Easy Housewarming Present

Work and life have been so busy lately that I just haven't had time to work on any new projects. But I didn't want to go another day without posting so I'm going to write about an older creation that will be new to some readers but old to most of my Facebook friends. So I hope you won't mind the repetition!

When I visit someone for the first time in a new home I like to bring a gift but I'm often at a loss for what to give. Generally a housewarming present is not something I would want to spend a lot of money on as for me it's more about the gesture. Well for my last housewarming present, inspiration struck and I created a gift for my friend Hilary that should could hang on one of her brand new walls.

I started with a plain old picture frame. My favourite place for frames is Michael's. They often have frame sales and, even when there isn't a sale, there is usually a 40% off coupon that can be downloaded from Flyerland. If I recall correctly the frame I used was 8x10 but you could use any size depending on the message you want use.

I kept it simple with the text "Home Sweet Home". I think it's a nice thought to have hanging in your front hall or foyer to see every time you return home :)

Then I picked a piece of scrapbook paper to serve as my background.





The last step was to find chipboard letters to spell out my message. If you wanted to go truly economical for this project you could make your own but I find cutting out letters to be too fiddly. If you're up for the task then I read a great suggestion that you can cut letters out of a Kleenex box with a pretty pattern to get the raised effect of chipboard! I go the lazy way and buy mine. My favourite brand is K & Company; they make really pretty and affordable stuff. And you can get it at Michael's with those 40% off coupons I was mentioning!

For the project pictured I used letters from K & Company's Brenda Walton Brookfield Alphabet Chipboard Box. But they have tons of sets to choose from in many styles and colour schemes. Here are a couple more of my favourites as pictured on their website.

The last step was to glue the letters to the backing paper, allowing some of them to hang over on to the mat that came with the frame. Put the frame back together and voila! A quick and easy housewarming gift. And it doesn't have to stop there. You could have phrases for every season and just change them out inside the frame. I think I'm officially on the hunt for this set of letters so I can make some cute Christmas signs for around our house!