Perfect printable

How many people can say that they first met in the check out line of a Mongolian restaurant, or that they walked down the aisle to "Afternoon Delight" after they were married? If you can answer "yes" to both of those question, we have to talk because we NEED to be friends.

When I first met my future husband, he was this brilliant, handsome grad student, and I was a naive girl with no idea of what was best for me. After a brief conversation that first fateful afternoon at the Mongolian restaurant, we met again a week later at a friend's birthday party. Patrick, who I was about to find out was as much of an Anchorman fan as I was, randomly burst into a chorus of "Afternoon Delight" in the parking lot. I began to harmonize with him for several verses, and from then on, we knew that we were both equally as weird, so we had to be meant for each other.

Our relationship has always been unique. We were engaged 4 months after we started dating, I was pregnant a month and a half after we got married, and baby number two followed not long after. Nothing was ever forced with us, it just felt.....well, perfect.

Of course, no one is perfect. When we first got married, one of our first arguments involved me yelling at Patrick for leaving a dirty bowl in the sink for days without washing it because as EVERYONE knows, you're supposed to rinse the bowl out and put it in the dishwasher as soon as you're finished. Consequently, I also learned that it's weird and annoying when I leave multiple used paper towels laying around on the kitchen sink to use for later.

Apparently I'm less than perfect too.

Isn't that what love is all about anyway? Finding that one person who loves and accepts you despite all of your imperfections? I know it's true for me, and I wanted to free printable in recognition of all of our perfect imperfections.

Click HERE or click on the picture below to be taken to Google Docs where you can download this free printable in your choice of yellow, turquoise or gray, size 8x10.

And in case you were wondering, yes, I still leave paper towels laying around the kitchen.

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Printable nativity

See the details for my Christmas mantel HERE

In the 3 1/2 years we've been married, my husband and I have yet to gather a large quantity of Christmas decorations. What we do have is a small box full of donated ornaments from our family members and a few small things I managed to find at after Christmas sales.

Lame, I know.

This year since we're going to be out of town for Christmas, I wanted to get a little more festive and that included wanting to put up a nativity. Problem: we have no nativity in our small box of ornaments. Solution: make a printable one!

Want to make the easiest nativity you've ever made?

I simply went to Fontspace.com and did a search for "nativity fonts." I found the SL Christmas Silhouettes font that I absolutely loved, then downloaded and opened Photoshop (you can also use Word if you don't have Photoshop.) Typing in the letter C gave me my nativity scene, then the letter U gave me the star. From there, all I had to do was print it up and frame it.

Easy!

There are other pictures you could use instead. The other great part about using a font like this one is if you have a Silhouette, you could download and cut this font to make cute pictures on canvases, cards, etc!

I included printable nativities below in silver, blue or red. Just right click on the image and save to your computer, then print out the size you want. (All printables are for personal use only!)

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Sarcasm.

Because only bubble letters can truly relay sarcasm.

The (neutral) Hospital Survival Kit

Don't forget....there's only one more week until Button Down Rehab begins! Grab your old button down shirts, and come back here some much needed rehab and refashions June 20-July 1.

<a href="http://jensownroad.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="My Own Road Button Down Rehab" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/5790608569_d61a4d423c_m.jpg"/></a>

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I wanted to thank everyone for all of your wonderful comments on my Hospital Survival Kit I made for new mothers! I hope you all are able to bless some other new mamas with some much needed goodies to make their stay at the hospital more comfortable too.

I'm so happy to tell you that my friend that I made the kit for had her sweet baby girl, Annabella, on June 7th. When I went to visit her in the hospital, my friend was wearing the headband I gave her and told me the box of granola bars I included in the kit was almost gone. I was so happy to know I was able to help her out in my own way.

And just look at this adorable baby!

Have you ever seen so much beautiful hair on such a little person??

I think she has more than my 6-month-old! Holding that tiny baby kind of made me want another one now. My husband vetoed that idea right away. I suppose I should focus on caring for the two that I have at the moment - at least for another year or so :)

I had a reader post a comment over the weekend that she wanted to make a kit for some of her friends who didn't know their babies' gender yet, so could I make some neutral colored tags as well? Why didn't I do that in the first place??

I updated my post on The Hospital Survival Kit to include gender neutral printables as well as the pink or blue tags.

You can also click HERE to go download them directly.

The Hospital Survival Kit for new mothers (with printables)

Major life events tend to come in waves sometimes. After graduating from college, it seemed like everyone was getting hitched. I spent that summer working to afford the wedding gifts I needed to buy for the 7 weddings I attended and the 2 bridesmaid dresses I needed to buy for the ones I was in. (I have to say though, all that wedding food was delish. I think the treadmill and I spent a good deal of time together that summer working off all the wedding cake). And yes, it was totally worth it.

