Favorite Holiday Gifts

So this post of my favorite xmas gifts is late (how has it been a month since the holidays already?), but I figured it was better late than never!

I had a hard time making a wish list this holiday since there was/ is nothing material that I needed. Thankfully I got some great gifts anyways. Oddly enough, my favorite gifts were the coloring book (it truly does help relieve stress), the Clarisonic Mia 2, and the Birchbox subscription. My coworker introduced me to Birchbox while we were on a business trip in NYC and we went to the Soho location (the only brick-and-mortar location). I loved it so much that I even got the subscriptions for my mom and my MIL for Christmas. It's definitely the gift that keeps on giving! I had seen a bunch of art therapy coloring books in the Parisian department stores and wished I had bought one while in France. 

I know it's been over a month ago (where does the time go?), but what were some of your favorite [material] gifts from the holiday? 
xo

Friday Favorites

Woo! It's Friday! 

It's been another looooong work week filled with 11+ hour days so I'm ready to get out of the office for a few days. It'll be nice to have a small break next week during Thanksgiving.

I love this scratch-off map. It would be a great gift for a young kid to get them excited about traveling the world.

Six reasons to love Atlanta. Not that I needed to be reminded. :)

I totally want to learn this dance!

Stop stressing out! You may discover some things.

An inflatable bed for the backseat? Road trip perfection.

I'm excited to go to the annual Indie Craft Experience tomorrow! Hoping to get a lot of my holiday gift shopping done since the holidays are about to be in full effect.

Hope your weekend is a blast!

xo

5th Anniversary Theme DIY: Wood

Every year for our anniversary so far, J + I try to stick with the traditional anniversary gift themes; however, we try to do something unique each year. The gifts typically include something handmade. 

See past years' gifts here, here, here.

Since the 5th anniversary theme is wood, I figured I'd try to make something on one of the pieces of wood that was used as a centerpiece at our wedding:

What tools you'll need for this wood-burning project:

- Wooden plaque

- Wood-burning tool

- Alphabet set

- Needle nose pliers

I chose a quote and then got to work. The hardest part was figuring out the spacing. Since I had to use the pliers to unscrew each letter, I thought I'd try to do all of the same letters in 1 run to reduce having to switch out the letters, but I don't recommend it. The "I" in the bottom row below ended up having to be a "R" so thankfully it worked out!

 Once the iron got hot (it took about 4 minutes), the letters would warm up very quickly so be very careful! Pliers really are your best friend.

I only made one mistake (besides the spacing on the 2nd row wording, but it ended up fine), because I was distracted. Nightmare, eh?

Thankfully, I was able to get out a small sander and sand out the mistake. It left a slight discoloration that I may try to use dirt on to darken, but it's not really noticeable. 

As I got into the areas where I was worried about space, I used the pieces to determine placement so I could use the same letter more than once to save time. A tip: I used 2 separate metal lids to place the hot letters in: one with letters that I was done with and another with letters I would need again. This saved me time looking through every letter for the right one!

 The finished product! 

This photo was taken with a flash so the sanded part stands out a bit more here than it does in normal lighting. I did this completely free-handed so next time I'll use a ruler to ensure straight lines, but I kind of like the fact that it isn't perfect. As long as it's made with love, right? :)

I will add a hanging bracket to the back in case we want to put it on the wall. My favorite part about this piece is on the back, because there is wax and water stains from the vases and candles from our wedding night 5 years ago...there's something really cool about making one of our centerpieces into a true keepsake!

If you'd like to commission a custom piece, let me know!

xo

Let's Be Adventurers

I am a big fan of Scoutmob's Shoppe. 

I buy many of their awesome items for the people I love (and myself) from their site. Right now, they are featuring some of their top products for going on adventures. 

Here are some of my favorites!

xo

DIY: Personalized Embroidery Hoops

A few months ago, I wanted to make a gift for an upcoming baby shower and I decided I wanted to make something handmade. I ended up making the hoop below for baby India. Ever since, I've really enjoyed making personalized embroidery hoops for my dear friends' baby's nurseries (like the "dream big, little one" above)!

Here are some others that I have made:

 This small hoop hangs in my house - the message is a little blurry (so is the photo), but it makes me smile every time. Choose your own adventure!

 This is my most recent hoop for my best friend Sasha's little boy that will arrive in August! I'm so over the moon for her and Alex and I can't wait to visit them in Seattle after he's born!

If you have any upcoming baby showers or would like a custom embroidered hoop, I'd be happy to make you one! Just send me an email at njlehrer@gmail.com!

Do you have a favorite baby shower gift to give?

xo

Father's Day Gift Ideas

With June 15th right around the corner, I thought I'd share some of my favorite Father's Day Ideas. 
Granted I don't think my dad would be a huge fan of these gifts, but hopefully some of these gifts are the right fit for the fathers in your life!

