A Year of Memories: Calendar Gift

I have awesome grandparents, and I am so blessed that they are still alive and kickin' (actually, all four of my grandparents are still alive). Two of my grandparents have lived across the country my whole life, so my interactions and relationship with them has been limited. My other two grandparents lived only an hour away (or less at times) while I was growing up. My two siblings and I are the only three grand kids on that side of the family, so my grandparents were almost like another set of parents to us. Every summer we would spend a week at their house, exploring the farm, swimming in an old cow tank, riding motorcycles, and attending VBS. My grandparents would attend almost all of our band concerts and sporting events. We would eat at least one meal with them each week (I am told now that it wasn't that often - but it sure felt like it! in a good way). My grandma is actually the one who taught me how to sew and bought me my first (and second) sewing machine.

There are a lot of things that make my grandparents so unique. I am blessed to have a close relationship with each of them that I know is not the norm. However, there is one thing that makes my grandparents the same as everyone else's - they are so hard to buy gifts for! They buy what they need, and they buy what they want - so the selection is pretty picked over.

So, this year for Christmas, I banded together my siblings, my mom and my uncle to give a gift all together. We made a calendar for my grandparents. We split up 366 days (it is leap year this year) between the 5 of us, giving us each about 73 days. Our responsibility was to write one memory or glue a picture on each of our 73 note cards that had to do with our grandparents. Some of the memories were funny, some were sweet, but they all were important to us. We wrote our memories out on 3"x5" note cards, wrote the dates at the top (just the month and the date so it can be reused from year to year), and organized the cards into a box with monthly tabs.

When my grandparents opened the gift at Christmas, we explained that each card had something written on it - a memory with them. Each morning at breakfast this year (or whenever they choose), they can feel a little bit of the love we have for them. It really was the perfect gift.

Surprisingly, it didn't take anyone very long to think of their 73 memories. I worked on mine over a couple of days. There were things that I didn't get to share because there wasn't space, and I didn't include as many pictures as I would have liked.

I know that Christmas is a long way off, but I wanted to let you know this meaningful idea in case you wanted to use it, because it takes a long time to organize a group of people :). It was worth it though. The whole thing cost less than $10, but it proves how cost and value are not always equal.

Have a great day!

Blogs I link to: CraftOManiac, Brassy Apple, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Tip Junkie, Shwin and Shwin, Home Stories A to Z, Creative Itch, Sugar Bee Crafts, Coastal Charm, Not Just a Housewife, Hope Studios, Chef in Training, Mommy By Day Crafter By Night, Southern Lovely, Passionately Artistic, Sew Woodsy, Savvy Southern Style, Ginger Snaps, Someday Crafts, Creations by Kara, Rae Gun Ramblings, Delightful Order, House of Hepworths, The CSI Project, Remodelaholic, Tatertots & Jello, Shabby Nest, Chic on a Shoestring, Simple Home Life, 30 Handmade Days, Family Ever After, Craftionary, I Heart Nap Time, Positively Splendid, Nifty Thrifty Things

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