Gettin' Crafty: Birthday Gifts

This past Friday was my friend Lisa's 28th birthday (we are "birthday sisters" because our birthdays are less than a week apart), so we got the party started by going out for some sassy cocktails, oyster shooters and cajun food at her favorite restaurant, Portland's iconic Le Bistro Montage, tucked under the Morrison Bridge. After having a nice, long dinner we moseyed over to a basement club called The Goodfoot where we got all kinds of hot and shiny while getting down to loud funk music under a sparkly disco ball. Of all the photos snapped over the course of the night, Lisa's favorite was a close-up action shot of her whipping her hair across her face while working it on the dance floor. Everyone really needs a friend like her. <3

Because this girl and I have a very thoughtful, long-lasting, close friendship, I thought I'd do something different this year and create a homemade gift for her birthday. While I love shopping for the perfect birthday present, sometimes it's fun to make a gift instead because it always ends up being super personal. After searching on Pinterest for a new way to decorate a picture frame and finding nothing I liked (been there, done that), I had a completely random, Brownies-era thought pop into my head: I should make her a dreamcatcher. Now this gift might not be appreciated by everyone, because it's a little bit "out there" and a unique kind of decor, but I was pretty sure she'd be into it. And she was.

The basic steps for making a dreamcatcher are pretty simple (I mean we all made them in elementary school, didn't we?) but there's definitely room to get creative with the details, so I support straying from the instructions a little bit and just trying something you think will look good. Picking out unique materials and charms was the most fun part for me; I went to several different shops to get gemstones, beads, silver charms, sea glass and feathers. I felt like a 28-year old Goonie hunting for treasure. My favorite personalization was the addition of amethyst to the catcher because it's the birthstone of February. And what month is the diamond again? Yeah, those are the lucky people! 

I'm not going to give you instructions for creating a dreamcatcher because when I made one I just entered it into Youtube and came up with about a dozen how-to videos. The best instructional video definitely being this one (this is when the existence of sarcasm font would be helpful) - listen for the cats. Instead, I thought I'd take the space to share some of the other cool DIY decor-related gift ideas I came across on the web.

DIY Etched Map Serving Tray from Design*Sponge

Egg Carton Wreath from Homemade Serenity

 DIY Monogrammed Mugs from Design Mom

DIY Clay Jewelry Tray from Fiskars

DIY Sunburst Mirror from K Sarah Designs

Cool, huh? There are some crafty people out there! I would be thrilled to receive any of these. :)

omg, 28 is here.

On Saturday I celebrated my 28th birthday with gifts and cards from family members far away, a new hairstyle, a girlie manicure, a girls' dinner at my favorite vegan restaurant and a mason-jar-cocktail-in-hand night out in Portland. 'Twas a lot of fun.

Here are some bday highlights in pictures...

A windowsill herb garden, an early birthday gift from my wonderful Mom

Birthday manicures

A fantastic live/raw vegan dinner at Blossoming Lotus

Cupcakes from Sweetpea Bakery

Hanging out with good friends at the Sweet Hereafter, one of my favorite bars

It was a magical day for sure. I can already tell 28 is going to be my year.

Happy 21er Jenja!

My cousin Jennifer, without a doubt one of my favorite people on the planet, turned the big 2-1 today.

Happy Birthday Girrrrrrrl!!!!!

If you ever get the chance to know her, you're lucky as hell. I definitely got the jackpot when she became my cousin.  


She also has this awesome blog.

XO love ya Jenn. Hope you had the best birthday ever. Wish I could have been there to celebrate :)