MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I’ve never shared couples gifts on here. I’m going to change that right now! It’s no secret that I’m a big Christmas nut. It’s also no secret that I love my couples a heckuva lot. I love to replant and repurpose. Personal details make my heart happy. And, it’s no secret that supporting small and local businesses is something I try to do! Swirl those not-so-secret secrets together and you get this years Christmas gifts for MJC couples <3 Below you’ll see handcrafted and engraved boxes from Woodchuck USA, bouquet prints from Dana Rose Art, materials from Rustic Resque, frames from local thrift shoppes, prints from WHCC – all local to either Wisconsin or the Midwest.

Woodchuck USA – A company located in MN who I have used for years and years! Their motto is “Buy one. Plant one”. With every single item ordered, they plant a tree. They’ve planted over 1.3 million trees and it’s the coolest to know that we’ve played a part in planting 100 over the years. Each box has a little card inside with coordinates on where their tree is planted and I also think that’s the coolest. They send the boxes so promptly. Their team is crazy accommodating and helpful. And, one of my favorite parts about these little boxes… they smell AH-mazing! I have ordered both the walnut and cedar in the past (below is the cedar!) and I get a whiff of nostalgia every time I open one of these boxes. My grandma used to have a cedar chest full of blankets and I remember that smell so vividly! They are the perfect little holder for prints and other wedding items that might not have a place yet (wedding day notes, garter, hair piece, special jewelry, etc.). They are always a staple in gift giving for me!

Dana Rose Art – I photographed Dana’s wedding, she’s a great friend, she’s wildly talented, she painted my logo, and she recently introduced painting wedding bouquets. The stars aligned here! She created 5×7 wedding day bouquet paintings for 23 brides and it was hard for me to not keep all of them. She was able to preserve their wedding bouquets in the best way and I could not wait until my awesome brides could see these paintings!!

Rustic Resque – They are located only a few blocks from my dad’s house and I love walking in there to get ideas or to buy something special. They repurpose antiques to give them new life and they also have a stellar chalk paint selection from Annie Sloan. I used the Country Gray and Olive to paint the frames <3

Thrift Shoppes – I’m a huge thrifter! I collected frames and found a big spool of mauve yarn this summer that will last me forever. Heck yes.

White House Custom Color – A favorite printing company right in Michigan! I love ordering prints from here with the white edge option. These little prints feel so timeless and classic to me, they remind me of the raw edge and bordered prints I have of family members! I imagine kids and grandkids rifling through these prints!

Last but not least, my mom, my secret weapon. She’s helped make my dreams come true and has helped me assemble couple’s Christmas gifts from year one. Always on board with my wacky ideas (she even helped me wood burn names into boxes one year, she’s a saint, I tell you!) She volunteers to do the things I dread, like scraping those pesky stickers off thrift store frames, and I love our craft nights SO MUCH! Thanks mom!

Happy New Year and thank you to ALL of my couples! This year was one of connection and rejuvenation for me and they were a huge part of it. There aren’t enough words to express how grateful I am for that!