The Twelve Dayts of Christmas

My husband is SUPER hard to buy things for presents!  He never has ideas and everything he wants is super expensive... which can be okay, but he usually can't even think of those kind of ideas either.  He also is kind of one of those guys that buys it when he needs it, never saving anything for gifts and ideas.  He really has everything he needs.  

I can always get him tools or movies, but I never have ideas of big things to get him.  

This year for Christmas, I asked him what he wanted.  He was kind of a bah-humbug this Christmas and was NOT into the gift giving mood at all.  He responded to my question with this - "I just want to spend time with the ones I love!  I can buy what I need.  What is the point of Christmas gifts anyways?! It just makes people greedy and expect to be spoiled!"  Now there is a little truth to that, but him having that attitude was not going to change people's view of Christmas, and he just needed to get with the Christmas spirit!  

So I took the first part of his answer and ran with it!  I gave him twelve dates, one for each month of the year!  This way he would have to spend a night with me (someone he loves, his first answer) at least once a month.  Also with our new baby, I thought it might be nice to make a "mandatory" date night once a month so we don't forget about our relationship! 

I also really liked this because it's not the typical dinner and a movie that so many couples tend to get stuck in a rut with.  This has us going out (or staying home) and doing some fun things that we have never done before!  

I filled twelve gift bags with the necessary supplies for each date.  Sometimes it was just money, other times it was supplies needed to complete the date. 

I got the original idea on Pinterest off of The Dating Divas page.  They have a pre-made book you can buy, which I did, but I didn't love all the dates. There was also a free one that I downloaded too, but once again, I didn't love all those dates.  So I decided to combine their ideas and my ideas and this is what I came up with!

This is what I did for each month and what I put in each bag:

January - Dinner and Ice Skating - $50 in the bag

February - Dinner at a Chinese Restaurant, then home to keep with the Chinese Zen and have a spa night... Bubble bath for two, massages, hot stones, etc. - $30 and massage lotion, hot stones, bubble bath, etc in th bag

March - Dinner and Laser Tag - $50 in the bag

April - Couple's Cafe dinner at home - printables and ideas from the Dating Diva's site - Menu printable and some of the meal items in the bag

May - Dollar Date Night - $20 dollars (two ten dollar bills, one for each of us) and printables in the bag - printables and ideas for the Dating Diva's site - Warning - this one might make you blush! :) 

June - Fishing Date Night - Fishing snacks and a new fishing lure are in the bag

July - State Fair Date - $60 in the bag 

August - Drive in for Two - Movie snacks and movie and clues are in the bag - This is found on the Dating Diva's site

September - Sleep Over Date - Movie snacks and movie in the bag - The Dating Diva's do have a date kit for this, but I thought it was lame, and just did my own thing! :)

October - Dinner and a movie - $60 in bag 

November - Lights Out Date! - Candles and flashlights in the bag - I also included this get to know you game from Dating Divas

December - Dinner and Christmas Shopping - $40 in the bag

You can download my version of the Twelve Dayts of Christmas by clicking here.  Some of the links listed above, you do need to pay for.  Or you can download The Dating Diva's date book and get them included in the download.  The link for their book is  - The Dating Divas Year of Dates Book.  The free Twelve Dayts of Christmas can be found here.

I hope you enjoy this idea.  I know my husband was TOTALLY surprised and thought it was really cool!

I hope this will help bring back the butterflies to your marriage and you will enjoy dating your husband all year long!

The Fourteen Days of Valentine's 2014

Life with a baby is hectic!  Add into the mix a baby that is not sleeping for more than 2 hours at a time at night, and you get a crazy, tired momma who doesn't have a whole lot of time for fun, extra stuff!

With that being said, I will be the first to admit that this year's Valentines are not the cutest in design.  But to make up for it, I have found and come up with some cute sayings! :)

I found these blank tags at Six Sisters Blog.  There are ready made ones and blank ones.  I am using a lot of the sayings on the ready made ones, but I really don't like things that are half typed/half written.  Therefore, I am using the blank ones and writing in the sayings.  

Here is the link to the cards... http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/14-days-of-valentines-with-free.html

These are the sayings I am using this year...

Day 1 -  Orange you glad it's Valentine's?

PS - my husband is SOOO glad it's Valentines!  Not!  He thinks I am such a weirdo for doing this, but he puts up with it because he knows how much I love it! :) 

Day 2 - I would be so mixed up with out you!

Day 3 - We make a great combo!

Day 4 - I want to Sobe yours tonight!

Day 5 - I want you now and later! :)

Day 6 - I like the way you roll!

Day 7 - You make my heart bubble over!

Day 8 - You are berry sweet

Day 9 - Won't chew be mine?

Day 10 - You are the apple of my eye!

Day 11 - You are cereal-sly the best!

Day 12 - You are simply the best!

Day 13 - You make my heart bubble over!

Day 14 - For my family man! I love you lots! 

I found one more thing for the final Valentine's present, but it is so cool that I want to share it on a seperate blog, that will be coming soon! :)

For tons and tons of more Valentine's Day fun, check out my Pinterest board... http://www.pinterest.com/cassandraheber/valentine-s-day/

Valentine's Day 2013 - A Revisit of the Ideas...

I know... I'm super cheesy, but I LOVE VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

I love it so much that I celebrate the 14 days of Valentine's with my husband.

