It finally happens; you and your husband get a date night without the kids. You put on your favorite little black dress that makes you feel like a million dollars. You and your husband go to your favorite restaurant and are seated at a romantic, low-lit booth. The salad arrives and suddenly you remember that you have a work event on Thursday and are unable to take Eli to football practice. You ask hubs if he can take him this week and he says, “Of course.” Suddenly your entire conversation is about the kids, the house, and how the mower needs to be fixed before you have company on Saturday.

These free marriage conversations cards are designed to get you and your husband thinking and create more intimacy in your marriage.

[bctt tweet=”These free marriage conversations cards are designed to get you and your husband thinking and create more #intimacy in your #marriage.”]

At the end of the night you return home feeling disillusioned and just as tense as you were when you left that night. Your romantic date night wasn’t about you and your husband. It turned into a family meeting and agenda planning. This is so easy to slip into and many marriage experts actually recommend that you ban topics during date nights with your spouse such as:

Kids
Work
Chores
Finances

If you’ve ever tried this, you know that it can be hard! So much of our lives revolve around these things that it’s hard to create intimacy and really connect with your husband. To help you out, I’ve created these free printable marriage conversations cards. These are not only great to promote engaging conversation during date nights. They are also easy to pull out after the kids have gone to bed to be more intentional about connecting with each other on a regular basis. Instead of immediately sitting on the couch and catching up on your favorite show on Netflix, take 10 to 15 minutes to connect using these cards.

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These free marriage conversations cards are designed to get you and your husband thinking and create more intimacy in your marriage.

Materials

Free Printable Marriage Conversations Cards (Here is the Back)
Cardstock
Self-Laminating Sheets (These are the ones I used)

These free marriage conversations cards are designed to get you and your husband thinking and create more intimacy in your marriage.

Step 1

Download and print marriage conversations cards onto cardstock.

Step 2

Cut out each card.

These free marriage conversations cards are designed to get you and your husband thinking and create more intimacy in your marriage.

Step 3

Place cut cards onto self-laminating paper leaving about a ¼ to ½ inch between each card. Seal laminate (or if you are using one-sided, like me, place second sheet over top to seal).

These free marriage conversations cards are designed to get you and your husband thinking and create more intimacy in your marriage.

Step 4

Cut out laminated cards, leaving an edge of the laminate around the entire card.

These free marriage conversations cards are designed to get you and your husband thinking and create more intimacy in your marriage.

These marriage conversations cards are designed to get you and your husband thinking and create more intimacy in your marriage. The prompts range from silly to serious because both are important to the health of your relationship. Print your cards today and surprise your husband with his favorite meal tonight after the kids are in bed. Use these cards as a jumping point to further conversation and a deeper understanding of each other.

These free marriage conversations cards are designed to get you and your husband thinking and create more intimacy in your marriage.

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This year I had the awesome opportunity to take part in the 2015 Ornament Exchange created by Erlene from My Pinterventures! This is an event where bloggers are paired together to create one-of-a-kind ornaments for each other. What a fun idea, right?! Plus, now you get a sweet DIY ornament tutorial.

[bctt tweet=”Make this super-sweet, glittery DIY lollipop ornament for under $2! #ornamentexchange “]

I was paired with Deborah from Kentucky to Cali who I absolutely love. Upon exchanging emails we learned that we both have 2 trees each year. In addition to that, we also both have candy themed trees! Once I found that out, I knew I had to make her a fun candy ornament for her tree. The result is this super-sweet, glittery DIY lollipop ornament!

Make this super-sweet, glittery DIY lollipop ornament for under $2!

Materials

Tissue Paper
Mod Podge
Glitter
2 Plastic Straws
Hot Glue Gun and Glue
Ribbon
Matching Twist-Tie

Make this super-sweet, glittery DIY lollipop ornament for under $2!

Step 1

Twist your tissue paper into strips as pictured above. You will need 4 strips with at least 3 different colors.

Make this super-sweet, glittery DIY lollipop ornament for under $2!

Step 2

Take two of the strips of differing colors and twist them together.

Make this super-sweet, glittery DIY lollipop ornament for under $2!

Step 3

Once they are twisted together, coil it into a disk. Cut the tail of the strip once your disk has reached the size desired. Hold the disk together with your fingers on a non-stick surface and apply a generous amount of Mod Podge. Continue holding the coil together until the glue soaks into the paper and it stays together on its own (about 30 seconds or so).

Tip:

I did this on the lid to a jar because it pulls off easily and has beveled sides to keep the glitter from getting everywhere later.

Step 4

Repeat steps 2 and 3 to create your second disk which should be slightly smaller than the first.

Step 5

Once Mod Podge has dried, flip the disks over and apply a coat to the back sides as well.

Make this super-sweet, glittery DIY lollipop ornament for under $2!

