We are having a very small get together for my Mom's 60th birthday. She is kind of freaked about turning 60 so we are just making it small with family. However we are stuck about what gift to give her. All of our budgets are very tight. We've already thought of making a DVD for her but we are out of time to pull that together. Do any of you have sentimental ideas that we could give?
Thanks for all of your great ideas!! We ended up getting a platter from a pottery store and all writing words on it that described her from our point of view. It was a fun activity during the party and she will get the finished product in a few days. She loves to cook and entertain especially at her lake house. So we figured she could use it as well. I appreciate all of you thoughts!
Too late to make a pre-party DVD? Make one at the party. Just set up the camcorder and have everyone "stop by" and say whatever they want to say - ya know, kinda like you do at some weddings. Hope this helps!
If you have pictures on a digital camera
go to CVS and make her a photo book
you pick and arrange the pictures and then they
bind it into a book for you
I agree with having each person invited take a photo of themselves and write a hand written note of appreciation to your mom. A handwritten letter means more to a person than a pre-purchased gift, etc. Plus, setting it into a nice album will tie it all together. I think the whole family can pull off that gift for a decent price (under $100 for sure, maybe even cheaper than that depending on how nice you want the album,) if you want it engraved/foil stamped (go to Christian bookstore for leather album engraving).
But definitely photos, handwritten notes, etc. That's much easier for her to pull out and "brag" to her friends than a DVD is! Imagine how cute it would be to have handwritten note from the grandkids in their sweet little handwriting, too?
I have some albums that I sell thru my business and I have a nice leather album in stock, if you're interested please let me know. I have other things that are reasonable and might be of interest to you as well. Good luck and your party will be FAB! :)
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Have you thought about possibly pulling your money together? If each couple gives $5 or $10, you could buy her something nice with that. We have done this several times in my family as money is ALWAYS tight!!! I hope this helps! Good luck and God Bless!
A group photo or better yet have each kid put together their favorite memory of MOM in a story. They could present them to her or better yet tell the story at the party.
My sister and I and our best friends are throwing a surprise 60th birthday party for my mom and our friend's mom tonite! We are kinda going crazy and spent a lot of money (it is a big party) but we did a couple things just for my mom -- we made a DVD of pictures of her through the years set to music and we had our family pictures made together this summer and framed a large photo for her house of my family and my sister's family. She is going to LOVE it. We also bought signature frames for everyone to sign at the party and we will frame a picture of her in it( or her and my dad - not sure yet) Anyway those are some ideas.
E.
Shutterfly photo book. Very, very easy.
As a 58 yr old Mom myself I think any Mother would love to have a written note/card saying how she has impacted each life. The difference she's made in each of the children's lives would be fulfilling and gratifying I believe to all moms....just my thought for ya!
Interview her siblings or her parents if they are still alive and/or cousins... write down their memories of your mom and put into a little booklet. If you have photos include them as well. I did this for my Dad for Christmas one year and it meant more to him than anything else.
We just celebrated my mom's 65th in August. We ordered a photo book from snapfish.com We scanned in old pictures and did a "through the years" type thing. We started with her baby pic and then ended with current pics of grandkids. We also left some blank pages at the back and had family members write little notes to her after she opened it at the party. It turned out BEAUTIFULLY, and was super easy to do on-line. I did pay the express shipping b/c we were in a time-crunch and it arrived in 2 days. It was such a huge hit with everyone and turned out great!! Good luck.
Both Kodak and Shutterfly have photo book that you can put together easily. They are hard bound books that make great coffee table books. They have a format all ready for the books and you just pick what pictures you want or you can come up with your own format if you want. It is a quick easy way to scrapbook. We made one for my mom for Mother's Day with all the grandkids in it and she loved it. She still says that it has been one of her favorite gifts.
If the DVD is too late, how about getting some very nice paper and everyone give her a handwritten note of appreciation or whatever you want to say.
It is nice of you to think of her. I would be freaking out too!
Hi K., if you are out of time and can't put a digital gift book together, I agree with the post that suggested notes of appreciation. If I were you I'd choose a beautiful scrapbook for her and enough appropriate sized paper to have everyone write a special note to her. Moms love to hear that they are loved and appreciated! You could take this one step further and place a photo of each person on the page when you put it into the scrapbook. Even if you are not having a large party, if you use letter sized paper, you could even mail a sheet to multiple others asking them to write her a note and return it to her...then as the letters come back to her, even after her birthday, the celebration continues! I did this for my parents' 40 wedding anniversary by asking everyone to write a note of an event they remembered included my parents and they enjoyed for years. Lastly, another time my cousin wanted to celebrate her 50th with her closest girlfriends. We all went away for the weekend and each lady secretly designed a scrapbook page one morning. We gave her the scrapbook on "party night." However, over the weekend, we took lots of pictures and after having them developed, we put a picture of each friend on "her" page. This way the gift develops during the party. Have fun and I think you are GREAT for doing this for your mom!
