Creative Challenge: Day Two

Within the last few months, a lot of close friends have purchased a house or moved-into a new space, myself included. It's an exciting time, especially for those who are now home owners. No matter what kind of move you make, it's always fun to celebrate with a housewarming. 

Since I am not able to be there in person to celebrate, I wanted to send my favorite people in Durango some love and warmth from the west coast.

They are in the middle of a kitchen remodel, so I knew I wanted to get them a few things for when it's finished. Not knowing exactly what they need, equipment wise, I figured why not get them stuff to enjoy IN their kitchen. 

I know they are huge fans of Blue Bottle coffee, so that was easy. Thinking along the lines of breakfast, I went with the always delicious pumpkin pancake mix from Trader Joe's. Also included some pumpkin pie spice to kick the pancakes up a notch, and for all around good fall cheer! 

I saw, and dog-eared, the cute bird whisk in Cooking Light magazine. Perfect for whipping up some pancake mix. Imagine my delight to find it at a gift shop near my house! I went ahead and bought two because they're so cute. My thought was to wrap the contents in a dish towel, to stick with the kitchen theme and cut down on paper waste. While at the same gift shop I found this dish towel which says "you're the cream in my coffee" - too perfect! 

What would a fun gift be without a cute card to go along with it? 

To make this card I used the mountains and neighbor cut-outs from my Cricut adventures. I used a patterned blue paper to create the sky and help stick to the color scheme I'd started. After lots of tinkering, I opted to keep it simple and not write anything on the front (I'd considered 'welcome' or 'happy new home'). Instead, I raised up the neighborhood cut-out to give it a little more definition. 

I wrapped the contents with the towel just like I would had I been using wrapping paper. I used brown and white ribbon to tied it all together. Taped the card to the front and ta-da: a simple, warm and thoughtful gift.

In case you can't tell, I LOVE brainstorming, researching and creating gifts. Especially for the people who mean the most to me!