I love giving, but sometimes I get gift anxiety. What if they don’t like it? What if they think I’m cheap? What if I spent all that time and it doesn’t come out right?
These feelings could all be avoided if I just went to the store and purchased something and gave them the gift receipt. Sometimes I do that. But this year….oh my! I think everyone and their dog is planning to get married and have a baby this year, then throw a birthday party and invite one of our kids to it. I’m glad they are, and super glad they invited us. Sometimes the gift budget doesn’t stretch.
It just gives a reason to be a little more creative, right?
(I once talked to a friend, who admitted to turning down birthday party invitations for her kids because they couldn’t afford a gift. Hey, y’all. Don’t do that here, mk? I’d rather have you sans gift then let you worry one moment about finances. Our kids have enough stuff and they won’t even notice, I promise.)
So I thought I’d talk about gifting this month a bit and give some ideas for what to do for baby showers, weddings, kid birthdays and such.
First up is this one yard baby gift. You will need 1 yard of flannel; and 1 clean towel or scrap of terry cloth at least 16 x 18 inches. At Hobby Lobby 1 yard of flannel is $5.99 use a coupon and this gift will cost around $3.75 (with tax.) I used knit terry leftover from diaper making. If you use woven terry, use as thin a terry as you can get–cheap towels are perfect.
First find the selvage edge of your fabric that is printed all the way to the edge. Cut an 8 inch strip off this edge, then cut it in half to get two 18 by 8 inch pieces. (These will become 2 burp cloths.)
Cut the remaining fabric into a perfect square. I fold it into a triangle and cut off what’s hanging off–super technical method ;). This will be a perfect receiving blanket between 36 and 34 inches square. Ever notice that the store bought ones are too tiny to be any good? I used to make mine 45″ square, but really those were too big. These are perfect.
Fold the flannel square into fourths, perfectly lining up the corners. Take some time to do this well. Then, find something round and trace a rounded edge on the outer corner. (Double check–no folds here, at all–right?) Then cut it out. (I used a Scentsy top–see the logo? #notanashtray)
Next run the edge of the blanket through a serger adjusted for a rolled hem. No serger? Try this.
At the place where you start and stop, dab a little bit of fray check to keep it from unravelling.
To finish the burp clothes use the 2 flannel 8 x 18 pieces you cut out as a pattern to cut 2 pieces of terry cloth. Place the rectangles right sides together and stitch around the outside with a 1/4 inch seam allowance, leave a 3″ space for turning.
Turn right side out and press. Then top stitch a scant 1/4 inch away from the edge all the way around. This will close up the hole and make these wash and dry nice and flat.
1 yard = 1 receiving blanket and 2 burp clothes for $3.75. (Update 3 years later and flannel is on sale for $2.50–score!)
High Five!
If your budget is a little bigger than that, buy 2 coordinating yards and make double. Or add a toy or an outfit.
I’ll show you what else you can do with these tomorrow.
Your comments regarding worrying about whether the gift that I made is good enough reflects my own concerns. I’m currently crocheting scarfs and washcloths in an endeavor to keep from playing one of those addictive silly computer games, which I won’t name. And I am hoping to give them as gifts to my nieces and nephews for Easter.
Christina, I understand your feelings. I think it’s two fold–our society has lost the art of graciously accepting a gift–not just for appearances, but to truly cherish something that was made for us in mind. When you think about it, the giver though of us for every long moment it took to create the item. And while they worked, they imagined our delight when we received it. On the other hand, there’s an art to giving-of knowing what the other person really wants or could use (even if they don’t know it yet.) Somehow grace needs to make up the gap between the two.
What a cool idea! I usually get something off of the registry, but I am thinking about doing this and wrapping my gift in the blanket instead of using wrapping paper. Wouldn’t that look so cute?
Emily, that’s a great idea. You should look up Japanese Furoshiki for different ways to wrap with the blanket.
A few years ago we started having birthday parties for our kids that were ‘no gifts’. Our invitations specifically say no gifts, just come and have some fun! My kids don’t miss the gifts at all, they are just excited to have the party and spend the time with friends.
Jeni, That is a good idea. We’ve had parties where we almost forgot to open gifts because we were so involved in the activities. I do love gathering gifts for people, so I would be sad to never have the opportunity, but sometimes it’s nice for a reprieve.
Children and a couple of years have humbled me. And your comments on gracious acceptance of love really ring true. For my first child I tried very hard to make grandparents stick to our ideas of child rearing especially at gift seasons. I was convicted later that I was trying to control how they loved our girl. Unless its harmful I give suggestions about gifts and graciously accept love in all forms. I might be a minimalist but that is something my children may choose or not choose. I have had to explain that for space reasons we limit toys. With a one in one out rule I try to stick with. It has hurt my moms feelings because she believes I am not using as much space aas she would like for toys but….that is our balance.
On the subject of parties… We have been invited to several parties this year where it was asked no gifts, or a book or other token to be donated blessing a cause that was dear to the birthday kid, and even a recycled gift (parents are anti consumer culture) . Its been freeing to see that there are options for hosting parties that allow for more creative gifting with no pressure to give.
Amanda, Your thoughts on “trying to control how they loved our girl” that was profound. Thank you!
My nieces MIL goes waaay overboard on gifts for every occasion. (She’s asked for less gifts, but it falls deaf ears. ) My niece said she selects a few things for her kids to keep and puts the rest in a box in her closet. When she needs a birthday party gift, she just “shops” her closet. Her kids don’t miss the extra stuff and it helps her budget out as her kids are the age where they have lots of birthday parties to attend.
Renee, Ooh a gift closet is such a great idea. I’ve sometimes thought I would sew some things ahead when I can steal a few moments away and build up a gift box like that. But it’s still just a dream 🙂