It's the thought that counts

Even before Pinterest got big, I was into making creative, thoughtful gifts rather than buying another pointless item. I normally need some kind of idea to spark my creativity, but once I think of it, I'm normally on a role. My most recent idea came when I was home visiting during my high school's spring break. I was helping mom unpack boxes, and saw all of her jewelry just stacked in a haphazard pile on her dresser. So my thought? She needs a new jewelry box. My mom owns a decent amount of jewelry, and especially pieces that might not necessarily fit in your standard jewelry box. So instead of hunting for one that would work, I decided to just make my own!

Michaels has (dangerously) been my best friend during my creative kicks. It was a one stop shop this time. I simply found a box that would be big enough for her jewelry (which was a bit of a challenge), a few pieces of thin wood to make the dividers on the inside, some classy dark expresso stain, staining brushes, and then my favorite part, all the fun stuff to decorate with! I've fallen in love with mosaic, so that's the route I chose to go. I picked up some mosaic pieces in two different color sets, sea glass, some craft glue, and then grout. I wanted to go with a beachy theme because there's nothing my mom loves then sitting in the white sand by the beach in Mexico.

The assembly wasn't that bad either, just some timing to work out. I stained the box and the dividers on our back patio, and let it sit for 48 hours to dry. I took a day after it dried to set up the pieces in a pattern I liked and glued them down, let that dry as well. A day after I did the grout, and then finally once that was dry I glued down the inside dividers. I was sure to get extra pieces for the dividers in case they get broken. And just like that mom had a new jewelry box that was one of a kind!

Now we can't forget about my very pregnant sissy. We recently had her baby shower, and I went back and forth of whether I wanted to get something off her registry or do something a bit more thoughtful and creative. Naturally, I ended up going the creative route. I figured everyone thinks of the baby during the shower, but what about Mommy? She needs some pampering too!

So I decided on a mommy survival kit, basically all the little things she would need for herself after the baby came that she wouldn't think to get herself or may not have lying around. This was a fairly easy creative task as well, the most time consuming part was buying all the stuff and then labeling it all. Here's a list of what I included in the survival kit. You can pick other things, add to it, etc, these were just the things I thought of myself. I put cute, witty notes on them to explain their "rationale" in the basket. I found cute chevron patterned ones that matched her theme to write on. For the basket I just got one at Target in the colors for the nursery. 

The contents:

Kleenex- for all the tears, happy and sad

Piggy bank- because it's never too soon to start saving for college ;) I went with Ninja turtles, because, well they are awesome, duhhhh

face masks- since mommyhood ages you

maxi pads- from what I hear, mother nature  HEAVILY blesses you after that 9 month grace period... I also was educated on what a mommy padsicle is and what wonders they can do lol

chocolate- kind of self explanatory

flushable wipes- I hear they come in handy post partum

special K protein bars- for a healthy, almost hands free snack 

tea- to have a cup while Auntie Chrissy comes over to clean and take care of the baby ;)

deodorant- because showers are a thing of the past when you have a newborn

dry shampoo- goes hand in hand with the deordorant

bubble bath- for when you finally get some "me" time... i got spongebob kids bubble bath to remind her while shes enjoying herself that she is a new mommy

candles- to set the mood for the bath

nipple cream- because breastfeeding does its fair share of wear and tear on mommy

nipple protector pads- goes hand in hand with the cream... for these two items I got Lansinoh because I heard great things about it

good smelling handsoap- for everyone to use before snuggling the baby

a notepad and pens- to either document feedings and sleep schedule, write out her feelings, or whatever else new mommy's need

pony tails- to keep the mane out of reach of the grabby baby

aveeno baby lotion/cream- safe for baby too, and extra moisturizing for all the hand washings

starbucks expresso energy drinks- because new mommy's need a pick me up

hand sanitizer- germs are mommy's worst nightmare

a bottle of wine- 9 month hiatus... need I say more

snickers- again... candy...chocolate...need I say more?

gum- for when you don't remember the last time you brushed your teeth

chapstick- everyone needs some good chapstick

Now onto the actual shower.. we had some cute things up our sleeves. Mom picked the games, I'll give her credit for that, I did the creative work.. Designing borders to match her theme, setting them up, etc. And I had "elephant duty"... My sister picked elephants for the theme for the nursery. So, we thought of a cute idea for a party memento from the shower. I designed/shaded an elephant to hold onto balloons. At the shower we had everyone sign one, (The balloons, by the way, were the hardest part to find. I ended up finding gift tags at Hobby Lobby to use) and I went to work strategically placing them to make balloon bundles for the elephant to hold. I just used different colored strings cut and pulled tightly to "attach" them to the elephant. I think it turned out rather nicely :)
I also had "diaper cake" duty. I had already made one for her birthday so this one was a breeze. We got a 96 pack of pampers swaddlers size 2, and I set aside 40 for the "midnight diapers" shower game, and used the rest for my cake. I used little rubber bands to roll all the diapers. I put an empty paper towel roll in the middle of all of them and then just began placing them in a circle. I don't remember how many I used per layer, I just kept placing them until the spaces were filled in and it was rounded. Then I used a giant rubber band to hold them all in place. Once all the layers were in place, I used cute ribbons to cover up the rubber band. I had a thicker safari animal print I used and then bordered it in the gray. Once the ribbon was done, I just used gift ribbons and crinkle paper to fill in the rest. and of course it had to be topped with an elephant.
The shower games were fun... we did "the price is right" where the guests had to guess the prices of the baby items, and the closest to the actual total wins, "baby bingo" where the guests filled in their bingo cards with items they think mom would get and checked them off as she opened gifts, "midnight diapers", which wasn't actually a game, but something cute and funny. We had the guests write messages to mom and dad on the diapers, and we designated the box to be used for the 2 am night changes. Just some cute, easy ideas to keep it interesting!