Tag: birthday

Life

Busy. Busy. Busy.

Jessica Smith

Hello blog,

I have not forgotten about you, although I haven’t posted in a few days. It’s been busy around our house with a lot of non-blog worthy stuff, and the next two weeks don’t look like they will be any slower. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day — my favorite holiday! Yay! Then Monday is my birthday. Double yay — well for me anyway. Double trouble for the hubby. He’ll manage though. We have lots of celebrations planned, including a Valentine’s Dinner tomorrow night, dinner with family on Saturday, birthday dinner No. 1 on Sunday, birthday dinner No. 2 on Monday, followed by Monday Night Trivia, and then a fondue birthday celebration on the following Saturday. I am full just thinking about it!

I consider my birthday celebrations officially started with the receiving of my first gift last night…. from Marlboro Cigarettes. Yes, you heard right. I get presents from Marlboro. Let’s clear up a few things: 1. I don’t smoke. 2. I’ve never smoked anything in my life. 3. I never plan on smoking anything in my life. To answer the obvious questions — why the heck is Marlboro sending you a birthday gift  — well, I haven’t a freakin’ clue! I somehow ended up on their mailing list and they like to send me gifts. In the past I got a sweet bottle opener that attaches to a bar. Too bad I donated it before we got our house and our bar. Such is life.

I know, I know… you are dying to know what they could have possible sent, right? Well, this little box arrived at my mom’s place last night. She texted me to tell me she thought maybe Marlboro was sending me free samples of cigarettes. That idea in itself was absurd, so I told her to open it and find out.

Marlboro Swag

Check out my AWESOME birthday gift.  Yes, that’s right. Yours truly just got some SWEET AVIATORS from a cigarette company. Randommmmm.

Marlboro Swag

I’ve got some bad news for Marlboro (who will likely remove me from their list should they ever stumble upon this post): those are sweet aviators and I will TOTALLY be rocking them this summer, but I am still not gonna pick up smoking. I’ve got enough bad habits as it is. Good try though! Maybe I’ll buy a candy cigarette and fake smoke in my aviators just for effect… but that still seems unlikely.

In other news, we are oober close to replacing some of the doors in our house. We are aiming to replace our front and car port doors probably in March and I cannot wait!!! My stepdad is going to help us with the install so I actually get to learn what the heck it takes to put a new door in. Sweeeeeet. The hubby has already warned me we will likely scuff up some of our walls and that I need to prepare myself. Good thing he did because it would and will totally stress me out.

In other other news, we started a trivia team with my neighbors and a few friends this past Monday night and we won Third Place on our first go at it! Go us.

OK, OK. Enough rambling. Happy Wednesday.

Christmas, Craft Projects, Holiday, Quick and Easy Crafts, Wine Crafts

Holiday Wine Charms

Jessica Smith

I welcome today with open arms after yesterday’s tragedy in Connecticut. I was in a real funk after hearing about the shooting (rightfully so) and couldn’t quite snap out of it all day. Even though we had our holiday party at work and I got to come home to my hubby and my puppy, I couldn’t shake the terrible sadness I was feeling. I can’t even imagine what that town is going through right now and my thoughts are with them in this unthinkably difficult time. I am so thankful to get to see my little brother today and my sister and my parents… they are all getting extra big hugs from me for sure. Today is a new day and will most certainly be a better day, so with that said, onto a few happier things.

Today is my best friend’s birthday! Dana and I have been friends forever. Seriously. We were next-door neighbors when we were born and have been friends ever since. Sure, we were forced to be friends. But years of our parents making us play nice turned into a fantastic friendship that I know I’ll have as long as I live.

Me and Dana

Weren’t we cute? I’m on the left and Dana is on the right. And that’s my momma 🙂 She’s so pretty.

Dana and Me

And here we are today… Dana is on the left this time and has a lot more hair, but we are more or less the same.

Love you, Dana! Happy birthday.

And now onto the craft!

