Saturday, June 16, 2012

Father's Day Craftiness...

UPDATE: IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A GREAT GIFT I AM OFFERING THESE CUSTOM MADE MEMORY BOARDS FOR $40 +shipping.  CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO: jesscoffelt@gmail.com

I was trying to think of something original for Andrew for Father's Day.  I remember him saying he wanted to eventually have a frame with pictures of all the kids as babies.  Then, I ran across this idea (where you can order your own customizable print here)...
**photo credit: Connie at www.thememorygallery.etsy.com***

that I really loved.  So, I decided to combine the two... what's better than important dates + a photo (a picture is worth a thousand words)?  Not to mention this would greatly increase the chances of my husband remembering all of my kids birthdays... I don't blame him for forgetting there is A LOT of them.

I had a piece of wood left over from a previous project that was a nice long rectangle shape that just happened to be about 10" wide and about 30" long.  Then, all I had to do was track down some pictures add some dates and format them 2 to a page on an 8x10 photo.  After googling a coupon code for Walgreen's I had the prints ordered for 40% off the normal price : )  Then, after painting my board black I cut the photos in half and Modge Podged them to my board.  I have to admit it was embarrassingly easy and quick.  I love the finished product and so did Andrew.

The dates include:
#1.  The date that he confessed to me that he had loved me for 2.5 years... mind you I thought we were just friends the whole time. *(this story should probably be a post in the future)

#2. Our wedding.  The quote "the promise to out serve" is what we committed to as a couple before we even got married.  That the rest of our lives would be dedicated to out serving one another... it's worked out pretty great so far : ) .

#3. Our first baby Marinn + the meaning of her name.

#4. Our second baby Taurin + the meaning of her name.

#5. Our third baby Shaw + the meaning of his name.

#6. *see a pattern yet?  Our fourth baby Blaize + the meaning of his name.
I did this project on my own but you could easily involve kids on this one,  it would be pretty hard to mess up.

To add something special I wrote a note to Andrew on the back telling him how much I appreciated him as an amazing father to all my babies.  Then had all the kids sign their names (well, the ones that could) and we traced their hand prints.  I'm not a big fan of cards because they end up in a box somewhere or the trash, this way the sentiment that would be in a card ends up in a permanent place on the gift.  Not to mention it saves you like $4.99+.

36 comments:

  1. Jess, you never cease to amaze me! What an awesome and unique gift for Andrew!

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  2. Is there anyway you can tell me what fonts you used and if you created these in Photoshop?
    I am so in love with these.

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  3. Summer... the font I used is Century Gothic. It is one of my favorites : ) Yes I created them in Photoshop but I'm sure your could do it with a few different programs as well.

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  4. Saw this on Pinterest and just had to tell you this is awesome! We just bought a new house and I have lots of empty walls. I have a feeling something like this will soon grace one of those empty spaces. Thanks so much for the idea!

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  5. I did the dates in Photoshop, if you don't have Photoshop you might be able to format them in a different program. I also considered painting the dates on which i think would look nice as well.

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  6. How big are the pictures that you ended up Modge Podging to the the board? We also have 4 children and this would be perfect for my hubby's birthday next month!

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  7. Amy... The pictures ended up being about 10" wide by 4" tall... it was basically an 8x10 that I cut in half long ways. So when I formatted them I just did an 8x10 size and put 2 pictures per image, which was nice because I only had to pay for 3-8x10 prints instead of six : )

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  8. I love the idea,it's so cute! Thank you!

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  9. This is genius! I love it. I have our important dates framed in our kitchen but I love the idea of the pictures even more (I'm a photographer, so photos are my second love). I will be making one of these once baby number 4 makes her debut in October! Thanks!!

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  10. Saw this on Pinterest and I have to say...Great idea!!! I am a Heritage Maker and this goes great with my business of documenting photos, moments, and stories together. My husband will love something like this for our anniversary coming up. Thanks.

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  11. This is so freaking awesome! I saw this on pinterst, and this will a project i will do. THANK YOU!!

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  12. Also saw this on Pinterest. What a lovely tribute. VERY well done on all counts.

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  13. I just saw this on Pinterest. It's beautiful. I might try and emulate it somehow, someday. I mostly wanted to say that I too have an '06 and an '08 baby (2.7.08 actually!) But you beat me the third time around, our third was born in 2010.

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  14. To all you fabulous commenters... thanks for the encouragement and wonderful words! Please feel free to leave me a link for your completed projects, I would love to see your version :)
    Sara... Thanks! Yeah, we definitely know how to make some babies :) I never thought of someone actually paying attention to the dates.

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  15. Found your blog through this post on Pinterest!

    New follower :)

    www.theduggans2011.blogspot.com
    Ali

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  16. Gorgeous - will be trying this for sure!

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  17. Jess
    absolutely a fantastic idea which I definitely will be trying out :)

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  18. You have a very beautiful family and creative mind. What a blessing. Thanks for sharing. God bless. :0)

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  19. I just did this! It turned out so cute-thanks for such a great idea!

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    1. I would love to see it! Send me a link to a pic if you can?

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  20. This is awesome! But the craziest part for me is your oldest daughter's name. Marinn... how do you pronounce it? My daughter's name is Bria Marynn, and I've never seen anyone else with the name before :)

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    1. Muh-rinn, People most commonly mispronounce it as MARE-inn. It is actually my middle name, I have always thought it was a cool name. I'm glad we choose it for my daughter because it really fits her unique personality. It's so fun to find someone with a possibly similar pronunciation : )

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    2. Our daughter is Maryn too. I love the name meaning "peaceful beauty". But I've never heard it before. Do you know the origin of that meaning? I've only ever heard "of the sea". Thanks. Love this idea!! Definitely going to do something similar someday soon.

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  21. I live this project. Could you tell me what type finish the photos were printed on? Also was it standard photo paper that Walgreens used? In the picture above it looks thinner than phot paper. I would love to do this for my wife's birthday. I'm sure it won't turn out as good.

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    1. It was just their standard printing on photo paper. It's probably just the angle of the picture that makes it look thinner. And I think it was just a matte finish. Whatever they will let you do in an hour ; )

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  22. Amazing, but even more amazing is both or first babies were born on the same day. :)

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  23. I've just found this via Pinterest and I'm going to do it for my husband for Christmas, we said no presents but its just lovely, we only have one daughter but it will work fantastically ... you are sooo clever!

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  24. Thank you for such an amazing idea! I love how u add your kids name meanings!

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  25. I'm curious where you found the meaning of their names? Shaw I've seen before but not with that meaning. Either way, I love the names you've given your kids!
    kt

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    1. My husband is the one that did most of the research for the names and there meanings. He definitely has lived up to that name though. :)

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  26. I love this! Our dates are very close to yours...
    Engaged 9-25-04
    Married 7-1-05
    Baby #1 6-1-06
    Baby #2 9-25-07
    Babies #3 & 4 5-26-09
    Baby #5 12-22-10
    Baby #6 due 9-13

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