“Who can find a worthy woman? For her price is far above
rubies,” and such a woman should be treated accordingly (Psalm 31:10). In my
life, this verse manifests itself in my mother, the best of the best. My mother
has not only given me life, but provided me with some of the experiences
that have made me who I am today. Her sacrifice and hard work to make me who I
am has inspired me to always want to provide for and help others in any way I
can. Lately, life in the Edward’s house has been kind of hectic. As my
brother’s soccer schedule ramps up, my parents still make efforts to ensure
that my other brother and I can continue to pursue the activities that we enjoy as well.
My mother is Wonder Woman, and God certainly knew what He was
doing when He put this crazy family together.
By the first week of
July, I had pitched my birthday plan for my mom to my dad and he approved. Here’s what we originally came
up with: Kendall, Kyle, and I would clean the house and purchase
three gift cards for mom, all geared towards her having a perfectly pampered
day. One gift card would be to the nail salon, another for Nordstrom Rack (one
of her favorite stores), and the last would be a Visa gift card with enough
money on it for her to go to the hair salon. We would leave the gift cards on
the island table along with a note explaining that the house was clean, and the
kiddies were on their way to grandma’s for the night. She had three gift cards
and a free day to herself to relax and enjoy her favorite things. Fortunately,
her birthday fell on a Friday which would make it even easier for my dad to
leave work early to spend the afternoon with my mom doing whatever they decided
to do.
On that note, we
began planning, but with my father, mother, and fifteen-year-old brother
heading out to the Virgin Islands, the plans changed a little bit, so here’s
how it actually went down: My parents flew back in to the States with Kendall
(my fifteen-year-old brother) on Wednesday the 20th. While they were
gone, I was working with a limited amount of money, thus I couldn’t do the
three gift cards, because that ended up being way too expensive. Therefore, I settled on doing some DIYs, because
made with love, right? Browsing my inundated “DIY” playlist on YouTube, I
stumbled across a simple DIY chic lunch bag that could be done without trouble
by my eight-year-old brother. So that would replace the nail salon gift card,
and would cost a max of $10, perfect! This gift would mimic the “snack bag”
Kyle (my eight year old brother) had made me for my eighteenth birthday. It would be
“Mommy’s Birthday Snack Bag,” something Kyle could be hands on with creating.
How We Made Mommy’s Birthday Snack Bag:
Since I completely followed a YouTube video for the snack
bag, here’s a link to the video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlH-BuSxx3Q
Rather than using the metal clip they used in the video,
Kyle and I used some wooden clips we had in the house and painted them gold to
add a chic touch.
Then we headed to the grocery store (and Chick-Fil-A) to
pick up mom’s favorites, a Superfoods Salad from Chick-Fil-A, one Perrier
ALWAYS in a glass bottle, never plastic, a baggie full of Cape Cod sea salt
and vinegar chips, a Kind bar, and two Lindt chocolates.
Here’s how our snack bag came out:
Next we embarked upon my gift and Kendall’s gift. In an
unfortunate turn of events, a bottle of expensive cream my mother had purchased
from a store called Origins was tossed while she was going through airport security. This was perfect for me however, because I just went back to the store and bought a gift card in the exact amount for the
cream. The Thursday morning after Kendall had
returned from the Virgin Islands, I took him to Starbucks to get my mom a gift
card as well. I decided that rather than purchasing an overpriced, unappealing gift
card holder from the store, I would make a cute one that could be reused.
The Gift Card Holder:
You will need,
·
Fabric
·
Thread
·
Hot glue gun
·
Button
·
Needle and thread
For those that do not enjoy sewing, you can just hot
glue/fabric glue together the parts I sewed together.
Taking some fabric I had in my closet, I traced out a
rectangle (no precise measurements, I just made sure that the rectangle folded
in half was enough to fit my gift cards in). I then measured the midpoint of
the short side of the rectangle and used that point to draw a vertical line
from that point reaching as high as I wanted the triangle at the top to be.
From either sides of the long side, I drew two vertical lines which met at the
top of the vertical line I had drawn (shown by the illustration).
In the illustration, I labeled side A and
side B.
Once the triangle is traced out on the fabric and the whole shape is
cut out (rectangle + triangle), bring side A to the top portion right before
where the triangle is. This will be the shape of your pouch, and the triangle
will be the flap you bring over to serve as the closing flap, much like an
envelope. Using WRONG sides, hot glue or sew together the sides leaving the top
of the pouch where side A meets side A1, this is the opening for the pouch. To
add extra flare, I sewed around the edges of the triangular flap with my
thread. For the button hole, I located the midpoint of the tip of the triangle
and cut a small snip in the fabric. Folding the flap over, I found where the
snip hits the pouch and that’s where I located my button.
I sewed the button on
and cut the snip a bit wider to fit my button through. To prevent my button
hole from fraying, I sewed over the edges with my thread repeatedly until I
felt it was secure.
Here's How it should all look when you're done:
Finally, the day came and we had our gifts ready. The only
thing to do was wait for my mom to leave the house so we could clean and set up
the gifts. We did not account for my mom deciding to spend the first part of
the day relaxing, waking up early to make a batch of banana pancakes and not
leaving the house until 2p.m. so our plans were set back a little, but it all
worked out in the end. When our mom finally left, we cleaned the bathrooms, the
kitchen, and folded and put away all the laundry, set up the gifts, and waited.
Once she got to the house (not until 4 that afternoon), she was pleasantly
surprised and pleased by the gesture. We had cleaned the house, and to the best
of our capabilities, tried to provide her with treats that would make her day
convenient and comfortable, as she always did for us. She opened her gifts, and
then we left for grandma’s around 4:30.
As we were leaving, my dad was wrapping things up at work to
come home to take my mom to dinner and a movie. A successful birthday surprise,
if I don’t say so myself. Also, a big thank you to my grandma who found out about
our little plan and her part in it a week before it all happened. She always so
graciously welcomes us into her home and heart :)
I learned from this that the best gifts are the thoughtful gestures. It doesn’t
have to be anything too extravagant, Kendall, Kyle and I managed to pull this
gift off for around $45, but my mom seemed to appreciate this gift the most of
all the other more extravagant things we’ve purchased for her in the past.
Treat those you love well, and thank God for the magnificent people in your
life, they were put there for a reason. Blessings on blessings,
Kaylah
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