Father's Day Gifts

Why haven't I blogged in a while?  LIFE.  Yep, we all know how it just seems to keep us busy whether we'd rather be blogging or not.  So, since there's no way to ever catch up, I'll just move on.  But here's a pretty photo of the spring blossoms on my apple tree to prove I have been taking photos, even if I haven't shared them here.

Father's Day, and Dad's birthdays are the hardest ever gifts to come up with, at least for me.  So I am usually in need of some way to give them the only thing I can think of - food!
So, I did these Father's Day gifts for my Dad and my father-in-law two years ago, but haven't ever posted them yet.  So in case someone out there ever reads this and needs ideas for Father's Day, do what I did, go to Kristine Mckay's website here, for this awesome idea.  She has cute printables for these, and other gifts.  Here's how mine turned out.

I got my soda bottles and holder at Target.  I don't remember the brand, but they had roosters on the lids.

Cute huh?  Wish I could take credit for them.  But Kristine is awesome, so check out all of her ideas and the segment from Studio 5.  I totally would have made the fishing one if I had baby food jars.

Now I had better get searching because I only have a week to find the next perfect Father's Day gift idea to copy from someone.

Valentine's Decor (or Lack Thereof)

For all holidays I at least try to have my entry table decorated.  Sometimes, like now, it is the only place decorated.  Usually in January I leave out a few snowmen, pine cones and pine boughs, but since I just recently got Christmas taken down (except for a few lingering wreaths), I figured I had better shoot for Valentine's Day instead.

If you have been anywhere in Blogland in the past year, then you already know the popularity of Subway Art right now.  I like the fact that is easy to interchange, cheap, and versatile, but my favorite part of it, is that lots of other people make it and give it to me for FREE!

So here's my entry table including FREE subway art from eighteen25.  I already had the 8 1/2 x 11 black frame, so I just printed it onto photo paper and inserted.  Wala!  For more color-intensive prints I would get prints from Costco instead of using up my ink.
Here are some links to other blogs with cute Valentine's subway art:  Today's Fabulous Finds,  Craftily Ever After, and Tatertots and Jello.

The rest:
The wooden hearts on the wreath are D.I. makeovers from THIS blog post.
The vintage Valentine's cards around it are from The Graphics Fairy.
The glass canisters are from D.I. thrift store with lids from old candles.  The biggest problem with decorating with candy is that it disappears!  And since this display is at the most passed-by location in our home, it goes fast.  The peppermint sticks were leftovers from Christmas, but the colors worked, the white chocolate roses are leftovers from my niece's wedding reception, and you can't beat M&M's in all their colorful glory (it used to be full).
I also got the mirrored tray at D.I. only it used to be gold.  It stands up, or has legs for a tray and it had been a wonderful item to decorate with to add a little extra sparkle.
Finally, the LOVE is from Tai Pan Trading.  I have really tried to find more cute Valentine's decor at stores this year, but there just isn't much out there.   I was happy with this though.

My only other Valentine's decor is a jumbo Hershey's kiss on a little white stand and a few random wooden hearts.  So I'll keep looking in Blogland for more freebies and inspiration and maybe clearance sales will be good to me this year.  If so, the decor may get to spread to other areas of my home.  Oh, and I better stock up on more candy since we haven't even gotten to February yet!