“A” is for…

I have a child who asks for nothing.  He can never come up with anything that he really wants for holiday or birthday wish lists.  As he has gotten older, there is the occasional “necessity” that comes to his mind…but rarely an idea that is exciting or fun.  And while I’m happy he’s such a content soul, it does make gift giving seasons a bit rough for those of us who want to treat him to a surprise!  With the holidays approaching I begin to have a little anxiety over what to leave under the tree…and bonus, his birthday is in December too!  Now i have back-to-back celebrations to sweat out…trying to pry out the slightest hint of something, anything he might be hoping for!  Thankfully I have friends who not only know my son well, but are willing to lend their creative minds and skills to help me come up with something fun, simple, and sweet for the easy going birthday boy!  Today I want to share this collaborative idea…I hope you can find some gift giving inspiration for any holiday or celebration!

a birthday surprise…

while on the phone with a dear friend stressing about the birthday situation, she kindly reminded me of a wonderful idea that was presented earlier this fall by another good friend an fellow blogger at Polka Dots and Picket Fences!  so inspired by her birthday countdown for her daughter, we came up with a similar presentation…having a gift for each letter of my son’s name!  i loved this and jumped right on it, trying to think of items that would go with each letter.  you might think that this would be more difficult…coming up with 6 gifts rather than one or two.  but the reality was i could now come up with several smaller gifts including some inside jokes that would be pretty funny and more my son’s style!  a third sweet friend, who just happens to own a letterpress shop called Alice-Louise Press, created the most wonderful little cards to go with each gift…

inside the card would be a hint of what the gift might be…”A” had two movie tickets inside!

you might be able to see most of the others…but if you cant read them well, i will share what they say!

“U” = underwear, since it’s the BEST gift ever!  “T” = title of the book Ten % Happier.  “I” = i heart chipotle–a gift card to one of his favorite places.  “N” = need to relax sometimes–was a heated, back massager–which ultimately stated in the instructions that it contained chemicals that might cause cancer…SO, needless to say we returned it!  now the “N” stands for “Need to get one more gift!”

and i didn’t forget “S”  which was a funny, family joke!

and that’s it!  funny, sweet, and easy…with the help of all my friends–i guess it really does take a village!  and on the the morning of the big day, the packages were waiting…

for a special birthday celebration!

(cute bars of soap found at alice-louise press!  check the link in the post)