A very vintage find and a handmade gift

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas....

My husband and I had such a special day with our little girl....magical in so many ways....

 

 

Loved looking over and seeing her perched on her new desk with her nose in a book several times yesterday.  I found this darling vintage desk that came from an old school house for $10 

 

(yes, I said $10) I know, I thought the girl was out of her mind for selling it so cheap.  Thank goodness I claimed it first, there was a string of people behind me in line for it. It is quite solid with an adjustable writing top and an open bottom for storage under the seat.  Classic.

 

Now, on to more creative things...

It's no secret that I love a handmade gift.  I'm just not always a fan of the mess and sticky fingers that may accompany it.  I think this project was worth it though as I hear they were a big hit yesterday morning when wrapping paper went flying through the air Christmas morning. 

The project: I decided to make letters for my niece and two nephews using fun paper and the first letter of their names. 

I bought the letters at Jo-Ann's and went to a local 2nd hand book store to find the essential Star Wars books for my two nephews and then an old, darling nursery rhyme book (which I hated to cut up but it was only $1.50) for my niece.  You would think this would be an easy project, right?  My advice is to only do one letter to start with....because each letter took about 3 hours when all was said and done.  (I know)

I just used watered down glue rather than spending a lot on Mod Podge...but the problem is it is awkard with parts of the letter drying or wet while you are trying to work and then you have to fit pieces nicely to make them fit...etc.  Thats the time consuming part.

These little yellow triangle guys came in handy...I remembered I had them about mid way through:

 

 

The K turned out really sweet for my niece....I used a sublte layer of Martha Stewart glitter glue with a hint of pink just to give a little princess flare....

 

 

 

 

I also ended up doing an M for my sister and brother in law's last name....I used a vintage style New York map which I love and is appropriate since they travel so much and my

bro-in-law grew up near nyc.

 

 

So, that's that!  An inexpensive, fun gift that you can do a lot with and customize accordingly...so glad I was able to get these out for Christmas (please note I was a bit stressed with the turquoise Mylanta bottle on the table which has become my constant companion as I approach week 28 of pregnancyville)....breathe in, breathe out :)

Have a great week, everyone!