A Pictures's Worth 1000 Words
Believe it or not... we just had Christmas. We're were not able to connect with my folks over the holidays so we all just got together these past five days, had a relaxed visit and finally exchanged Christmas gifts.
Buying gifts for my parents really sucks. It stresses me out every year because they have everything they need already... and then some. As you know they are moving (yes, still) so the last they need is more junk. We attempt to buy them unique things or things that get used up (like theater tickets), but that is nearly impossible.
Well, this year kicked some Santa ass.
One of our neighbors had us for dinner a few months ago to meet their new son. During the visit, we noticed a sketch hanging on the wall. It was a hand-drawn picture of their last house. Larry & I just turned and looked at each other. Light bulbs went off. The perfect gift for a couple who was moving out of their house after 32 years.
The artist, Catherine, turned out to be a local DC woman. She borrowed two color photos and began work. After three weeks and a couple phone calls for some detail explanation of the house, she was done. I cannot tell you how impressed we were. The best part was that it cost less than $300.
Catherine is definitely taking on more business and is glad to work with people from out of town. She'll also have the drawing framed if you'd like. She works with pencil drawings and watercolors. And she's the sweetest woman I've ever spoken with.
I won't post her information here, but you can email me to get her contact info. These are great gifts for parents or wonderful for yourself if you want memories of the homes you've lived in. (She also showed me how she chronicled a family business that had grown over time. ) The ideas are limitless.
So without further waiting....the house I grew up in.
Buying gifts for my parents really sucks. It stresses me out every year because they have everything they need already... and then some. As you know they are moving (yes, still) so the last they need is more junk. We attempt to buy them unique things or things that get used up (like theater tickets), but that is nearly impossible.
Well, this year kicked some Santa ass.
One of our neighbors had us for dinner a few months ago to meet their new son. During the visit, we noticed a sketch hanging on the wall. It was a hand-drawn picture of their last house. Larry & I just turned and looked at each other. Light bulbs went off. The perfect gift for a couple who was moving out of their house after 32 years.
The artist, Catherine, turned out to be a local DC woman. She borrowed two color photos and began work. After three weeks and a couple phone calls for some detail explanation of the house, she was done. I cannot tell you how impressed we were. The best part was that it cost less than $300.
Catherine is definitely taking on more business and is glad to work with people from out of town. She'll also have the drawing framed if you'd like. She works with pencil drawings and watercolors. And she's the sweetest woman I've ever spoken with.
I won't post her information here, but you can email me to get her contact info. These are great gifts for parents or wonderful for yourself if you want memories of the homes you've lived in. (She also showed me how she chronicled a family business that had grown over time. ) The ideas are limitless.
So without further waiting....the house I grew up in.
posted by Steve at
6:41:00 AM
3 Comments:
That is a great gift. My in-laws built their dream house on a river. A couple on the other side of the river had an etching made of the house when it was finished, framed it, and delivered it as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. Slightly better than a warm plate.
The etching hangs above the mantel and my in-laws love it.
Perfect gift idea! We have the same problem buying birthday, father's day, and Christmas for LA Mommy's dad. It's not that he has everything - he's one of those old guys who doesn't want anything. Nothing at all. It causes stress every time.
Unfortunately, he's already got the house drawing... ah, well.
Great gift idea.
We have struggled too about gifts for parents who have everything and don’t really need or have the space for more stuff. For the past couple years, our gift has been time with them where we treat them to a special event. Nice dinner and a show, brunch and a museum, etc. It was a little awkward at first and we had to keep reminding them that our gift was the special event but now they look forward to it with much anticipation and enthusiasm.
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