Today is my husband’s birthday…and it is a big one! I decided to make him a sentimental gift. This is the not the first year I have done this.

A couple of years ago, I put his letters, pins and a picture of his school football team in a shadow box. (I was going to post a picture, but you could read the name of the high school and I read that is something you never want to put online. Someone could use it to steal your identity because it is usually one of the security questions.) He liked it so well, that I made one for my son when he graduated.

This year I took a gift he made me and painted it. He used a wood burner to write our last name on a piece of wood. He made a fancy edge, but was not happy with the results. He gave it to me, but it languished in the storage room. I got it out and painted it with the exterior paint we used on our shutters. I painted the letters white with a dry brush and that showed the texture he burned into each letter. (Maybe for my birthday, he will find the time to mount it on the wall outside.)