneath.
And lucky for you, Jumper is giving away a pack of 2 shirts to one lucky reader! Details below.

Game Day Feels : (Formerly Lacelets) You guys are well aware of our love and obsession with our neighbors/favorite brand Game Day Feels.  For men, I LOVE their black on black lacelets.  Mister has one I had made for him a few years ago and wears it constantly.  They have some great Father's Day options on their site right now...check them out here and here.  I personally think ones with special dates on them are always a winner.

Beltology : I gifted Mister one of these belts last year for Christmas and it is go to for dressy yet causal weekend looks.  The belts come in a multitude of colors and they make it easy to order by just using your waist size.  The belts also have a bit of elasticity to them so they stretch and make it easy to place the buckle anywhere that is comfortable.

WeWood Watches : We first saw these watches when we were in Hawaii visiting Kait and I made a mental note to remember them for our 5 year 'wood' anniversary.  These watches are made entirely out of wood and are SO cool looking.  Mister LOVES watches and he loves a unique watch even more.  I choose a dark wood one for him but all of the options are great.  They even have female options that I've been eyeing.
 

S'well : I have a girly, monogrammed version of this bottle and used to have mixed feelings about it but the more I use it the more I love it.  Mister was swiggin from mine the other day and mentioned how unbelievably cold it keeps your water.   I just love the teakwood grain version, so manly yet functional.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

6 Year Anniversary Gift Ideas

We are big fans of celebrating anniversaries with traditional gifts.
We've been doing this since our first anniversary and we love to continue it each year.  It is so fun to see what we each come up with and get our creative juices flowing.

Once one anniversary is celebrated and over, we love to look up what the next years is and brainstorm  all year. 

Mister always knocks it out of the park with his gifts and ideas, every single year.

You can see my other gift guides and what we've given each other here.  

So as I mentioned, year 6 is iron and candy, which, in my opinion, is crazy. BUT we are not ones to back down from a challenge.

So we went with it.  We opened the playing field eventually to all metal because just iron was getting a little tricky.  I will show you soon what we ended up getting one another but first here are where our ideas stemmed from.

Cast iron skillet (the best way to make corn bread)

Cast iron griddle/grill pan (we use our grill pan ALL the time)

Iron shepherds hook (for beautiful Spring hanging baskets of flowers)

Candy of any shape and size (Mister will always choose Reese's)

Iron sculptures (I would choose a basset)

Branding iron/grill press (for yummy Summer burgers)

An actual iron (sometimes practical comes in handy)

Golf clubs (a great way to spend summer evenings together)

Personalized iron signs/sayings (sky is the limit here! Monogram, anniversary, first address)

The other option is to go with a 'half dozen' theme and put together a collection of 6 of something.  Obviously the first thing that comes to mind is doughnuts :) 

Pin to Present : DIY Gift Bag Tissue Flower

I am alive, I swear.

But it has been touch and go this week.

I did something crazy to my back (like spasms crazy) on Monday night and was out for the count.

Thankfully, I am on the mend!

And when you can't do much else, why not craft?

We are celebrating our lovely friend Marge's birthday this weekend and I wanted to add some uniqueness to how her gift was wrapped.  I turned to, where else, Pinterest.  I had pinned this tissue flower a while back and knew that was what I wanted!  

Plus, this really couldn't be easier.

All you need is:

-a square of tissue paper (4-6 sheets)

-tape

-scissors

Cut a square in your tissue paper

Cut a flower (or whatever shape you want)

Flip and rotate the sheets so the color of tissue alternates

Tape the sheets together

Gather the tissue at the back to make it dimensional and fluff the sheets

Tape to your bag or box!

Tada!

There is a good chance a lot of our Christmas gifts will have some version of these flowers on them.  I think I will experiment with doing Christmas trees and snow flakes as well!  Glitter tissue paper here I come!

Linking up with Anne for Pin to Present! 

Beyond Blessed

I sure hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas, I know we sure did!

Ours started a little unnaturally when we found out my mom had to have emergency knee surgery on Monday.  I am happy to report we were home from the hospital in time for Christmas and she is on the mend!

We were able to spend our Christmas with both sides of our families and ate and opened gifts til we collapsed.  

I racked up with some great running gear (including a pink headlamp so hopefully I don't fall down when it's dark out) that I can't wait to put to use (those Dreamy Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bars aren't going to work themselves off), a juicer (!) and lots of other fun gifts!

Mister added to his map collection and also got some snazzy new golf shoes.

And Mister and I got my mom this amazing cutting board with my Mamaw's Chicken and Dumplins recipe engraved on it.  It is such a special gift and turned out so well!

Floyd walked away with so many new treats we are going to need a new pantry and also an adorable sweater, scarf and a new, jazzy collar!

We are still spending time with family so I'm going to keep this short and will be back next week for a year round up and a birthday celebration for someone ;)

Plus Floyd is still really tired and I need to snuggle him.

P.s. I can't even handle him in that sweater, it's too stinkin cute. 

