Staying Home Sawyer

Real Life Living on a Real Life Budget

DIY

And We Are Officially Two! Two Year Anniversary Gift Idea

2nd Anniversary Gift - Cotton and ChinaAnd just like that, I’ve been married for two years! One day you wake up, ready to walk down the aisle and the next thing you know, it’s two years later and you wake up just wanting to sleep in a little bit longer. For a few reasons (I had pneumonia last week, my in-laws were in town, and the big one: we are going to Disneyland next weekend to celebrate), we didn’t make a big fuss out of our actual anniversary. We exchanged gifts and went out for some sushi. (Only a few fish were harmed in the making of this anniversary)

I know it’s real surprising, but I really wanted to make Brendan’s anniversary gift by hand. I wanted it to be something traditional, as I did last year. Since the traditional gift for the second anniversary is Cotton and the modern gift is China, I really struggled with how to combine them. Eventually I realized that a few dish towels and a new set of china was not going to cut it, so I aimed for something Chinese instead. After nixing the idea of a photoshoot in Chinatown with some cotton candy (the bigger problem here is that I do not have a friend I could rope into this), I decided to go a little nontraditional. Chinese takeout with cotton candy. New spin on an old classic?

2nd Anniversary Gift - Cotton Candy and Chinese TakeoutI bought white takeout containers at Michael’s, found a little fabric that resembled a Chinese print, and fashioned my own Chinese takeout container with matching fortune cookie. Filled the box with some cotton candy, added my own ‘fortune’ love note, and done! Now if that isn’t the best spin on the 2nd Anniversary gifts that you’ve ever seen, I don’t know how much more I can do to please you. Seriously. I spent weeks trying to combine China and Cotton into one gift. If you have a better idea, I am ALL EARS.

2nd Anniversary Gift - Cotton and ChinaWarning: To avoid a “Pinterest Fail” – Do NOT put the cotton candy in the container the day before you plan on giving this gift. I would suggest filling it a few minutes before you gift it. Let’s just say a “friend of mine” did this, and ended up giving her husband a box of depleted cotton candy/rock hard sugar that may or may not have resembled the colors of cotton candy. On that note, I am off to make my husband a new 2nd Year Anniversary gift. 😉

DIY

A Glass of Wine & A Little Sunshine

A Gift of Wine and SunshineAs previously mentioned, I am NOT looking forward to fall. I would forgo the PSL’s, the colored leaves, and the football for just a few more weeks of summer. Remember just a few short months ago when everyone was on Facebook complaining about the winter-never-ending, and begging for shorts weather? Now those same people are online begging for Fall, claiming they cannot wait to get their hands on everything and anything pumpkin. I am quite settled exactly where I am, thank you very much. Don’t rush me. I don’t want to wear boots with leg warmers, I’ll stick to my bikini. Good thing I live in California, we still have weeks of good weather left! (knock on wood)

Because I love sunshine so much, I’m apparently the queen of sunshine gifts. I seem to be making one of these every month, as you can see here. However, this time I wanted to change it up a little bit. I typically do a ‘Box of Sunshine,’ that is mailed to a friend or family member that needs a little brightening up. But last week, our neighbor was going through a tough time. Now, I’m not denying how great the boxes are, but what’s even better?

A Glass of Wine & A Little Sunshine

Wine. Wine and cookies. Duh. Wine and cookies make everything better. The only thing missing is a cheeseburger. But that’s definitely just me.

So I designed a new little tag for the wine bottle, tied up some cookies (with this little tag), and voila. A much more appropriate sunshine gift for your friends. This way, they can drink their troubles away. I can’t possibly be the only person that does that right?A Glass of Wine & A Little Sunshine

DIY

Giveaway Alert: Adult Coloring Book

Adult Coloring Book GiveawayI don’t know about you, but I was not too excited to return to work after the nice long weekend. Why is it that when you get that extra day off work, it is even harder to return to work than it is on a typical two day weekend? I couldn’t fall asleep last night, so of course I woke up feeling groggy and sick this morning. Not the best start to another work week if you ask me.

But because I don’t want your week to start off on the bad note that mine did, I’m hosting my very first giveaway!! I had so much fun with my adult coloring book pages that I figured I’d give one away to one of my readers. This book is the best I’ve found so far, because all the pages are fun quotes you can hang up at work, frame for the house, or even give to your friends to cheer them up.

Adult Coloring Book GiveawaySince you can’t get your adult coloring on without some sort of utensil, I bought the 72 pack of colored pencils to go with it. With that many options, your pages will definitely stand out. Am I the only person who gets seriously excited for a new coloring book and a SEVENTY-TWO pack of colored pencils?! Hello options!

Adult Coloring Book Giveaway Prize Details

Here are the RULES for entering:

1) Leave a comment below telling me why you can’t wait to get your coloring on.

2) For additional entries, visit Rae of Sparkles on Instagram for more details!

The winner will be chosen at random. The contest closes on September 11th, 2015 at 11:59am. Winner will be announced on Facebook, and will be contacted based on their email address provided for comment. Good luck! 

Adult Coloring Book GiveawayAnd just in case you don’t win your own copy, you can print the Today is Going to Be Awesome page for free on In The Playroom.

DIY

Donut-cha Know How Much I Love You?

Leave a little love with Donut Love NotesI’m just going to throw it out there. My husband can’t whistle. Yup. There it is. When you start feeling like you’re having a bad day, just think about how much worse it could be. You could be pursing your lips, blowing air through the little hole, and getting nothing in response. You could look like a total fool just trying to get some noise, any noise, to come out of your mouth. You could fail miserably trying to whistle along with your favorite songs on the radio. You could never whistle while you work. The devastation is endless.

Clearly my husband needs a little cheering up every once in a while. I can’t imagine a life without whistling. It’s just too traumatic. So in order to get him smiling again, I like to leave him little treats in his lunchbox. Preferably with pink tags that are extremely feminine. The more flowers, hearts, and stars, the better. I only wish I could see his face when he pulls out these treats at work, in a room full of macho men. I’m sure they’re all jealous.

Leave a Donut Love Note for Someone SpecialFortunately for me, there are so many talented bloggers out there who design cute little tags when I don’t have the time. I found these little donut printables on Damask Love. You can print them here. There’s endless possibilities with these little cut-outs.

These are perfect treats for friends, neighbors, or co-workers that might be having an actual bad day. Although I’ll take any excuse to make little treats for my hubby, not being able to whistle does not actually count as a bad day. We are well aware that our life is pretty dang good. We are thankful every day for the blessings we have, and try to take time to appreciate everything we’ve been given. When I’m having what feels like a ‘bad day,’ I try to remind myself that it could always be worse.

Take a second to be grateful for your bad days. And then make a little treat for someone else, someone who is having a day worse than yours. Making someone else smile is the best cure to your bad day. Trust me.