DIY – welcometotheworldofkim (2024)

Today is our anniversary! We don’t typically do anything big for our anniversaries for a few reasons: 1. it’s during the holidays – a time when you put a lot of effort into getting together with your families seems like a silly time to run off on your own; 2. we aren’t into any big numbers or anything yet; 3. we spend most of our time together anyway; 4. we’ve just spent plenty of money on Christmas gifts; 5. if we want something or to go somewhere, we usually do it whenever we have the chance and don’t wait for special occasions. That may seem pretty unromantic, but it works well for us. Or you could look at it as we treat every day like it’s our anniversary, so the actual day isn’t any different. We have always done a little something though. This year, I borrowed an idea from Pinterest for a sentimental little something to give to the hubs. Here was the inspiration:

The steps I took were find a cute deck of cards, make reasons, attach them, and ring up cards. So here we go:

Airplane spotting cards from WW2 off of Etsy. The hubs like planes.

I wanted to use the back of the cards, so as not to ruin the pretty plane pictures. I measured out the space I wanted them to take up and cut them from card stock. I wrote out my reasons & attached them to the cards with Mod Podge.

Punched holes in the cards and put them in order on the rings.

Voila! A personalized & inexpensive anniversary gift.

Sam is scrambling to figure out what to do for me now because my gift is so awesome. Victory! Also, sorry the pictures are poor quality; they are from my phone.

Here are some fun Christmas finds from Pinterest!

First, wrap it up:
Simple trimmings

Stripes
Fun with color & texture
Crafty touches

Second, if you are lucky enough to have a mantle, dress it up:
Not crazy about the center picture, but love the silhouettes & stockings.
Crisp whites and simple holiday cheer
Golds and personalization
Romantic and quoted

Finally, no matter who, what, or where you are, eat it up:
Individual pear & cranberry pies
Peppermint bark rice crispies
Melted snowmen cookies – perfectionism not required for this treat.
A non-sweet – Cheese Trees
A twist on a classic
Precious cakes
Raspberry hot chocolate cupcakes
Dreamy & Festive
And wash it down with a Cup of Cheer!

5 more days!

Pinterest. An idea, information, and inspiration sharing forum. I mostly use it for style & home decor ideas and getting hungry – pretty food pictures always get me worked up. Here are some lovelies that I pinned today.

For the Home:

Bookcases for shoe racks – genius! Just think you can adjust to your liking.
The materialistic side of me says I wish I had this many shoes.

Clever! Metal magazine racks to hold fruits and veggies.
Anything that clears the counters is beneficial.
Plus, I can’t help thinking the air would do them good.

A neat way to organize and display mail, letters, & photos.
I’m a fan of snail mail, but maybe not this color.

#1. Make meaningful bucket list. #2. Do this!
Check them off by putting them in the bucket – seriously!

For the Belly:

Baked Apple Cider Donut Holes – Yum!

Whole Wheat Brown Sugar Banana Bread Pancakes
I love all of those things, so they must be good.

Baked Brie Bites – afinger-foods spin on baked brie, j’adore.
This would be a perfect treat for parties!

For the Body:

Still looking out for colder weather styles, and I was glad
to see some ideas that didn’t involve skinny jeans.
Not that I don’t love skinnies; I just have other jeans, too.

Navy & Orange is a daring color combo idea.I’d have to
up my braveness ante to progress from the first outfit to the second.

For the Soul:

I don’t know how I missed this when I was in Paris. This is the Lovers Bridge where couples attach locks and throw the keys into the Seine to symbolize eternal love.Whenever I get to Paris again (and the hubs better be with me this time), I will have a spray-painted padlock in tow.

There you have it! What kind of things catch your eye on Pinterest? If you aren’t on, let me know, and I’ll send you an invite. Trust me, you want it.

Typically, when I do DIY activities, I am supervised by my crafty friend, Aims. She is highly skilledin the arts & crafts. If you would like to check out her many projects, see The Crafty under my blogroll. She also has an Etsy shop, and you never know what kind of lovelies you’ll find there.I should also warn you that I probably should have failed kindergarten. I struggle with cutting straight, coloring in the lines, telling time on a non-digital clock, and occasionally my lefts & rights get fuzzy. However, I just can’t resist trying some of the awesome DIY ideas you find everywhere, mostly on Pinterest. This little beauty caught my eye when perusing winter crafts. Hmm, I thought, it’s pretty, it could be a cheap way to fill some of this temporary-home empty space, and I have a pine tree in the front yard. I did not realize at the time that they obviously used large, similarly-shaped, pretty pinecones –details. I forged ahead purchasing my styrofoam ball, a package of screw-in hooks, and some green ribbon. Next, I collected my front yard’s pinecone offerings and started hot glueing. I quickly realized this wasn’t going to cut it. Over the next few days, I gathered more cones on walks with the pup. I found some nicely-colored bigger ones that I decided to use on the bottom. If I were to do it again, I would gather a bunch first, start with my largest on the bottom, and work my way up. One good thing about hot glue is that I was able to relocate a few hastily placed cones. As it were, it turned out to be an interesting, eclectic pomander, as opposed to the lovely round-moundy example (as I call it). The other issue I didn’t consider was the many differentcolors pinecones can be. I’m still considering spray painting the entire thing gold or something. What do you think? Oh, and if you are planning on trying it, reinforce your hook with hot glue because this baby got heavy.
So here is my unsupervised craft attempt. I suppose it will do.You never know what you can do until you try!