Spice Up Your Birthday Gift with These Ribbon and Wrapping Tips

I love giving gifts any time of the year but with the holidays right around the corner I thought we could all use some tips to jazz up our gifts. 
And, while we are talking gifts, my birthday is right around the corner...just in case you were wondering ;)

Giving presents to people is about more than increasing their opinion of you. If you give a person a truly heartfelt gift, then it is a token of appreciation that shows how much you value another individual. Giving presents such as birthday gifts can be highly symbolic in that respect, if, of course, a good amount of thought and consideration has been put into said gift! It's not all about the actual gift either; how you present the gift to the other person is almost as important. With that in mind, here are some ribbon and wrapping tips to really spice up your birthday gift.

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Make a Large and Splashy Impression

You can make a large and splashy impression with how you choose to tie your ribbon around your gift. Take some wired ribbon and then tie it around the present to create a basic bow. Then, tie three additional bows around the first one's knot, and make sure that the loops are then facing in all kinds of different directions. Basically, you will create an 8-point asterisk of sorts. Not only will this be something spectacular and unique to look at, but it will also give you a chance to mix both patterns and colors of ribbons for even more amazing effects.

Attempt a One-Loop Bow

You can also try something totally different and rare when you work with ribbons for gift wrapping purposes. If you are sick and tired of the standard bows, you should definitely try this alternative way of wrapping your present. First, wrap your ribbon all the way around the gift box, and then tie it just one time so that there are actually two loose ends that you can work with. Now, form a loop out of one end while wrapping the opposite end around it, just like you would do when forming a regular bow! Finally, you can pull the ribbon through so that you are left with only a single loop.

Use Twists in Succession

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Sometimes when you are wrapping gifts, it can be very helpful to perform a certain twist on a traditional way of trying ribbons on gift boxes. What you want to do is tie a simple and basic ribbon all around your gift box. Then, you can finish it off with a fast knot on the top. This will be in place of the usual bow. Then, you have the luxury of actually lining up several of these knots all in a row, either just straight across or diagonally. These are the best ways in which you can spice up your birthday gift with these ribbon-wrapping tips.

via

A ribbon just isn't for your hair; it can also provide beautiful ornamentation and visual appeal on any present that you wrap. And that's what really counts when you are wrapping presents: Making them appear attractive to the eye, so that the person receiving the present has something to really look at. Follow these tips above, and the next present you wrap will have that wow effect.

I have managed to grab a few Christmas gifts already and I am dying to wrap them up beautifully!  Now, if I can just get Mister on board with putting the tree up already...

3 Year Wedding Anniversary: Gift Reveal

I know you guys are on pins and needles waiting to see what we gave each other as anniversary gifts.
 But first, the meal.
Mister picked up some yummy steaks and because it was so cold (and we were out of propane...) we decided to do them in the oven.  I don't always mind this method but you just can't beat the taste of the grill.
Also I had the broiler up so high I filled the house with smoke. Ooops.
The saving grace was the truffle butter we had on top of the steaks.
Holy heaven in a little container. 
We also shared some wine that we had been saving forever.
And, looking back, maybe a little too long.
I know wine ages but this bottle had moved a couple times with us and I think it had probably seen better days.
It was good but I'd really love to test it out again as a fresh bottle.

As I mentioned, we stuck with traditional gifts again this year with year 3 being leather.
And for the reveal...

 Headphones for Mister and a passport cover for me!
Mister really loves music, sound and technology.  He has been wanting some nice headphones for awhile now and talks about them often.
Also adding to his obsession, Katie's husband Derek is the headphone master.
Literally Derek knows all there is to know about headphones.
 Turns out, there's a lot to know too.
Derek gets as much credit for this gift as I do.
I emailed back and forth with him and he gave me lots of suggestions and information.

I originally came up with this idea of getting Mister headphones FOREVER ago.  I almost purchased them for Christmas but then remembered the leather theme.
I was envisioning the part that goes across your head being leather and tying into the theme.
When I thought of that I was pretty convinced I had struck gold in my gift giving.
Well, turns out that part is vinyl.
You win some, you lose some...I still thought it was a genius idea.

As for my gift, we had both just renewed our passports (never a fun expense but an adult necessity) because mine still had my maiden name and his was about to expire.  We thought we might as well do it before we were in a bind and actually needed them.  You never know when a fabulous vacation may pop up and you may need them!!
And what fun is traveling if you don't have fun accessories?  I LOVE the case and I am so excited to use it!

3 Year Wedding Anniversary Gift Guide: Leather

Our 3 year anniversary is tomorrow (time flies when you're having fun and hanging out with your BFF every day).

And besides being lovey dovey and looking through our wedding album, gifts are always one of my favorite parts of the day.  That and the steak we are planning on eating.

Starting with our first year of marriage we began giving each other variations of the 'traditional' anniversary gifts each year. 

I like the challenge of finding something within the genre and getting creative with the gifts each year.

Last year the challenge was cotton and I made Mister this.

