Gift Idea - A Jar of Sweet Thoughts

Recently it was my mum's birthday and this year it was a big one. We had a surprise party planned out and had also bought various presents, but I wanted to do something personal, something different. So after a lot of deliberation with me sister we came up with this idea. 

Each of us (me,my dad, brother, sister and brother in-law) would write 10 nice/sweet things about my mum on little pieces of paper, fold them up and put them in a nicely decorated jar (with washi tape). Now what we wrote was completely up to to the individual and no one would ever read what the other person wrote. I also wanted to think of something nice to write on the front and came up with 'A Jar of Sweet Thoughts' as in a jar of sweets. I put the jar on my mums bedside table when the surprise party was going on so when she came up at the end of the night she had something special.

This is a very sentimental sweet gift for some special in your life and it also make you think of all the thing that you love about that person. It's easy to do but very affective (my mum said she cried when she was reading the little notes). And it doesn't just have to be for birthdays it can be for any occasion. 

Baby Shower Gift Idea

As stated in the previous post it has been a big baby boom this year and I thought it would be nice to do a post on a gift idea of something different rather than the usual clothes, blankets and toys etc. You may or may not know that I love anything handmade, just knowing that someone has put hard work, effort and thought into the craft and what they have made just puts a huge smile on my face. So it may be no surprise that this is a handmade gift made by yours truly.

Embroidery hoop art has been all over the internet for a while now and I have always wanted to try it but never had the chance. The great thing about these are that you have 100% creative control and do whatever you want with them and make them for any occasion. In this instance the lovely mother to be hadn't found out the gender of the baby so instead to going with all neutral colours I went with all different colours. You can use any shape/size hoop, any fabric, buttons, beads, ribbons and anything you want. 

Just a couple of tips

• Always cut your fabric about and inch bigger than you need and tighten it as much as you can on the hoop.
• When finished fold and glue the excess fabric to the inside of the hoop to keep it secure 
• You can also cover the hoop in washi tape, fabric, ribbon, lace or whatever else looks good around it
• Just have fun with it, let your imagination run wild and you never know what you will come up with  

Here is the set of three colourful embroidery hoop wall art, ideal to hang in the baby's nursery  

A button hot air balloon 

Who doesn't love colourful bunting

Colourful ribbons 

The wholes on the side of the embroidery hoop are perfect for threading ribbon through

Close up of the cute teddy bear ribbon 

All read to be gifted