I was reading another blog where people were posting memories about good/bad gifts and one commenter talked about some handmade gifts she had made in her childhood years that were goofy looking but that the recipient loves to this day. Her post triggered a whole host of memories of gifts given and received.
My best friend from grade 5-8 was Rita. She was a year younger than I, and we were both the social misfits in our respective classes. We had first become friends a year earlier when we were munchkins in the local community theatre's production of the Wizard of Oz. We had a lot of fun together in those years, and one year we made Christmas gifts for each other. I don't remember what I gave her, but she made me a cloth candy cane. I haven't set up a Christmas tree in a few years, but when I do, that candy cane always has a prominent spot. Because it was stitched by hand, the curve was a lot more angular than you might get from sewing with a machine but it's perfect just the way it is.
One year, when I was maybe 9 or 10, I had my younger sister Lisa for our family gift exchange. For her gift, I made her an ornament. I took an empty thread spool (less than 1" tall) made of styrofoam and painted it blue with water color paints. I used nail polish to write her name and placed a heart sticker on it. I then used thread to create a loop by which to hang it on the tree with a hook. I don't know if I gave her anything else that year, but she has that ornament to this day. :)
Several years ago, my younger sister made a gift for all of us. Our dad had a little sing-song rhyme that he made up using all of our names. My sister took some scanned photos of us as kids, made a collage in black/white on the computer, and superimposed the rhyme on it. She then printed on 8x10 photo paper and framed them. I knew we were getting them, I helped her a little with the execution of the project but the idea itself was all hers. I love it. It is on my entertainment center with all my other meaningful photographs to this day.
I do still make and receive handmade gifts on occasion, but none that probably quite bring the smile as those childhood gifts. What memories do you have?
3 comments:
My mom's best friend was a very creative and talented woman. She always made us personalized gifts, like sewn ornaments with our names embroidered on them, hand-made aprons with special pockets for our crayons, clothes for our favorite dolls, etc. She tragically passed away on Christmas Eve Day at the young age of 36 when I was in 3rd grade.
I still have all of the items that she made, and my tree is peppered with those ornaments. The older I get, the more meaningful they are to me because I can now understand the time and love that she put in to making them every year.
Like the ones that you mention, those kinds of gifts endure and mean more with every passing year.
That's so sad that she died so young. She must have thought the world of you to make you such wonderful things. :)
How sweet that your favorite gifts aren't the most expensive or the biggest. It says a great deal about who you are. xoxox
Post a Comment