DIY {Birthday Gift} Happy Birthday Momma!

Coming from a family with 5 children, my siblings and I almost always combined our money and give our other siblings and parents a group gift. It's a great gig, as we have been able to give more extravagant and thoughtful gifts, such as hot air balloon rides, massages, and date nights.

But who says gifts have to be all about money? I always think the best gifts don't take any money at all, but just a lot of heart. That is why for my mom's birthday this year, me and pat, my siblings and their children pooled all our love together and created a box full of love...20 days of love to be exact.

The process is quite simple.
1. Bought a nice box that my mom would want to keep around for a while.
2. Found an envelope template online that I could adapted and make envelopes that would fit in the box perfectly. (Similar to this wedding gift I made a while back).
3. Printed off envelope stuffers from family members
4. Mounted the envelope stuffers appropriately on card-stock
5. Made and taped numbers 1-20 on each envelope with double sided tape (Double sided tape is my bff)
6. Stuffed the envelopes
7. Printed Box Instructions
8. Shipped to arrived on BDAY!




My mom received the box the day before her birthday. When she opened the box she saw these intructions:

Happy birthday to the best mom and grandma in the world. A birthday for someone so great deserves to be longer than just one day, that is why you deserve a birthday that will last 20 days. All you have to do is open one envelope everyday and let us do the rest.

Start today by opening envelope #1 and everyday work your way through all the envelopes until you reach envelope #20.

Each envelope contains a treasure from a loved one that will make you smile and/or cry. You have always made each and everyone of your children, children in-laws and grandchild feel loved, now it’s our turn to return the favor.

Happy Birthday!

 

Putting this gift together was a lot of fun. The instructions to my siblings was simple. Create anything you want that can fit inside a 5x5 envelope that can be emailed to me (since we live all over the country). Some wrote letters, some drew pictures, some did both, some spelled out words with their bodies and took pictures of it, some (Pat) photoshopped Regis and Kelly in with a picture of my mom, some created Youtube videos with the URL address given in the envelope, some included pictures from their childhood, and some wrote poems. The possibilities were endless.

I had a lot of fun making one of my envelopes, where I made moveable paper dolls of myself and my mom. I told my mom that since we lived so far apart, this was a way that we could always be together. They were really fun to make. I created a template in illustrator, printed on card-stock and colored, cut out, glued heads on, and put brads in the joints. 

My mom has really enjoyed opening all her envelopes. I hope this present helped her feel, on a daily basis, all the love we have for her and how much we appreciate all that she has done and all that she continues to do for her children and grandchildren.

I love you Momma.

To Download the Paper Doll Template--click here

To Download Paper Doll Template--click here