Because I love you so much…I made this for you at the last minute

Hello Go Gingham fans!  I am Annie from PlentyPerfect.com and Sara has invited me to guest-post today.  And nag you.  (She probably just invited me because she is too nice to nag effectively.)  Yes, I am here to nag.  I am a guest nagger.

Did you remember that Mother’s Day is coming up?  Yep – coming up really soon.  Um…you might want to get a present for your dear old mom.  It would mean a lot to her.  Really – have you thought about it yet?  You really should take care of getting a gift.  Have you done it yet?

Mother’s Day gift ideas

Occasions sometimes sneak up on me.  In a perfect world, I would have been making an album of memories, knitting a warm beanie hat, or otherwise planning ahead.  Instead – I have to come up with last minute gifts.  Here is one you can give to your mom – or anyone else worthy of a last minute gift.  This gift packs a lotta love but won’t cost you a lotta money…

…here it is…100 Days of Loving You in a jar!!!   An old friend gave me this idea for a Valentine’s Day gift and I made it in one morning.  Being a much better person than I am, my friend planned ahead with her gift.  She did a whole Year of Love and did 365 days of love notes!  And put pictures on some of the notes.  And made them bigger.  And more colorful.  She’s a bit of a show off.

If your mom or honey or mailman is worth making a gift for at the last minute, you can do this plenty perfect version pretty quickly and with very minimal effort and expense.

In a Word document, click on “Mailings” and you will find a place to make labels.  Find a label layout in the size you want.  I used the business card layout.  Make a “New Document” using your chosen layout and embellish as much as your technological abilities will allow you.  I used the “Insert” tab and put in rectangular shapes, filled with color and put a text box over that.  I am super fancy like that.  For you, just writing words would be fine.  Remember it is the thought, not the awesome graphic design skills that count here.

To avoid formatting a new page every time, I just hit “Save” for the document I wanted to keep (Love Notes1) and then hit “Save As” on that same document and changed the name (Love Notes2) to make a new document.  I then changed the colors and words and repeated the process.

Print out your labels on paper and cut them up.  There is a lot of room for interpretation here if you have time.  You can consider using different papers, cutting with fancy scissors, tearing instead of cutting, writing instead of typing, or adding photos like my show off friend.  The possibilities are endless, but if you are working last minute like me, the basics will work as well.

Fold up each note and tape it closed.  Making your mom go to the trouble of struggling to open the tape will make her remember that you are giving her a really special present each time.  If she rips the note, she will be super sad and value it even more!  I put mine in a cute jar with a bow, but you can really use anything.  Add a note -a  big heart or flower is cute – explaining your fabulously thoughtful gift and how it is to be used.  Maybe there are strict rules – depending on how controlling you are or not.  I think opening one a day or inviting the recipient to open one whenever needed is very nice, but you go ahead and do what you want.  You probably will anyway if you are that controlling.

This little Jar of Love could be used for any occasion.  It is an all-purpose last-minute, oops-I forgot-to-buy-you-something gift!  How plenty perfect.

What do you do when you have to come up with a gift at the last minute?

Go Gingham related Links:

Mother’s Day – frugal and fancy very Go Gingham!
Homemade cards – for Mother’s Day – these are super easy to make
Turn artwork into a gift with a frame lovely + practical!