365 Days of Love Letters

We’re still trying to get on top of our finances after moving to Pensacola and having a baby and all of the unexpected expenses those major life changes incurred. (I’m not complaining. Life has been an adventure!)

But this Christmas was destined to be a frugal one. Which doesn’t, by any stretch mean a poor one!

I set out to make my husband a gift from scratch, and to keep the gift under $20. And I succeeded! I bought a large wall calendar with extra space in the day boxes for notes, and then I spent the month of December folding origami envelopes, and stuffing them with tiny little love notes. I glued the envelopes to each day, and sealed them with tiny heart stickers. 365 love notes in all!

I didn’t realize what a large undertaking this would be with five needy cats attempting to eat my project and / or sit on my lap… not to mention the wriggling infant princess constantly needing love and attention. But it was fun and I know it will be a worthwhile gift that keeps on giving every day that Jonathan opens his love notes to see my silly little ramblings.

For the love notes, I listed reasons why I love him, fond memories we’ve shared, naughty coupons, lyrics to our favorite songs, prayers and blessings for him, and all kinds of geeky, silly quotes from our favorite movies. I thought it would get difficult to think up original things to write, but at the end of my love notes for 2014, I was sad that I didn’t get to write EVERYTHING I’d planned to!

Along with the seashell décor I gifted to my friends and family, this was our most inexpensive Christmas, and yet it was the richest I have ever known. With our new darling daughter, this season was most certainly merry and bright!

Have you ever made a DIY gift from scratch? I need more ideas for future holidays. 😉