What if someone already got her that...

Well, my boyfriend and I were recently invited to the first birthday of friends' daughter.  After toiling over toys for hours at Toys R Us, worried about duplicating the gift of someone else, I decided that I wanted to make something personal for both Kaitlyn Elizabeth and her parents.  I wanted something that I knew no one else would give her.  We did end up also buy her toys, but I am extremely proud of how the gift I made turned out.  Take a look...

I love the look of floating frames, but I had never bought any for my own decor (after this project that quickly changed, I know have 3).  So I decided that I would personalize the frame with her name, a photo, and a quote.  One of my favorite quotes is "Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much," which worked perfectly. Honestly, is there any better wish for a child than that?  Using my Silhouette, I quickly and easily cut her name and the quote from black vinyl and used the transfer paper to apply the vinyl to one of the glass panes of the frame.

I found an adorable picture of the birthday girl and used PS Elements to turn it into a black and white photo with only her gorgeous blue eyes colored. I mounted the picture on a blue cardstock with a slight sheen to help Kaitlyn's eyes pop, and added a blue polka dot ribbon to tie it all together. Here's a close-up of the photo:

The great thing is Kaitlyn's parents can change the picture whenever they wish as the floating effect is created by sandwiching the photo between two panes of glass. I also made sure to place the vinyl between the glass panes as well so it will be easier to clean without worry of the vinyl peeling off.

I'm ecstatic at how this turned out and already have a triptych planned for the stairwell of my townhouse using these floating frames, and well, probably the same quote.  I told you it was my favorite...