A Crafty Gift

Last Sunday I went to a wonderful wedding of two of my friends from college, Sarah and Coz. They are pictured on the left being very adorable having their first kiss as a married couple. They had a very cool, very fun and very non-traditional wedding. One of my favorite things about it was how crafty it was! Many of the things at the wedding, from Sara's dress, to the flowers and their wedding rings were all purchased from Etsy. I used to have a store up there myself and after I finally get some gainful employment, I will probably open it up again.

Now, Sara and Coz hadn't registered, so that left me with a bit of a dilemma of what to get them as a gift. I didn't want to get them something they might not need/want that would just take up space. And I am pretty against just giving good friends money. It's so impersonal!


I am hoping that they have opened their gifts by now so that I won't be spoiling any surprise by revealing what I did do for them here (I don't even know if they know about/read this blog anyway, so the point may be moot).

I started by making a card for them. The nicest and thickest paper I had was some resume paper (recycled! whoo!). I thought it would make sense if I made them something Chinese themed. I first attempted to write in calligraphy a lovely Chinese poem I found online. It said things like "I hope we are together until the flowers bloom in winter, the snows fall in summer and heaven mingles with the earth". But it made the front look really busy and I am a bit of a perfectionist. In the end I just wrote one word as best as I could, "Double Happiness", the character for a happy marriage. I outlined that with some nice red and gold ribbon (traditional good luck colors in China). I lined the inside with rice paper and wrote my message on it, being sure to sign with "Sproffee" (the nickname most of my college friends know me as) and my Chinese name stamp (the tiny red block on the bottom there), which is the Chinese translation for "Sproffee".



Here is a better view of the front (I covered up their full names just to keep their privacy) and their actual gift. The name "Sprof-O-Gram" came from my good friend Claire. I thought it was rather ridiculous and perfect. In short, my gift to them is a coupon to have my use one of my weird hobbies to create a gift for them. I gave them a few suggestions, such as having me knit them a blanket, having them invite some friends over and have me cook a gourmet meal for all of them (with dessert!), have me hire out the improv group I recently joined to perform for them at some event, etc. At first I was a little nervous that they might think this was a weird/corny gift, but after seeing how crafty their wedding was, I hope they like this idea. I can't wait to find out what they choose for me to do. No matter what, it will be an excuse for us to hang out again, and it will be more personal than cash.


It was wonderful to see not only the happy couple but also so many old college friends of mine that I haven't really seen in a long time. Some I hadn't seen since I left for China two years ago, one I hadn't seen in over three years. Here is a fun group picture with everyone from the wedding who went to the same college. It sucks that people live so far apart, which makes getting together a little difficult. Thank goodness for events like weddings where we can all get together.

Congrats again Sara and Coz! And thanks again for inviting me!