Garrett, my boyfriend, and I have been together for several years now, and his birthday is this Thursday (yes, it’s on Halloween!) I ended up getting him a few things that I’m not necessarily proud of. Scratch that… that I’m not exactly impressed by. You see, I pride myself in my gift giving skills. I love finding the perfect gift for those that I care about. So while i know that Garrett will like the presents I have for him, I’m not especially impressed with my choices.
However, Christmas is coming up in only a few months, and I need to start thinking about what I want to get him now so I am not in the same position later! And, as I have mentioned, I am a college student living paycheck to paycheck, which will hopefully be ending soon as I have a job interview on Friday! I still want to get a gift that is thoughtfully picked out from the store, but I also want to do something handmade. Though I am not very artistic, I like to think of myself as crafty, so I’ve been thinking of some ideas for Christmas:
1. Since Christmas is close to the beginning of the new year, I want to create a “box of gifts.” What I mean by this, is buying gift certificates to 12 different places to do 12 different things together. For example, since January is fiercely cold, I could purchase him a $20 gift card to a local coffee shop where we would grab some hot chocolate and spend some time together. Included in this month would be a picture of a new pair of slippers (a must in the winter months – and he needs a new pair bad!) that we will purchase together. This is just an example, of course. I will need to do some planning. I was also thinking that this could be a perfect opportunity to do some scrapbooking, as I’ve always wanted to get into it.
2. My second idea is incredibly cheesy but still a cute idea that I would like to try. I’d like to make a little book/scrapbook featuring 100 reasons why I love him. I could include pictures and other memories. A spin off idea would be # of things I am grateful for in 2013, since the year is almost over. I think it would be cute to do 365 things I am grateful for in 2013 and reference one thing I was grateful for every day.
3. Garrett really wants to get a map of the world to hang on the wall. Personally, that’s not really my style. However, I usually take the lead on our decor so I’m thinking for Christmas I can get a world map for us and pin pictures of ourselves on the places that we’ve visited – pictures, ticket stubs, etc. I usually keep every little keepsake I can possibly muster up, and it drives him crazy. I think this would be a good way to keep me collections but make it useful.
4. I have a ton of mason jars. My mom cans vegetables and gives me millions of them. As I use them, I keep all of the mason jars (though, I’ve been meaning to give them back to her!) One of the gifts that I could do with mason jars is making it into a future vacation jar. It would be incredibly easy and would lead to a future gift! The jar would be used for extra change and after it’s full, we could use the money to go on a date, go to a hotel, visit a watermark or amusement park, etc. All that I would need to do is decorate the outside of the jar. Super easy and lots of fun!
5. A homemade recipe book. This might be something that will take longer than two months, but I think it would be a great idea. It could be items that we’ve already made and/or items that we’d like to make! It’s things like this that I really wish I were artistic.
6. Candles. Garrett LOVES candles. There are so many DIY recipes for candles that it would be incredibly easy, and it would be great to reuse jars from old candles or the mason jars that I have! It would be fun to dip dye them too to add color! I have so many crayons that I haven’t used and probably even more that are broken or completely worn down. What a great way to spice it up!
I’ll probably think of a million more, and I’ll definitely write them all down as the list grows!
If anyone has any ideas or DIY gifts that they have created, make sure to leave a comment! I’d love some inspiration.
xoxo Abby
P.S. Below is a picture of Garrett and me. It’s an incredibly old picture (I had blonde hair about a year ago!). I haven’t uploaded my photos for awhile, but I’m sure I’ll post more as time goes on.
Wisconsin Child 