Gifts for the Person Who Has Everything

Recently I had a birthday party.  At my age, just getting to see family and friends is a wonderful event that fills me with gratitude.  And since I am already the recipient of about a dozen people’s downsizing treasures, I asked for there not to be any gifts.

Well, I did get gifts — a lot of wonderful consumables I could share with the party guests (including a decadent chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate curls), but also some inexpensive, upcycled, and even free items, that were creative and thoughtful.  Maybe the next time you need a gift for that person who already has everything, one of these will spark an idea for you.

In no particular order:

  • My husband spent the weekend before my party, up on a ladder with a hose and a brush, sweeping away all the brown spider webs that cling under our eaves.  You can’t use a pressure washer on these things, they are made to withstand hurricanes, and a little spray hardly even moves them.  My daughter pointed out that at this time of year, I could have claimed they were just ecologically-sound seasonal decorations.
  • Speaking of seasonal decorations, my house is now completely decorated for Halloween, with this refrigerator art by my grandson who is in pre-K.

Here is my Haunting License.

  • My older daughter crocheted reuseable produce bags and a scrubbie!  She also made me Greek yogurt.

    Reusable produce bags from donated yarn.

  • My younger daughter brought home-canned jalapeños (one jar of which has already disappeared), seeds for the garden, and printed-out baby pictures.

    Homemade gifts.

  • My brother didn’t come to the party — he lives in another state, where he is renovating a two-story stone house that was built in the 1920s.  Since he lives alone, I worry about him getting injured.  Most weekends we discuss plans for both his up-coming projects and my husband’s projects, especially as they apply to my stress levels — for example, only one of them is allowed to be on the roof at any one time.  For my gift, he took a project-free weekend, so that I could enjoy all my company without listening for the phone.
  • My cherished neighbors had our grandsons over to show them their rescued turtles and lizards.  (Of course they would do this anytime, but it seemed like an extra special birthday event.)

    The baby looks at the smallest sulcata.

    Bigger kid, bigger turtle.

    A Veiled Chameleon takes a stroll.

  • My sister was unable to come to the party, but over the phone, she granted me a nap.  I took it, and it was wonderful.
  • My son-in-law took home our empty wine bottles, to fill with homemade mustang grape wine.
  • All the kids ate dinner without fussing, played together nicely, said, “Yes, ma’am,” and gave hugs!

My two daughters combined efforts to give me the very best gift — they took things!  A sewing machine and accessories, a box of Christmas village houses, craft supplies, and the Chips and Salsa quilt all found new homes!  Now I have a tidgy bit more room for new fabric.  🙂

The one bad thing is that we were so busy, we didn’t take any group pictures, but it was a great weekend.

Today is ScrapHappy for October — I don’t have any creations of my own to show, but I encourage you to go check out the other ScrapHappy posts from: Kate, Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn,  Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Hayley, Johanna, Joanne, Jon and Dawn

Category : Crocheting, Environmental Considerations
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