This past week has been the best. My anniversary and birthday fall in the same week, so I’ve been showered with love, gifts and hey, I even got a little breaky break from cooking for a few days.
My husband and I celebrated 1-year of marriage. Huzzah! We’ve been together for seven years, so we’re very familiar with what makes a good gift for each other, however, getting gifts for males can always be a challenge.
Me? I’m a piece of cake. Jewelry, flowers, chocolate – while all cliché – I will always love these things because when else will I be showered with them? Over the years, my husband has learned to make jewelry a “just because” gift and has gotten comfortable with being more creative for special occasions. In fact, he stumbled upon Etsy for this year’s anniversary, stayed with the paper anniversary theme, and got me a framed paper origami version of what we both wore for our wedding. So. Impressed.
Let’s talk a little more about gift giving, ladies. That paper origami thing is especially awesome because he’s learned it’s the kind of sentimental thing I appreciate. However, if that’s what I gave him…the result would have been a liiiittle different. If you’re S.O. is anything like mine, he’s practical, appreciates humor and is WAY less sentimental. Looking at those cute little origami figures he would’ve thought it was a cool find, but also be thinking, What the hell am I supposed to do with this? Let’s face it – a gift like that is a gift I’m basically getting for myself.
I thought of other variations of sentimental paper gifts: framing the lyrics to your first dance, framing your vows, love notes tied to balloons or put into jars, paper flowers, a storybook with your love story – you know, your basic Pinterest-variety anniversary gifts. When you look at these ideas and say, “awwww,” you have to remember that’s your voice raising several octaves in excitement…not his. Just to see where it would fall on his scale of appreciation, I asked my husband waaay before our anniversary what he’d think if I surprised him with love notes tied to a dozen-or-so balloons: “Please don’t do that.”
Understood. If I hadn’t asked, he would have humored and thanked me. But there are better things you can get a guy. Seriously. I’ve actually already made this sentimental mistake during our dating years. I created a book that pieced together the messages we had been sending back and forth. He was so sweet about receiving it…but, now it’s something I appreciate more than he does. Something I will look back at while he stands by my side and says, “Oh yeah, would ya look at that!”
So, what did I get him this time around? Well, he has an unnatural love for Tony Romo (QB for the Dallas Cowboys) and we didn’t have a grooms cake for our wedding, so I enlisted the graphic design talents of a friend and had him Photoshop this image for me to put on a cake:
Unfortunately the photo cake people wouldn’t let me print it because of trademark reasons, so I had to improvise on my own:
He thought it was hilarious! It’s something he can appreciate as every football season rolls around and something he can show to friends.
That was the creative part of my gift. The rest of my gift appealed to his practical senses: a paper shredder, actual printer paper and notebooks with some pens. These are all things he needed (he’s in flight school, so he was short on note-taking supplies). Useful with a side of fun. Success!
Here are some other things that could be a well-appreciated paper anniversary gift for our male counterparts:
- Photo autographed by his favorite athlete/actor/musician (Look up how long it takes for fan autographs to be returned…I thought of this one too late)
- Concert tickets
- 1st edition of favorite book or any book on his reading list
- Poster fit for a mancave (check out these hilarious fictional depictions of history…I gave the Teddy Roosevelt one for his birthday)
- Plane tickets for an awesome vacay
- For professionals – business cards or other stationary/paper items for their desk
- Snarky notes (You know…one’s like these)
The other problem I run into with gift giving is that even if I know what my husband wants, he usually has a very specific brand and model in mind. To remedy the constant questions I end up asking, my husband created an Amazon wish list, so I can browse what he has on his mind for any holiday and actually get the make and model right. Everybody wins.
What are some other creative gifts you’ve thought up for the man in your life?
Leave a Reply