First Year Wedding Anniversary

My husand and I celebrated our first year anniversary on Sunday. It's crazy to think it's already been a year, but it has :). I had the hardest time trying to come up with gift ideas. Of course, there's the traditional/modern anniversary gifts. Who in the world came up with these gifts? The traditional gifts are odd and the modern gifts are even odder. I mean, seriously? Paper? Thankfully, with a hefty dose of inspiration from Pinterest, I came up with this lovely creation :).

I like to think I'm a crafty person, but I honestly lack the patience. Especially when it comes to paper crafts. I have this horrible tendency of being a bit too nitpicky. Anytime I make a mistake I'm determined to try and fix it, which typically only ends up making things worse ... Case in point would be where I accidentally ripped the cardboard I was using as a back cover. I then decided super glue would be a quick fix because, wonder of wonders, it's SUPER glue. Well, when the glue refused to come out I squeezed the tube really hard in a vent of frustration and super glue went everywhere. Literally. My hands looked like I was healing from a terrible burn and I ruined one of (note that he has MANY more) my husband's favorite, well-worn t-shirts. The super glue did the job sure enough, but it left the cardboard looking like it had gotten wet and never dried. Eh, what is crafting if you don't have any imperfections? That's what homemade is all about!

Materials

Oversized Deck of Cards

Packet of Book Rings - I got mine from Walmart.

Scrapbooking Paper

Scissors

Lots and lots of glue.

Calligraphy Pen

Distress Ink Pad in Worn Lipstick - or whatever color best suits your deck of cards.

I used the ink pad to give my cards an antiquated look. At first, I though it would be a good idea to try and rough up the cards with sandpaper, but that didn't work out quite the way I imagined. Most of the materials I already had on hand, so it was pretty inexpensive to do.

It was so exciting to see my husband's face when he opened his gift on the afternoon of our anniversary. I took a box and filled it with a ton of old shredded up paper and hid his gifts inside. Every gift I got him was paper based. Boy, did I feel witty :D. Every teacher needs Post-it notes, so I got him a few of those. He's also a huge, and I mean HUGE, fan of Glenn Beck. I had to go to a few different stores, but I finally found a copy of The Original Argument: The Federalists' Case for the Constitution, Adapted for the 21st Century. Score!

I'm not sure how next year's anniversary gifts will work out, but it'll definitely be an adventure :).