Anniversary Gift (and didn't pay a dime!)

Big day in our household! It is not only our 8th Wedding Anniversary, but our son's second birthday! So needless to say, our anniversary will always take a back seat to our sweet boy's special day. We joke that we'll be spending our anniversaries at Chuck E. Cheese's in the future, and my sweet hubs will win me some great prize with his tokens;). Romantic, isn't it?! We've never been big gift-givers on our anniversary though, even before the boy was born to share our day. Always treat ourselves to a fancy dinner, get each other cards, maybe get flowers, and call it a day. But 2 years from now, we WILL treat ourselves to a trip back to Bermuda, where we had our honeymoon. We made a promise when we were there, that for our 10 year anniversary, we'd be back. Words cannot express how much we love that place!! That was one of the happiest weeks in my WHOLE life. That sand, that water, nothing to think about except where to go for dinner...and with the love of your life doesn't hurt either;). I am already counting the days...only 730 to go!

So even though we agreed not to exchange gifts, especially with the money we spend on our son's gifts, party, etc., and are going to be hit next month with ANOTHER child's birthday extravaganza, AND vacation, I had an idea that would not cost me a cent. I have been coming across some adorable uses of maps lately and had a thought. You know I have a thing for collecting picture frames, and I happen to have quite a collection of spray paint in the laundry room. And I just happen to be a sucker for grabbing maps/sugar packets/matchbooks/receipts - you name it, if it in some way makes me think of a special place we've been, I snag it! So I had all the necessary materials to make a pretty cute (and special) gift for the hubs without spending a dime! I didn't have a mat for my frame, so I used posterboard, which I did have. I'm not kidding when I say this was a 100% F-R-E-E project!

Here's how it started:

An old frame I found at my parents' house, I believe. Sprayed it white.

Then I found a picture of Hubs and I on our honeymoon - not the best quality, but it was taken by US with a waterproof disposable camera (we're actually swimming in this pic!). I cut the posterboard to size, then laid the 4x6 picture on top, traced it, and cut it out.

Then I cut and taped a handy reference map of Bermuda to the "mat" (I had the map in my honeymoon keepsake shoebox!).

Here's how it turned out:

Didn't notice until I sprayed it, that it had some cracks in the corners, but they don't bug me too much. Maybe someday I'll fill them in, but maybe not;). Look at those happy, happy faces! Makes me smile. Had NO idea what life had in store, and that one day we'd become parents to the three most adorable, smart, AWESOME kids EVER! (Not that we're biased or anything...hehehe). That was such a happy memory. And isn't that what should fill your walls? So went ahead and bent the "no gifts this year" rule, but I don't think Hubs will mind;). Now if you'll excuse me, I have a birthday cake to ice!