Although these items are some of my favorites out there, I'm still always a fan of giving experiences over material things ("collect memories, not things" type of deal). If you're the same, then some great gift ideas are could be baseball game tickets (go Braves!), a round of golf, 60 minute massage, or even just a nice meal together.

What do you have planned this Father's Day?

Forage is currently offering 30% off any handkerchief, bow tie, and tie purchase through June 9th with the code "FATHER."

xo

Gifts That Give Back

This holiday season it is important to remember how lucky most of us are in our daily lives. 

Thankfully, J + I don't really need for anything. Sadly, that is not the case for all other people or animals. Try donating a gift or your time to charities this season (and always), because not only will you help out our world greatly, but your heart + soul will be rewarded. 

Below are some charities. initiatives* that are doing amazing things to help better our world:

1. Adopt A Gray Wolf - Wolves suffer not only from habitat loss, but they also endure revenge killings for attacks on wild stock.Your donation supports WWF's conservation efforts worldwide. You'll be helping fund scientific investigations, habitat preservation, and other programs to preserve many of the most endangered animals on Earth. 

2. Krochet Kids - Empowering the women of Northern Uganda and Peru with the assets, skills, and knowledge to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. The women make handmade crochet hats, scarves, stockings, etc. to improve their lives and communities. 

3. Farm Sanctuary - Help support Farm Sanctuary's efforts to end farm animal abuse through investigative, legislative and legal actions, public awareness and humane education projects and direct rescue and shelter of farm animals. Adopt an animal or go to one of their sanctuaries to take a vegan cooking class!

4. Water Partners - Provide a safe water supply for the more than 1 billion people in developing countries who wouldn’t have it otherwise. For every $1 spent on clean water and sanitation, another $8 in costs relating to unsafe water are avoided.

5. Soles4Souls - Collects new shoes to give relief to the victims of abject suffering and collects used shoes to support micro-business efforts to eradicate poverty. Soles4Souls has delivered over 19 million pairs of shoes in over 125 countries both for crisis relief and to support micro-enterprise projects (and in turn, kept more shoes out of the landfills).

*Before you donate to a charity, ensure that it is a group that deserves your gift and will spend it properly. Large charities should spend 80%+ of what they raise on their cause (not paychecks or overhead).

"Recognizing our shared humanity and our biological nature as beings whose happiness is dependent on others, we learn to open our hearts, and in so doing we gain a sense of purpose and a sense of connection with those around us" - Dalai Lama

♥

photo

Tree Elves

The talented brothers behind King of Pops have now come up with another great idea for the holidays!             They've started a business, Tree Elves, that delivers live, potted Christmas trees to Atlanta homes or businesses. The great part is not only that they deliver, but after the holidays they will pick up the tree and it will be replanted! The trees are Leyland Cypresses and they include care instructions with the trees! 

After the trees are returned, the Tree Elves "will donate a number of the trees, host planting parties to beautify our neighborhoods, and sell some to local landscapers."

Make sure to place your order by December 20th!

♥

KeepCup

With Thanksgiving a week away (!!!), it's hitting me that it's officially time to start buying gifts! KeepCup cups would make the perfect gift for those environmentally-conscious folks in your life. Truth be told, they'd be a better gift for those who aren't very green so that maybe they'd be encouraged to be more mindful of their wasteful ways.

In my office, the company provides Styrofoam cups and it blows my mind how my coworkers can be so careless; for instance, I've seen people use a cup for their coffee and then use another cup to pour the coffee back-and-forth instead of using a straw to stir the coffee and creamer! That's a rant for another day!

My favorite part about the KeepCup is that the customer choses the size and color (of the cup, lid, band, and plug) for their custom cup! KeepCups are microwave and dishwasher-safe too! 

Since June 2009, KeepCup users have diverted an estimated 30000 tons of disposable cup waste from landfill, that's about 2 billion disposable cups. A KeepCup compared to a disposable paper cup (including coffee) sees a: 36-47% reduction in global warming, 64-85% reduction in water use, 91-92% reduction in landfill waste annually.

It's a double win this holiday season - reduce waste and give a great gift of a KeepCup!

xo

Wishlist: Scarves

Now that the leaves are almost all fallen and the temperatures are dropping, I cannot wait to bust out my scarves! I actually want to try making a pom-pom scarf...maybe a girls' night craft!

What's your favorite type of scarf? Cowl? Wool? Knit?
xo

[Scarves]

Pendleton for Him

After posting my favorite Pendleton pieces for me (see here) - I figured that I'd share some awesome pieces for the boys. I think the sunglasses are amazing and would look incredible on J. The great thing about Pendleton products is the stylish look and quality of their pieces; however, their stuff is very pricey. #WorthIt!

