It took my 9 year old to point out the obvious:
“Mom, your blog is called ‘Eat.Play.Love…More’, yet you always write about ‘eating’, what about the rest of your name?”
So, today I am excited to share an article that I can file under the headings of ‘love’ and ‘more’….take that (9 year old who’s too smart for his own good)! I don’t know about you, but lately I just feel like I’m drowning in ‘stuff’. It’s everywhere and it keeps amassing by many very well intentioned people in our lives. Several years ago, before the birth of our first child, I decided to (especially around the holidays) really focus on giving meaningful, yet useful gifts that won’t compound the trash problem out there. I feel that a gift should be more than a glued together hunk of plastic that has been made overseas or a chemically fragranced, petroleum based candle. A DIY gift with a loving meaning behind it wins double points for me! Who doesn’t like to be appreciated or reminded of how much they are loved? Last year I put together a very sweet gift box for my closest girlfriends as well as for my children’s teachers and our sweet neighbors. It contained useful gifts that were gentle on the planet.
‘Thank you for being’
…reads the handwritten gift enclosure. Here’s what you’ll need:
- a beautiful bar of luxurious, beautifully scented, hand made soap (the farmer’s market is a great source for this)
- epsom bath salts (like these) with a few drops of an essential oil of your choice (I love this one)
- a smallish see thru glass container
- loose leaf tea
- a small container for loose tea
- a quality organic chocolate bar (or 2). I like these ones because of the clean ingredients and absence of soy lecithen.
- a beautiful sleeping mask like this one
- rafia
- beautiful paper (I like to use my children’s water color paintings)
- square or circle paper punch – like this
- hole punch
Directions:
1. Using your paper punch, cut out 5 squares/circles from your choice of paper and punch a hole in each. 2. Using a nice flowy pen (just my 2 cents), write one of the following on each square:
- Be pampered
- Be treated
- Be calm
- Be well
- Be rested
3. Tie a thin piece of rafia around each object and thread the square paper through each.
4. Arrange into a wicker basket or gift box.
5. I like to write an additional card saying “Thank you for being” and including it so it is the first thing that is seen when the gift is opened.
Gratitude breeds gratitude. Give it generously. Happy holidays! 🙂
This is also shared with these fabulous bloggers: Natural Living Mamma , A Life in Balance , Homegrown and Healthy, Real Food Forager, A Humble Bumble, Holistic Squid, Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Thank your Body