After the weddings, a little time went by, I got married myself, then those friends whose weddings I went to started having babies And within a month of getting married, I was pregnant myself. When I packed my baby bag, I tried to be as prepared as I could be since I was new at this whole baby thing. I had that bag packed like I was going out of town for a month. But there were a few things I wish I had brought with me.

After having 2 children at different hospitals, and spending a month and a half on hospital bed rest with my last (you can read more about that lovely experience HERE and HERE), I know there are a few things that new mothers don't necessarily think about packing for their stay. Since a good friend of mine is due with her first any day, I decided to put together a bag of some of these things for her. This is more of a supplement to the actual hospital bag, since I assume most mothers-to-be know to pack the essentials like a toothbrush and toothpaste, clothes for the baby, etc.

The Hospital Survival Kit - a bag full of those extra things that help make a new mother's stay at the hospital a little more tolerable. And I'm sharing the printables with you so you can make one for a friend too!

Just print out the "Hospital Survival Kit" label provided below on card stock, cut out, and use craft glue to glue to attach it to the front of a paper gift bag (don't overdo it with the glue or your label will wrinkle).

For the circular tag, cut out the provided tag and use a hole punch to punch a hole in the top, then attach to one of the gift bag handles with coordinating ribbon.

Then fill 'er up!

Here are some ideas for things to include in the survival kit:

1. Headband and hair ties: When you're focusing on riding out those painful contractions everything gets on your nerves, including stray hair in your face. Plus after being in a hospital bed for 10 hours, your hair tends to look like a troll doll's. When a hoard of family and friends show up to visit you and your little bundle, you're gonna want to tie that mess up.

2. A healthy snack: Many times, babies don't plan their arrival at a convenient hour. My first was polite enough to be born in the evening right before American Idol began, so no problem there. My son, however, was born at 12:37am. By that time there was no available food service for this hungry mama, so I ended up eating a handful of graham crackers and a packet of peanut butter. Unless you prefer to eat like you're in daycare again, snacks are a must. They're also a nice substitute for the hospital food if it turns out to be nasty.

3. A not-so-healthy snack: Chocolate. Because you just gave birth to a person. I'd say you deserve some chocolate, wouldn't you?

4. Face cleansing wipes: Facial wipes to remove makeup and dirt are so helpful to a mother who just had a baby because most of the time you can't get out of bed. Plus, something as simple as washing your face or brushing your teeth make you feel human again after having a baby.

5. Chap stick and other personal care items: How torturous is it that you're not allowed to drink anything when you're in labor? Forget the stinkin' ice chips, somebody breathe on my ice chips and melt them into water!! So of course since you're denied water, your lips tend to become dry and chapped. Take it from me, chap stick is a life saver. And it's even better when it's Burt's Bees pomegranate chap stick, because it's the best chap stick. Ever.

6. Breath mints: After hours of labor and ice chips, it's so refreshing to have a breath mint to suck on. Also, Who wants to waste time brushing your teeth when you have an adorable little bundle to snugglet?

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Click HERE to download and print labels to make your own Hospital Survival Kit. I included labels in pink for a baby girl, blue for a baby boy, and a neutral green as well.

(The labels are approximately 7 1/2" x 3")

How fun would it be to do a separate kit with essentials for the father-to-be? I know my husband would have loved some gift cards to his favorite fast food restaurant so he wasn't forced to eat the hospital food.

What would you add to your Hospital Survival Kit if you made one?

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Show and Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design

Printable family subway art

I hope you're all enjoying your Memorial Day weekend!
I'm back from vacation and spending (lots) of time unpacking today, but I wanted to share a quick and easy printable with you in the meantime.

I'm sure you've noticed how popular subway art is. I've seen tons of really cute projects people have done using wood and vinyl to make decorative subway art for their homes.

Like this oversized subway art from Tatertots and Jello

Or this resolution plaque from Little Blue Boo

Or this vintage-style typography art from Lee La La

But what about those of us who are without a Silhouette cutter (which I'm excitedly waiting to be delivered!) or want something a bit smaller? The next best thing is printable subway art!

I wanted to make a printable subway art piece for my hallway where I'm currently attempting to put together a gallery. I am so blessed to have a wonderful family, and I thought "family" would be a perfect theme. I sat down and made a list of words that represented family to me. Then using Picnik, I then put together this simple family-themed subway art printable.

If you want to print one for yourself, just right click and save to your computer then print off the size you want! This one was made for an 8 1/2 x 11 frame.

Linking up!

Show and Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design