Gift Idea: 52 Reasons I Love You

So, I'm seeing the cutest gifts all over Pinterest, one of the coolest being the 52 reasons I love you card decks. From what I can tell, everyone makes them differently. I went to Target and spent $2 on a deck of cards that had a nice design on the back (red, black and gold dragons), but I was equally as willing to pick up a deck at a thrift store with a vintage design. I used a dry brush and red acrylic paint on each card face. I didn't coat them completely, just wanted to add some visual texture.

Then I designed each of the 52 reasons in my publishing program, giving each a distressed or grungy border, and some of them funny clip art. The color scheme was strictly white and black with just a few scattered red embellishments. I didn't number the reasons because I thought it would be less of a hassle if I didn't have to get the order exactly right as I put it together. I cut them out and mounted them on the cards with old-fashioned, black photo corners. As a finishing touch, some of the cards got small metal hearts (red) or black swirly rub-on designs.
Then I punched a hole in each card and added them to my ring. Since they have the photo corners, printed reasons and embellishments, the finished stack is much larger than a regular deck of cards.

I won't say it was easy to list 52 separate things I love about my husband, even after 11 years of marriage, it wasn't. But I found some lists posted on blogs and they helped to inspire me. Here is my list:

1. Your smile. (I still remember the first time I ever saw you smile.)
2. You proposed in such a romantic place.
3. You gave me our daughter Samara.
4. You gave me our daughter Willow.
5. You are a cat person.
6. You LIKE me, like me. {one of our favorite private jokes is that he'll say he doesn't like me like that and I'll say, "oh, you like me like me." You know, as if we were 5th graders or something.}
7. You work on jigsaw puzzles with me.
8. You provide for your family.
9. You like my particular brand of crazy.
10. You work so hard even when your coworkers don't.
11. You listen to my weird dreams and don't have me committed.
12. You put up with my crazy family.
13. You get me to think twice before I waste money.
14. You got me out of Nebraska and showed me more of the world.
15. You watch educational T.V. with me.
16. You cheer along with me when I'm cheering for the bad guys.
17. You rearrange furniture without grumbling.
18. You watch cartoons with me.
19. You make the cats dance. {literally, think Caddyshack gopher}
20. You buy video games that I want and them play them for me.
21. You never doubt me when I want to try something new.
22. You watch bad Sci-Fi with me.
23. You encourage me to read comic books.
24. You don't make me listen to country music (very often.)
25. You keep hanging the towel bar back up, even though you know I'll probably knock it down again.
26. You do the checkbook so I don't have to.
27. You play WWE with the kids.
28. You make me happy-hum. {Just a weird little thing I do when I when I'm content.}
29. You take me to see scary movies.
30. You rode that roller coaster with me not once but twice. {He hates roller coasters but rode one with me on our honeymoon. Twice in one day. Awesome.}
31. You buy me things I don't really need just because they make me happy.
32. You can cook yummy food and aren't afraid to make new things.
33. You forbid me to use your power tools - but only because you really worry about my safety.
34. You let me drive your big red truck.
35. You stand up for me.
36. Even when you're gone, I can cuddle with your pillow.
37. You give me stupid nicknames. {like 'le whiny' and 'psyduck' because my power comes from my frequent headaches...}
38. You really miss me when you go away on business.
39. You take me shopping and pick out great clothes. {He really is good at putting outfits together.}
40. You'd never really leave me for Christie Brinkley.
41. You buy me action figures.
42. You can make tough decisions when I can't.
43. You stay home and hand out candy so I can go trick-or-treating with the girls.
44. You can work with your hands, fixing and building things to make our home better.
45. You love me at size 18 just as much as you did at size 12.
46. Your Norwegian blue eyes with the fleck of rust in the left iris.
47. You look so cute after a haircut.
48. You brag about my baking to your friends.
49. You never, ever leave the toilet seat up. {Thank you, God.}
50. You want what's best for your family.
51. You make me happy in so many ways - a lot of them X-rated. {I tried hard to keep this g-rated, I wanted my kids to be able to read it someday without freaking out too much.}
52. You are you. There is no other for me.