And for our first year (paper) together I gave him tickets to a comedy show.

Also I like to see what Mister comes up with because he is one heck of a thoughtful gift giver.

 For instance, since last year was 'cotton' he gave me a gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure because they use cotton to take your old polish off.  He's a thoughtful one that Mister.

As I was racking my brain (and the internet) for leather ideas I was finding more and more that there aren't that many out there.

I thought I would put together a list of some ideas that I came across for all of your ladies out there searching for gift ideas.

Phone Case | Travel Kit | Wallet | Shoes | Belt

I think most of these are self explanatory and fit within the 'leather' realm.  I also think that these are things that all guys would love to get.  A few of my guy friends have that J.Crew phone case and love it.  The more you use the it, the better, more worn and broken in it looks.  An idea for the travel kit is to go ahead and fill it with with travel size toiletries and then your man is half way packed for his next trip.  I love the gray boat shoes by Sperry but Target also recently came out with a similar pair that are just as cute.  Nice, classic dress shoes for work are also an option. 

Now, what I got Mister may or may not be on this list.

Time will only tell ;) but I can't spill the beans quite yet. 

I'll share our gifts to each other later this week!

Do you stick to the traditional anniversary gifts?
If so, what did you give as a 'leather' gift?

Valentine's Day Gift Guide: For Him and Her

So all of a sudden Valentine's Day is next week! 

What?!

The Mister and I don't do huge gifts for Valentine's but we do like to do a little something for each other. 

And the Mister gets extra spoiled because his birthday is 2 days after Valentine's Day.

BUT those are always separate gifts and events.  Just like how Christmas and my birthday are separate.

I love birthdays too much to let them share the lime light with another holiday.

I'm not a huge chocolate lover (give me a pound of gobstoppers or sour patch kids any day) so that is always out for Valentine's Day.  

So instead of the obvious choices (although I am never opposed to flowers), I put together a few non traditional things I wouldn't mind seeing wrapped in some cute hearts and pink paper this year.

(P.s. Target has adorable Valentine's paper and chevron tissue paper in the dollar section.)

I also included a few guy gifts for your man.

Most of Mister's Valentines (and birthday for that matter) gifts have been purchased and wrapped but there a few things that haven't been.
Are those items on this list?! Who knows...
He will just have to wait to find out! 

 FOR HER
1.  Curling Wand: Shanna has convinced me that I need this for luscious, beautiful waves.

2.  Running Leggings: We are still going strong with p90x but once it gets warmer I want to get back to running more.  Plus I really should start working towards that 10k I told myself I'd run...

These pants would probably really help me do that ;)
Or any new work out gear for that matter!

3. Mrs. Necklace: In love with this thing.  

4.MELT candle: I recently picked on these up from Target and I am so obsessed with it.  The smell is amazing, I love the colorful glass jar and it is lasting forever.  I wouldn't mind owning about 7 more.
FOR HIM
5. Anything Reeses: This is a sure way right into Misters heart.
6. Ticket Stub Pillow: Blow up a ticket stub, print it on fabric transfer and make into a pillow!
7. You and Me and the Dog Print: I mean, this is just our life to a T and would be cute in Mister's office.
8.  Cute shirt: Mister doesn't need any help being cute but this shirt would definitely add to his cuteness :)  Target has had some really great guys stuff lately!

 I know some people think celebrating Valentine's Day is silly but we personally LOVE it (yes pun intended).  I think it's a fun little way to show all the loved ones in your life a some extra love.  Plus it breaks up the monotony of the week when you throw such a cute holiday in on a Thursday!

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day?
What is on your list this year?

Scrappy Trees: Christmas DIY

I love making, giving and receiving homemade gifts for Christmas.

Each year I love to create a new craft to make and give to loved ones.

This year Pinterest came to the rescue.

I recently saw this

and this

and thought they were adorable.

Luckily, I have a few million hundred fabric scraps.

In the design world, fabrics are often discontinued.

While it is sad to see them go, it is a crafter's dream! 

When these fabrics get discontinued at work, I often go through them and keep the pretty ones.

I have a hard time saying no to beautiful fabrics.

This equals a loooot of fabrics...

Once I saw these trees, I knew I finally had a use for all of my fabrics!

These trees are so simple to make and very unique.

Items Needed:

• fabric and leather scraps
• hot glue
• canvas (I used a few different sized ones)

1. Decide what color scheme you want your tree to be

2. Cut rectangles of scraps to make the body of your tree

3. Cut a square for the tree trunk. (I used leather scraps for this.)

4. Cut a star for the top (or angel if you are really good!)

5. Hot glue a larger piece of fabric over the canvas to create your background. (I think a burlap background could be really cute for these too!)

6. Lastly, glue the scraps onto the canvas and ta da!

The options are endless with this craft!

I am excited to make more of these and can not wait to give them as gifts!

Have you made any Christmas DIY presents yet?

Linking up with Cassie over at Hi Sugarplum! for the Blogosphere Holiday Link Party!

and All Things Lovely!