I’ve already shown you how to make wine charms, but did you ever think to make holiday-themed wine charms as inexpensive Christmas gifts? I hadn’t until this year, but as I was wandering the aisles of Michaels I Stumbled across holiday buttons and picked up a pack of holiday lights and cookie cutter buttons. Holy cuteness.

In case you forget how or simply missed the post on how to make wine charms, it is super easy. All you need are different charms or beads, pre-made hoop wire, and pliers. Add your beads and charms onto the hoop wire, then bend the end of the wire into a right angle so nothing can fall off. Put this bent end into the eyelet on the end of the hoop wire, and your charm is finished! Just make sure there is something obviously different about each charm so when they are used people will be able to remember which is theirs (although I never remember… oops.)

The first set I made were a Secret Santa gift for my coworker Julie. I made her a set of three wine cork ornaments and these wine charms to go with a nice bottle of wine. I used the Christmas light buttons and a few silver beads as accents to make this adorable set of wine charms. She really liked them and said she didn’t have any wine charms at all before! Sweet.

Holiday wine charms

Then I made this set of cookie cutter charms. The colors are all very similar, but each charm is very different: Heart, tree, gingerbread man, star. I have two sets of these and will be giving them out as Christmas gifts. Gah, they are so cute.

wine charms

All in all, these probably cost about $2 per set. So if you need an inexpensive gift, these are a great idea.

I hope you all have a great weekend! Hug your loved ones and make wine charms 🙂

Life

Beer Scavenger Hunt

Jessica Smith

All my hubby wanted for his birthday was cake and beer. Being the birthday lover that I am, I was a little sad that he didn’t want to celebrate turning 27 with our friends and didn’t want any awesome gift. So I decided to make his request a little more exciting by sending him on a scavenger hunt to find his beer.

So, I snuck out one night to do some grocery shopping and to stop by one of the liquor stores in the area that has a nice selection of craft beers — Perfect Pour is the bomb! I picked out 28 unique beers (one for good luck!), and stashed them in my craft room so he wouldn’t find them. Then, I created 18 clues (they all rhymed!!) and strategically hid all 28 beers around the house and the yard. I also hid one at the neighbors. It was a lot of fun to watch him hunt, and it was a fun way to make his birthday a little more special.

Clue #1: Remmy likes to eat these, sometimes more than treats. Sometimes they are stinky, ‘cause they belong on feet.

Clue #2: All you asked for was cake and beer, I guess you’ll want one cold. Better find the rest real fast before you get too old.

Clue #3: Don’t hate me too much, some beers come in pairs. For your first set of two, go check the Harry Potter closet underneath the stairs.

Clue #6: You know who’s quite the loser? That Steeler’s boy – Big Ben. You know what’s so much cooler? Your beer that’s in the den.

Clue #9: I’d rather have a power tool than a brand new, shiny ring. Good thing they’re all so organized, you can find everything!

Clue #13: Modern Family and New Girl are the bomb. So is HGTV. Good thing ours is a 55 incher, with totally awesome HD.

Clue #15: While you’re outside, you should probably check the trees. Just watch out – don’t step in Remmy’s poop or pee.

I hid about half of the beers while he was playing a video game… so sneaky 🙂

Then, he ran out to get tonic water at the grocery store, so I frantically hid the rest. As he pulled into the driveway my neighbor shouted, “HE’S HERE!!!!!” I tossed the last beer into a pile of leaves, which was really hard to find later, and ran inside to meet him.

Also, to throw him off my sneaky scent, I went out and bought a 12-pack earlier in the day to keep good on my “cake and beer promise.” Haha I felt a little ridiculous buying even more beer when we had 28 bottles at home. Oh well!

All in all, he had a great time. If your man is a beer lover, you should totally do this for him. It’s hilarious to watch them hunt and is a manly(ish) way to make them feel special on their birthday.

And don’t forget the cake! Purple — just for the Ravens!

Wipe that scowl off your face, boy. You loved the hunt 🙂

Happy birthday to my favorite husband. I hope it was a low-key and special day, just like you wanted. <;3 You are always such a good sport.