Thursday, January 15, 2009

Made With Love

Those of you that have been following my blog for a while know that some of the members of our family had decided to have a "toned down" Christmas this year...a more meaningful holiday. We wanted to keep our traditions, but eliminate the over the top gift giving and the waste.

I made my Christmas cards this year using a beautiful snowy mountain photo that my son, Matt had taken, and I wrote a personal message inside each one. I made a special card for my 4 siblings using a photo of our Christmas dinner from 1954.

I purchased less gifts, but I purchased gifts that were needed and wanted. In that same spirit, Matt, my 25 year old that lives in Colorado decided to make gifts for all of us this year.

Matt is very conscientious when it comes to recycling and not wasting. He hates that people run out at Christmas and buy, just to buy, with little care as to whether the gift they are buying is really needed or wanted. Many of those unneeded, unwanted gifts don't get used and end up in our overflowing landfills.

When Christmas came, I couldn't wait to open Matt's gift. He is a very creative young man. He can draw, take wonderful photos and writes amazing poetry. His gift to all of us was a 18 X 22 inch framed print. He had cut and pasted words....lots and lots of words....things like "magical, forgiving, friendship, optimistic, faith, love, thankful, promise and dreams with the word FAMILY in larger, bolder letters throughout. Then as if that wasn't beautiful enough, when you look at it closely, each of our names runs vertically within the words....Kathy, Irv, Tresa, Michael, Matt, Bernadette (Michael's wife) and Chris (Tresa's fiance)! You can see my name in the close up on the far right side....Kathy.

We were all so touched. Matt's gift will be loved and cherished forever. It will hang in a place of honor in each of our homes and it will never, ever end up in a landfill.

I received many wonderful gifts for Christmas this year. Everyone really took the time to find things I had asked for that I truly needed. It made the holiday so very special.

Have you ever received a handmade gift that made your heart melt because you knew how much love went in to it's creation? I would love to hear about it.

7 comments:

beicreations said...

what a great idea for a gift! I love hidden messages, that must have taken him a great deal of time to lay it all out.

Lanyardlady said...

My daughter took of photo of the two of us and mounted it on poster board. She surrounded the photo with pictures of my favorite things: a blue sky, bright daisies, snowflakes, and sand dollars. She glued some real sea shells to it. And she finished it off with paper that reads "I love Mom." It sits in my beading room and is one the most special things I own. Like your son's amazing gift, it is irreplaceable.

Almay Alday said...

Wow! That's great! A few years back I made xmas cards using a photo of my sister in I in 1978, and all my relatives loved it! I think handmade gifts are the best because they are truly made from your heart! Great posting!

LiPeony said...

omg that's so cool... he is one creative and caring person. I think that's an awesome gift and indeed I think we should handmade gifts it means a lot more.

My Inspired Reality said...

What an incredibly creative young man - must get his talent from his mother:):)

Anonymous said...

I just found you through Twitter!

I love Matt's gift - very cool!

Our family toned down our Christmas a few years ago - we each make a donation in honor of our family, which is a lot of fun, actually. Sometimes I choose one donation for everyone, sometimes I tailor a smaller donation to each person. Now I remember - it actually started the year of Katrina. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the right time.

We each give each other one small gift too so we still have the joy of choosing/making just the right gift - and the fun of opening wrapped presents.

Our collective kids are 18-22 so it was an easy transition. And now Christmas is peaceful, low-key and meaningful.

aliceinparis said...

That is quite extraordinary! It must have taken him ages. Lovely thoughtful gift.

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