Sunday was our 1-year anniversary.
For those of your unfamiliar with the “traditional gifts,” here they are for the first 5 years:
1st anniversary: paper
2nd anniversary: cotton
3rd anniversary: leather
4th anniversary: fruit (edible arrangements, anyone?)
5th anniversary: wood (maybe we’ll start to build our own home like we always dreamed of!)
some of them you have to be more creative with than others.
Lucky for us, paper is easy.
Let me just preface this by saying, Dustin is difficult to shop for (sorry, hunny, but it’s the truth). And by difficult, I mean this is the general conversation we have every time a holiday/birthday/special event is approaching:
“What do you want for our anniversary/your birthday/Christmas?”
“Oh, I don’t know. There’s really nothing I need.”
“I know, but what do you WANT?”
“Hmm, I can’t really think of anything.”
“Okay…well…let me know if you do.”
(Incase you were wondering, he usually doesn’t).
So, here I am, left trying to be creative and think outside the box. Well, I love to spoil Dustin the way he spoils me (though I don’t think I’ll ever quite reach his level), so for our first anniversary, I wanted to get him something unique and fun that he can enjoy every day. My first choice was to buy him a new car and give him the title (pink slip) in his anniversary card, then wrap the keys in a box. Seeing as I’m a stay-at-home Mom, a benz was a bit out of my budget this year. SO, the next best thing was a bit more affordable.
We have a bare wall in our kitchen that has been begging for some artwork for some time now. What better way to spruce it up than with 6 kitchen-related vintage prints arranged in a gallery-wall style in various frames? His first gift was 6 prints (ranging from 8x10 to 11x14) and frames for the neglected white kitchen wall (he was thrilled by the way).
Continuing on the theme of paper, I purchased another print (a customized venn diagram) for him to hang anywhere in our house and then a vintage 18x24 stork print for Olivia’s nursery. My mom & dad also gave us a “paper” gift for our first anniversary - a beautiful card, money for a date night and a lovely customized 8x10 print for Olivia’s nursery (photos coming soon!)
Well, my paper prints were all a hit in his book (& I was rather proud of myself).
Dustin, too, gave me two beautiful “paper” gifts, among other things.
First, this customized “EYE CHART,” which is now hanging in our stairwell.
It reads, “I love you more today than I did yesterday but not as much as tomorrow.”
And secondly, a one-year subscription to my very favorite magazine, Real Simple. My first issue will be arriving in the coming weeks. Hooray.
Here are a few other ideas for traditional anniversary gifts:
PAPER (Year 1):
Books, magazines, any paper-related subscriptions, prints, a handmade card or handwritten letter, concert/event tickets, frame your wedding vows, monogrammed stationary (for us girls), a new journal or notebook, an XL map to plan future travels, a classic coffee table book, a personal photobook (I would definitely recommend artifact uprising), a neat calendar (my go-to is papersource)
COTTON (Year 2):
Clothes/new outfit, new Egyptian cotton bedding, monogrammed bathrobe, luggage, cotton candy (genius!), new shoes, a necktie, apron and chef’s hat if your hubby loves to cook
LEATHER (Year 3):
Watch with a leather band, leather wallet, a new belt, a leather-bound book, shoes or boots, a new purse, gardening gloves (are they made out of leather?), autographed baseball/football/soccer ball or basketball, etc.
FRUIT (Year 4):
Edible arrangement, chocolate dipped strawberries, plan a picnic with fresh fruit, plan a date to go strawberry picking (if anniversary is in summer) or apple picking (if in fall), vintage kitchen prints with fruit on them, a fruit basket, gourmet caramel apples, wine (hey, its made from grapes so it counts, right?), bake a fruit pie…yes, we are being creative.
WOOD (Year 5):
A wooden clock, an engraved plaque, a new top-notch cutting board, a jewelry box, a game set (pegs & jokers, anyone?), barbecue tools (the grate scrape is incredible!), or just carve your initials into a tree with a heart around them!
——
p.s. When I peeked on Olivia this morning, I could have sworn she grew like crazy overnight! I laid her on her changing pad and grabbed a diaper. It was so small; I couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought to myself, “there is no way she grew out of these diapers so drastically overnight, what is going on.” As she laid there, wiggling and smiling, I was amazed that the supposed size 2s no longer fit her. Well, I looked closer to discover a NEWBORN size diaper had been misplaced in the size 2 pack, so no wonder she seemed to have outgrown them over night! I was so glad to see that Size 2s still fit just fine, and that maybe time didn’t fly as fast last night as I’d first thought.
happy hump day.