Which piece would look best on the man in your life?
xo
[pendleton for him]

Antiquing Adventurers

We had some really good finds this weekend at local flea markets and shops in Madison. 

We got some great cups and this new burlap table runner with old keys stamped on it for our dining room hutch (see above) at J+K Fleas An'Tiques. 

Then we went to In High Cotton in downtown Madison. Initially J waited outside with Townes, but they actually allow dogs inside (a MAJOR perk of country stores)! 

Their store is so beautiful and their styling is great. I just enjoyed looking around at all of their great items - so many great things for gifting as well (especially with the holiday season coming up so soon)!

How cool is this lighting? It would look perfect above a big farmhouse dining room table! Definitely a DIY-inspiration!

 We ended up buying a bottle opener, handmade blackbird ornament, and a jaw harp for j. We love the bottle opener in the kitchen - it adds some more color and a vintage feel.

What are your favorite antique shops?

♥

DIY: homemade wedding gift

before we headed to germany last week for our dear friends' wedding, we wanted to make them a special gift. i took inspiration from some etsy prints and decided to make them a wooden chalkboard that highlighted  their hometowns. 

what you'll need for this project:

- wooden slab

- chalkboard paint

- sharpie paint pen (white)

- acrylic paint (red)

- paintbrush

 - paint roller
- tape
- scissors

- state and/or country stencils/ templates

first, i cleaned the wood and then drew a circle around the rim of the wood with a pencil to help determine the size of the circle. next, i painted the first layer of chalkboard paint with a brush and roller. after at least 4 hours of drying time, i painted on the second coat of chalkboard paint.

once all of the chalkboard paint was dry, i took my stencils that had been cut out (this site has good templates for US states) and taped a small corner in place. then i took my white sharpie paint pencil and outlined the stencils. 

once i had outlined the stencils, i removed the stencils and then outlined the state and country lines a few times to make the lines more bold.

once the paint had adequate time to dry, it was time to add the hearts. i should add that i realize that georgia is a state and germany is a country but i felt like this would be cuter and more recognizable than the whole USA and germany or georgia and saxony. kyle is from atlanta, georgia and antje is from jocketa, germany (in the state of saxony). the wedding was actually held in jocketa and it is absolutely beautiful (pictures to come soon)!

i drew the outline of the hearts and plus sign in pencil and then hand-painted them onto the chalkboard. we wrapped the wood in some eyelet ribbon and signed the back with our best wishes for the lovely couple. we ended up giving it to them early to avoid it getting ruined during the travel from berlin to jocketa; however, antje and kyle ended up having it on their guestbook table at the wedding! we couldn't have been more honored or happier that they loved the gift.

we hope that this gift continues to remind them of their special day and that "distance means so little when someone means so much."

i can't wait to share our pictures and stories from our wonderful trip to germany.
xo

pyramid pattern

last week, my sweet husband bought me some great earrings for my birthday. i have loved wearing them so much that i wanted to share them with you! 

these pyramid studs from betsy + iya are about the size of a quarter and they look great with so many different styles! if you wanted to stick with the pyramid scheme, this outfit would be perfect!

pyramid

do you have any accessories that you can't stop wearing lately?
xo

birthday + weekend recap

well - it's official! i'm 28 years old!

going into the weekend, poor j got strep throat and with the weather being 106 degrees (!!!), i knew we'd be limited on celebrating. on saturday, i went to my parents' house to swim since it was the only way to be outside. i also went and got a mani/ pedi to treat myself. i felt so bad that j was stuck in bed all weekend, but at least he's on antibiotics so he should be better in no time.

on sunday, my actual birthday, i took a nice long early morning walk with townes and then went to body sculpting class at the Y. it feels great to go to a class like that where you can really challenge yourself and feel your body's strength.

sunday night, j managed to muster up enough energy to come with me and my family for my birthday dinner. we ate down the street at melton's app + tap so we wouldn't have to go far. food was great and then we headed back to our house. my family was very generous and got me some great gifts!

after my family left, j gave me my birthday gifts. j is such a great gift giver and i am so lucky. i got some new asics (in bright coral and yellow - love!), a kilm pillow cover, awesome bracelet, rings, 2 books, and some stenciled paintings that j painted for me. ♥♥♥

i've got a mexican dinner date with my best friend tomorrow, j's taking me out on wednesday to celebrate officially, thursday we're celebrating with my in-laws, and then there's a secret plan for sunday! i'm not usually one to prolong birthdays into birthday weeks, but i'll take it!

p.s. thank you to everyone who took the time out to wish me a happy birthday yesterday! my heart is so full!

how was your weekend? what'd you do to stay cool? 

♥