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Friends, you are in for a treat today! Today’s post comes to us from Liz, a longtime friend and past coworker of mine who has graced my pages many times in the form of handmade gift she’s made me and my girls. Today she’s sharing a handmade gift she and her godson created with the use of her silhouette machine: a year of fun dates bridal shower gift!
Yes long time SOTD readers will remember that I and a group of bridesmaids had done a year of date night gifts for my bestie, and SOTD contributor, Allie for her bridal shower. Each month the couple is allowed to open their next gift and enjoy a date night that was planned out. For this version, Liz helped craft up this adorably fun gift with her godson Ben to give to his brother, Roy, and his soon-to-be-wife, Andrea, at her bridal shower. This is the ultimate reader’s feature submission that needed it’s own post! The date ideas are just too darn cute and the crafted elements to gift them are so awesome. Check out this super thoughtful year of fun dates gift Liz and Ben put together!
Background: Roy (the husband to be) was to be stationed with the Coast Guard in Key West, which doesn’t have many chain restaurants or big box stores. Being that Ben (the brother gifting this gift) is in New Jersey, he had to get creative on the gifts he wanted to give and the date ideas. Most included money for the date but had a theme around it that was very cutely decorated.
January – Theme: missing home and the cold (since Roy’s from NJ but currently stationed in Florida). It included packs of Starbucks hot chocolate and a plush set of fake snowballs. The card encouraged some hot chocolate and to have a snowball fight.
February – Similar to what I did for the February date, this one included a date out to the movies! Gift included money and a box of their favorite candy in a faux popcorn box.
March – Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a tradition from their family growing up – green milk and green pancakes! Ben included a box of pancake mix, green food coloring, chocolate chips and a gift card to McDonalds to grab some shamrock shakes. The hat is actually a Tupperware container that was painted green like a leprechaun hat as a cute accent!
April – Ben gave 2 gifts because he’s a jokester. In honor of April Fools Day, the first gift was a “fake” one booby trapped with duct tape. Once they manage to open the box, they would discover it was empty except for a card that said “LOL” on the front and told them their date was time spent figuring out how to open the box. On the back of the card it said to look for the box marked May with a smiley face on the tag.
That was the real April date – money for sushi take out and an egg decorating kit for Easter.
May – Celebrate Cinco de Mayo! A set of margarita glasses, mini bottle of tequila and money to go out for Mexican food.
June – In honor of hockey season and the Stanley cup finals (a big deal for this hockey loving family) they were gifted money to go to a sports bar. (where he hoped they’d see the Rangers win the cup!)
July – BBQ season! Gift was a hamburger press and money for the makings of a BBQ.
August – Picnic and day at the beach followed by ice cream sundaes at home. The gift included money to buy sandwiches and ice cream, two glasses of Riesling wine, a kite, and toppings for the sundaes.
September – Date night at home. Money for takeout, some microwave popcorn, and a dvd of 50 First Dates (Ben’s favorite date movie)!
October – Pizza and a game night. The gift included money for pizza, a menu for a place in Key West and game to play together.
November – A road trip! Since he wouldn’t know where they have already been or what they’d be interested in, he included a mix! A map of Key West and Miami, as well as, brochures for local museums and an event schedule in a cute travel themed bi-fold pocket.
December – A month notorious with shopping! Just as I had done for the December date I gifted, this one is spent Christmas shopping doing a photo scavenger hunt at the mall! Ben included a gift card to Starbucks to get the day started.
While Liz is a big time crafter, Ben is not. She says he got a whole new appreciation for what goes into crafting these kinds of gifts as he helped assemble all the pieced together designs and wrap the finished projects as part of this large gift concept.
These bridal shower gifts are so amazing.