Making a Comeback

I started this blog last year as a way to inspire and give incite to the hidden treasures of the world around me. Mainly as a food critique blog. That never happened. In fact I forgot I even started this adventure. So here I am, back almost a year later to try this again. I've decided to make a conscious effort to post every day. I've been making large steps to better myself and those inside my little bubble. I'm going to refrain from limiting myself in my posts, no topic shall be off topic. Rather, I plan to share as much as I can about everything I am enriching my life with.

In the last year I have taken on the job of a full time nanny, enrolled for my master groomers certificate, and became a major advocate for detoxifying our lives and promoting all things pure and natural. (Don't be alarmed I'm far from a crunchy hippie.) But, you will learn more of that as we progress.

I'm far from your typical hopeless romantic, though that is not to say I'm not one. Valentine's Day is not a holiday I tend to buy in to. In fact I have this terrible guilt and self loathing that takes over every year when I step in to the store to pick out that perfect Hallmark card. In the back of my mind the little voice is going "you're supporting a card holiday...stop it!". So yesterday I made the plunge and bought the card for my sweetheart. $9.00 later I knew that I needed to do something special.

I set out on Pinterest to find the perfect "DIY gifts to make for him", you know the man that has everything and doesn't eat refined sugars so the ol'box of chocolates just wont do. As much as I love Pinterest I find that I just end up picking too many projects and going overboard. Welllllllll.... I might have but oh well.

First I stumbled upon a brown paper gift bag over flowing with tissue paper, you guessed it, tied up with string. The endearing "Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String...." "Here are a few of your favorite things" project took hold. I didn't even click the image to pin it or read what goodies they stuffed in it for their spouse. I just went on a shopping spree.
My bag ended up containing:

• Bar & Chain Oil for his chain saw (his favorite toy)
• paracord for his hunting bag and other various projects
• zip ties because well it's the one thing he always needs and never has
• Pay Days & Reeses (they're his favorite even though he isn't supposed to eat them)
• Silk Roses (a gag gift more or less)
• A turkey tote because my man likes to hunt
• A rubber ducky nail brush because he insisted on using mine on the eggs and broke it...
• A Mechanics's sponge (didn't know such a thing existed, but again more of a novelty gag gift)
• handmade trinkets of love

I'm sure I will add more to it, but for now that is the contents. Which leads me to my next project....

In his bag he will find 3 fabulous handmade sentiments:

Open When Envelopes. I will not tell you what they have inside them for that ruins the genuine sentiment behind it, but I will tell you what I chose for Open When.... topics.

• When you miss me
• When you need a hug & kiss
• When you need a reminder of why you love me
• When you need a reminder of why I love you
• When you need to talk to me
• When I'm sad and you don't know what to do
• When you need a smile
• When you want to know my dreams for our future
• When you need to be reminded why we're worth fighting for
• When you're feeling insecure
• Before you fall asleep at night

I've seen the open when envelopes a million times, and I love the idea. I will tell you to be creative though don't just write little notes, add a memory.

Next I made 52 reasons why I love you cards. First of all this is not for someone that hates writing. It is tedious and time consuming, and not because you need 52 reasons but you're writing on playing cards. I bought a cheap deck of cards from the dollar store for this project and whipped out my oil paint sharpie. I don't suggest doing this for your boyfriend if you've been together for a short period of time. This is one of those take every little thing you know about them and make it known type thing. On the last Joker card which makes 54 I wrote "I love that I can name more than 52 things I love about you." Cute and cheesy, just the type of thing that makes him love me. But it was true I could have written a book last night as to all the reasons I love him. Men say women are complicated, pfffft ask a wife or long term girlfriend all the reasons they stay with their man, and learn just how complicated men are.

Last but not least! I bought one of those little kid ABC picture books and used each letter to start a sentence that applied to him or us. It got a little tricky when it came to x and z but I managed. Again a pinterest idea that I really didn't do much with aside from look at a picture and go "oh that's cute".

The moral of the story, this is the stuff that my honey loves. He hates when I go out and buy him stuff. He tells me all the time he doesn't need more "stuff". It's the sentimental, thought out, "Hey I appreciate you gifts" that he loves.

Let me know what you do for your sweetheart. If you've done similar projects or the same projects, what did you put in them?