Not sure what it is, but men are seriously the hardest to shop for. At least mine is. So I decided to make him something! Here is how I usually begin to look for inspiration.

>>Remember all those projects you have lingering you will complete someday? Now is the time. We have been saving empty bottles for some time. I finally got rid of a bunch of wine bottles. I began to feel like a hoarder! But those bourbon bottles… I knew I wanted to make lamps for the man cave! Nothing says Kentucky like bourbon. This was part of my gift this year for our 4 year anniversary.
>>Pinterest- do some research and begin searching for things that your man likes. You will be surprised what you come up with.

>>Start a tradition. We have been going on small weekend trips each year for our anniversary. For our one year we went to Gatlinburg, our two year we went to Bardstown, Ky and stayed at a Bourbon Mansion Bed and Breakfast.

>>Think about what this season of your life will bring. What do I mean by that? So last year I was pregnant and my husband was deployed, who knew the best gift would be a snoogle body pillow from him! (You moms know!) I had early onset mommy brain, so I can’t really remember what I did last year for him. I do remember having a Facetime date 🙂

>>Create memories with a scrapbook. I did this for our first anniversary. Since the military played such a major role in our relationship and the opportunities it has afforded our family, I put together an Army scrapbook documenting our journey together.

So this year for our 4 year anniversary, I was trying to think outside of the box and also stick with the traditional gift of fruit/flowers. Hello Four Roses Bourbon! Perfect. 4 years and roses! I was probably the only one walking out of Liquor Barn with a brown bag and stroller in the middle of the afternoon! Gotta do what you gotta do! And to add more meaning to it, our daughter Savannah was born derby weekend this year. Probably the best year so far of our marriage. Run for the Roses!I found this recipe on Pinterest for Vanilla Bourbon Cupcakes with homemade bourbon buttercream frosting. It took a while to put together but they are seriously delicious! Sorry Gigi’s cupcakes (for you Lexington locals). Dan decided to surprise me and come home early from work with flowers!  So sweet. And they are perfect fall colors- great for my centerpiece of cupcakes!I had to summon him to the basement so I could finish. My surprise wasn’t a huge surprise, haha! Once I made the cupcakes I also decided to melt chocolate and make hearts and some other candy decoration. My first time doing this, I would say it didn’t turn out too bad! Since next year is the big 5 year anniversary, I will have to come up with something even better! Traditional gift is wood. Hmm…

And here is a list of traditional gifts by year in case you were wondering.

Thanks for reading and I hope this post motivates you to be creative in coming up with a gift for your husband. Do you have other ideas? I would love to read them below in comments.
Kim