The funny is that my husband really doesn't think all this love and hearts stuff is nearly as cute as I do.  Last year when I did them for him (he was my boyfriend), I think I enjoyed making the things more than he enjoyed the cute sayings, hearts, and bows I used! :) LOL! But I guess that's what I get for marrying a manly mechanic! :)

This year because I am so busy with working two jobs and learning how to do this thing called being a wife, I am mostly using premade labels from http://www.mommybydaycrafterbynight.com/2012/01/14-days-of-valentines-free-printables.html

I do try to keep these gifts low in cost!  I mean, as much as I love Valentine's Day, I don't need to spend an outrageous amount of money to get the point across that I LOVE MY HUSBAND!  I do spend more on the last gift (the one given on Valentine's Day) because that's the actual gift.  But the previous 13 days are just for fun! 

Here is what I am doing this year...

Day 1

Life would UN-BEAR-ABLE with out you!
I made my own tag real quick using Word and then used a little glitter.  (My husband thinks glitter is ridiculous and silly, so I try to use it as much as I can to make his life have a little more sparkle! )
I then taped it onto a bag of gummy bears and voila!  Day 1 is easy as pie!

Day 2

You are one HOT TAMALE!

I used a tag from the link above and added some glitter glue to make in special.  Then you guessed it... I attached it to a box of hot tamales and day 2 is complete!

Day 3

It's a JOY being married to you!

I printed out this tag (which could be made for any kind of relationship... dating, courting, being engaged, etc).  I colored in the bubble letters and attached it to a pack of Almond Joys.  

Day 4

Just wanted you to know I'm NUTS about you!

I got this tag off of my Pinterest board and printed it out.  Because I have a black and white printer, I colored in some things with red marker.  I think attached it to the nut mix and day 4 is done!

Day 5

I SODA think you are amazing!

I printed out this tag from a site off my Pinterest board and colored some of the things in.  I am going to be putting this with some root beer because that's my husbands favorite soda.  And I am kinda going to cheat on this one.  We don't drink a lot of soda at our house, but for the super bowl we bought a 12 pack of root beer.  We won't even drink this pack before it expires, so I figured why buy more to go bad!  I am just going to use one from the pack we already had!  Kinda not as much fun, but as least we won't be wasteful! 

Day 6

I HEART you!

I found this heart container at the dollar store, but it was filled with SweetTarts... not my husband's favorite.  So I opened up the heart and filled it with peanut M &M's (his all time favorite!) and closed it back up and taped on the tag!  I got the tag from the link above and just added some glitter!  Day 6 done! And I even got a treat because I love SweetTarts! :) 

Day 7

You stole a PIECE of my heart!

I printed out this tag from my Pinterest board and colored it a bit and added hearts.  I then put it on a box of Reese's Pieces.  Easy as pie!

Day 8

DONUT you know I love you  HOLE bunch!

Who doesn't love donut holes!  They are so fun!  I made this tag in Word and then printed it and added glitter.  I usually give the gift to  my love at dinner time, but today, I gave it to him in the morning so he could eat them for breakfast!  This is one of my favorites!  I just love the saying!

Day 9

I've got a CRUSH on you!

I still have a crush on my husband!  He is just the best!  I got this tag from the link listed above and added some glitter glue (which you can't see because it's not the best picture) and put it with some Crush pop.  I liked this because I was giving my love so many snacks he wasn't able to eat them all.  So now he had some drink to go with the snacks and one less day of having something to eat!

Day 10

Ring for a Kiss!

I found a bell at the dollar store that was just too cute to pass up.  It said Ring for a Kiss on it and I gave that to my husband for Day 10.

The bell is sitting on the right shelf on the top.  Kind of hard to see in the small picture... sorry!

Day 11

I'm WILD about you!

I found this cute little red Valentine's monkey at the dollar store and I went behind my husband and wrapped it around his neck.  It was one of those monkeys that have Velcro on the hands.  At the time I couldn't think of a cute phrase to go with it, so I just said I love hugging you.  But after I gave it to him, which is what always happens, I figured I could use I'm WILD about you!  Because monkeys are wild.

Day 12

What are the chances I have a SHOT at being your Valentine?

I got the tag off of the website linked above.  I used bullets because my husband is big into shooting, but like the link shows, you could use a Nerf gun, water gun, or something like that. 

I don't know about you, but in our town in is IMPOSSIBLE to get bullets.  Our stores have rules about the amount you can buy each day.  So needless to say, I couldn't find any for the guns my love has, so I went with plan B.  I had bought a Phineas and Ferb popcorn tin after Christmas and wrote out this saying "I"m going to POP a question... Will you be my Valentine?"

Day 13

You're the BOMB!

I made a tag using Word.  Then I wrapped three Rolo's packs in red paper.  Next I held all three together (using a little piece of tape in the middle) with black yarn and attached the note.  I added a fuse on top with a little more black yarn. SUPER CUTE if I do say so myself! ;)

Day 14 - VALENTINE'S DAY! :)

Valentine, you've made a BIG BANG in my heart!

My big present for my husband this Valentine's Day is season 5 of The Big Bang Theory.  I made a tag and put it on the season pack.  I am also going to put in a few other things that he likes, just haven't quite figured that out yet because I don't want to get him any more candy and junk food!


I just thought I might add, that my husband used to think that Valentine's stuff was so silly and that I was kind of silly for doing all this.  But I will tell you all that he has gotten me a few things throughout this 14 days of Valentines!! Which has been really, really fun!  He's such a great guy!! :)  

Also, check out my Valentine's Board on Pinterest for LOTS more ideas.
http://pinterest.com/cassandraheber/valentine-s-day/