let's get crafty!!

i know, i know. you're thinking, "two posts in one day?! its my lucky day!". you're welcome.  with only 14 weeks left until baby girl gets here, i decided it was time to start cranking away at her nursery.  there's a few crafts i've been wanting to do and finally got around to them.  thank you pinterest for the first idea!

this simple project can be done in an hour or two.  simply start out with a 12x12 canvas (or whatever size you want) and enough fabric of your choice to cover the canvas.  i used a staple gun to attach the fabric. its hard to tell from these pictures but i chose the colors in makena's room (green, brown, tan, gold) but added some pink buttons to personalize it and make it somewhat girly.  i started by designing the letter M to my liking, before opening the glue.  when i got it just right, i carefully picked up button by button, added a few dots of fabric glue and stuck it back down.  add some ribbon to hang it and bam! you're done.

next, i used the extra fabric that i had to spice up an over-sized mason jar as a place to put kena's headbands and bows :)  tied some ribbon on it and left it simple! now she just need lots more bows....

that's it for nursery crafts for today.

this next idea isn't really a craft as much as it is just a good idea.  go to the craft store, buy some over-sized buttons, some magnets and hot glue and make some cute refrigerator magnets!

lastly, i want to offer some ideas to those couples out there that can't think of creative date nights.  i found a really cool blog that i have to give all the credit to on this one.  it's called Love, Actually and the link is: http://loveactually-blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/envelope-day.html

i think it's extremely important for every married couple to continue to "date".  i'm talking, setting aside a specific night every week to spend with each other.  no cell phones, no kids....just you two.  jon and i have recently adapted this idea, so every thursday we plan to do something fun together.  depending on how much money we have, we will go see a movie, go out to dinner, or even go to the park and walk around.  we hope to keep this up after kids are born. i think its a great tool to a successful marriage.  anyway, sometimes we run out of ideas.  i found this and thought it would be a fun way to spend a whole date DAY together.  i put together my envelopes today and will present them to jon when the time comes.  you still have to come up with ideas, but its just more fun this way :)

you can make this as elaborate or simple as you wish.  i just printed out the ideas in different fonts and colors and taped them onto scrapbook paper.

i color coordinated each phase.  breakfast, event, dinner and lovin'.  come up with as many ideas as you want for each phase (i did 3) and have him pick randomly. 

all done!  if you wanna know what mine said, here you go:

breakfast:
1. breakfast of your choice in bed
2. breakfast diner
3. make breakfast together

event:
1. outdoor event of your choice: mini-golf, nature walk, picnic in the park, etc.
2.  matinee movie of your choice
3. a trip to the store of your choice

dinner:
1. takeout/delivery
2. your favorite restaurant
3. new restaurant

lovin': (don't look, mom)
1. candlelit bubble bath
2. sexy lingerie and a bottle of wine
3. massage and oils

now go be romantic and do this!  coming up next time? recipes!