Step 6

Allow the glue to dry completely. Next, add a second coat and sprinkle with glitter. Again, wait for the glue to dry and flip over to apply glitter to the other side.

Make this super-sweet, glittery DIY lollipop ornament for under $2!

Step 7

Once your disks are completely dry, attach your straws using low temperature hot glue.

Tips:

If your glue gun doesn’t have a low temperature setting, allow the glue to cool slightly on the disk before pressing the tip of the straw to it.

If you are using bendy straws, make sure to attach the non-bendy end to the disk.

Make this super-sweet, glittery DIY lollipop ornament for under $2!

Step 8

Add ribbon to each lollipop at its base and tie into a bow.

Tip:

You may want to add a dab of hot glue to hold the ribbon into place.

Make this super-sweet, glittery DIY lollipop ornament for under $2!

Step 9

Trim your straws to a length that matches the size of the lollipop. Next, attach the straws together, slightly crossed, with hot glue. To stabilize the top, take one tail of the ribbon on the larger lollipop and glue it to the back of the smaller one.

Make this super-sweet, glittery DIY lollipop ornament for under $2!

Step 10

Twist your twist-tie into a loop and secure the bottom. Attach it to the back of the larger sucker with hot glue to create your hanging loop.

Make this super-sweet, glittery DIY lollipop ornament for under $2!

This is such an easy ornament to make! The hardest part is waiting for the glue to dry. I was able to use supplies I already had on hand so it didn’t cost me a penny to make. Even if you do have to buy some supplies to make it, you are still getting a fun and beautiful ornament that will only cost you a couple of dollars to make. Be sure to check out all of the other amazing ornaments from the ladies in Group 1 of the ornament exchange below.

The Farmhouse In The Field

Tastefully Frugal

My Sweet Things

Christmas Tree Lane

Re-gifting gets a bad rep in society but it shouldn’t. Sometimes your style changes and that gorgeous décor you have just doesn’t suit you anymore. You may receive an amazing and thoughtful gift on holiday and after a year of it sitting in the box in your home; you realize your family is never going to use it. Giving these items to someone else is the same as getting thrift gifts for friends and family only better.

Make sure you follow these rules to re-gift with class the season.

Re-Define Your Thinking

Before getting to the tips on how to re-gift with class, first you need to change how you perceive re-gifting. There are three main ideas to think about in order to shift your thinking.

Cutting Down on Excess

In addition to the regular benefits that would go along with thrifting your gifts, you are also cutting down on excess in your home. Re-gifting removes clutter and free up valuable storage space for the items you actually use.

Giving Items a Home

Instead of being shoved in a closet somewhere, you can give items to people who are truly delighted to use them or show them off. Maybe you have a gorgeous Thomas Kincaid lighthouse painting that doesn’t match the new French Country décor of your bathroom remodel. Re-gifting it to a friend to use in her coastal bedroom décor is much better than showing a beautiful work of art in the attic.

Saving Money

Obviously, one of the greatest perks of re-gifting is that it saves you money and time. Of course, you don’t want to become so focused on saving money that you begin re-gifting items that you shouldn’t be. That is where the three rules apply.

[bctt tweet=”Make sure you follow these rules to re-gift with class the season. #holidaygifts”]

The 3 Rules to Re-Gift with Class

Make sure that the items you are re-gifting are not damaged in any way. Just as you wouldn’t accept a damaged product from the store to give as a gift, you don’t want to give out damaged gifts. The only exception to this rule is when giving family heirlooms. Heirlooms will likely have suffered some damage throughout generations of being passed down. A small chip in an ivory hair comb that belonged to your great, great grandmother is still a thoughtful and cherished gift to give.
Be picky. When re-gifting items you need to be extremely selective. This applies to the items you choose to give as well as who you choose to give them to.
Select gifts to give just as you would when buying them. If you have a friend that loves movies but never has time to read, don’t give her a bunch of books for Christmas just because you have a ton of books to get rid of. The same goes for your 14 year old niece who loves music. Just because she loves music doesn’t mean she wants your old CD’s. She probably doesn’t even own a CD player.

Follow these 3 rules and you will be able to re-gift with class. In many cases, the recipient won’t even know it is re-gifted. Remember avoid giving stuff just to get rid of this and save money. When you do that, the person receiving it can tell and it comes across as such instead of being the thoughtful gift they deserve. Avoid this if you want to retain class in your gift-giving.

See where I’m linking up!

Check out #write31days

Create Intimacy with Free Marriage Conversations Cards

Materials

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Glittery DIY Lollipop Ornament

Materials

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

Step 10

3 Rules to Re-Gift with Class

Re-Define Your Thinking

Cutting Down on Excess

Giving Items a Home

Saving Money

The 3 Rules to Re-Gift with Class

Missed the introduction to this series? Find out more about #write31day

Click 31 Days of Saving on Holiday Gifts.