Travel Themed Retirement Gift

My husband's secretary, Debbie, is retiring. Her last day is today. My husband told his boss that I would take care of her going away gift. (No pressure right?) My husband has witnessed other people getting rather impersonal retirement gifts in the past, so he wanted Debbie's gift to be different. He told me that she and her husband had purchased a trailer and would be hitting the roads looking for adventure. So, we decided on a travel/camping themed gift. Thanks to many of my PYL Facebook followers' awesome suggestions, here is what I came up with:

I sell Thirty-One as a hobby. I ordered this Organizing a Utility Tote personalized with her name to serve as the gift bag. I then stabilized the base with a couple of citronella candles. 

Then I arranged everything inside with some pink tissue. Here are three travel books I included:

I was going for a slice of Americana with these books. Hopefully this will inspire Debbie and her husband to seek out some of our country's hidden gems. The first two books were purchased at Barnes and Noble, and the last one was purchased at Target. 

Other items included in the travel themed retirement gift are:

Lighter 

Flashlights

Sunscreen

Bug Spray

Journal

Skip B0

Phase 10

2 decks of cards for Nerts (have you played that game?)

Travel coffee cups (I wanted to keep those...sigh)

Wet wipes

Magic Eraser

Lastly, I whipped up this card tonight using the Campin Critters Cricut Cartridge. I was very annoyed to see that I didn't have any retirement or good luck stamps, so I hand wrote the sentiment which I'm not too jazzed about. (Guess I know what sentiment stamp set I will be shopping for next.)  Yes, I could have run it through the printer, but it was 10:30 p.m. I was tired. And I wanted to go downstairs and watch #hashtags on Fallon that my husband had recorded. Love me some #hastags. It was #weddingfail. Have I mentioned I'm on Twitter?  Follow me @PrettifyUrLife.  Anyhoo...here's the card:

I hope Debbie likes the present. My hubby was very happy and complimentary of my efforts, which made me happy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Take time to "Prettify Your Life"!!!

~Angela~

Another Tool

I have a tool fetish...crafting and office supply.  I have an ARC punch which I like, but sometimes I want a connected spine binder rather than disk binding.  I saw a pic in one of the Thirty-One Facebook Groups that I belong to where a lady had laminated and had paid Staples to spiral bind the new Summer Catalog.  I thought that was a good idea, but I also wanted to see if there was an affordable spiral binding option I could use at home.  And there was at Office Max, which is much closer and more prevalent than in my area than Staples.  So, I got a new tool...the Pro Click P50 binding system.

After I cut apart my catalog, I laminated each page.  I use an expensive Scotch Laminator that I bought at Wal-Mart a couple of years ago.  It works great, and I highly recommend it.  You can also purchase it at Target, and I have read that you can get a large pack of laminating sheets at Sam's.  I must remember to look next time I'm in there.  Anyway, I then slid each page in the P50, pushed the lever up and all the binding holes were punched.  It was that easy!

Next, I loaded the pages on the 1/2 inch spine, also purchased at Office Depot.

The spine just snaps closed.

DONE!  LOVE!

I then laminated and spiral bound a school handbook.

I enjoyed how neat and organized it felt to laminate and bind documents so much that I think I will do it to some of my craft tool manuals and documents.

Thanks for stopping by!

Take time to "Prettify Your Life"!!!

Slowly, but surely.,,

I am continuing to work on my craftroom. It's getting closer. Why am I not done yet?  Well, this is my dream space, so I am taking my time to find the pieces that I love and to ur careful thought into my layout. Also, it's expensive...as a lot of you out there know. 

This week I added some scrapbook paper towers made by EK Success and sold by Display Dynamics. I was lucky enough to score this pair from Craigslist.

I will gradually be building up my stockpile of Stampin' Up! Cardstock, so I purchased these color-coded tabs off of eBay and adhered them to each corresponding paper tray on the towers. Love!

Lastly I got my first order of Your Way Rectangles with tops and personalization, made by Thirty-One. I can't wait to order some more from my mom's party next week. Loving how neat and tidy and cute they look on the shelf. 

Well, that's it for now!

Thanks for stopping by!

Take time to "Prettify Your Life"!!!

Angela

PYL Facebook Page hits 1,000 Likes!!!

In the middle of the night my PYL Facebook page hit 1,000 likes!  I am blown away and so thankful for your interest and support!!!!  So.....I have to do a contest of course!  Here's how you enter the contest:

1.  Go over to the PYL Facebook Page by clicking HERE!  "Like" my page if you haven't done so already.
2.  Look for the pinned post up top with this pic:

If you are on your phone you will have to click on the "Pinned Post" Bar to view it.

3.  Comment below the post with your favorite winter Olympic sport!  YOU CAN ONLY ENTER ONCE!

4.  The winner will be chosen using random.org on Monday, February 24th at 10:00am CST.

SO, what do you win?  I'm glad you asked.  I've put together a few of my favorite things:

• $25 gift certificate to Stampin' Up.  Check out my friend Michelle Doll's website HERE!
• $25 gift certificate to Scentsy.  Check out my friend Tracy Reed's website HERE!
• $25 gift certificate to Thirty-One.  Check out my website HERE!
• and a $25 gift certificate to Hobby Lobby!

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter:  PrettifyUrLife

Thank you to all my supporters.  I truly appreciate your continued interest in my crafting world!

Take time to "Prettify Your Life"!!!