As you may know, each anniversary is known for a particular gift. If you’re like me, you’ve seen this chart and wished that every anniversary gift tradition was a diamond, or a ruby. However, this isn’t the case. As a matter a fact, the traditional first year anniversary gift is paper! Most people will look up this chart and disregard the tradition, I mean, who wants paper? Even if you want to be different and find the modern anniversary gift chart, you only find a clock listed for the first year anniversary gift. So, instead of writing off these traditions, be creative. The gift of paper doesn’t mean you head to Office Depot and pick up a ream of printing paper. You can be creative with this, and even sentimental. Here are my top 10 first year anniversary gift ideas.
1. A photo album of your first year of marriage. This not only fulfills the gift of paper, but it’s also a timeline (clock) of your marriage. How clever.
2. Personalized stationery. Have some stationery designed for your spouse. This is not only for men to buy for their wives, but also a great gift for a man. If your husband has an office, he may use postcards, notepads, or even a letterhead. Have something designed just for his home office.
3. A romantic paper lantern for the bedroom. There are specialty store where you can find handcrafted Japanese lanterns. These produce romantic lighting for the bedroom, living room, or even a patio of you enjoy spending the evenings on the porch.
4. Name a star after your spouse. You can name a star after your spouse at the International Star Registry at http://www.starregistry.com. You’ll receive a
PAPER certificate with the name of the star and it’s location! Go the extra mile and name two stars after the both of you, so you’ll live in the sky forever. Ahhh.
5. Buy jewelry. Whenever you buy diamond and other precious stones, you should receive a certificate of authenticity…in other words, paper. While paper isn’t the focus of the gift, it’s still covered, and jewelry is always a great gift. Visit
www.kincaidesigns.com for some unique jewelry gifts ideas.
6. Buy a share of stock. This may sound boring to some, but to others it’s fun and exciting. You can even buy stock in their favorite company, Coach, Prada, Nike, etc.
7. Airline tickets. Plan a trip for your first anniversary. It might seem like only yesterday you were on your honeymoon, but an entire year has passed. Take a romantic vacation!
8. Gift certificate. If money is tight, as it is with many newlyweds, you might be spending your extra money on practical things like groceries, insurance or rent. Give the gift of shopping to your spouse and make sure they spend in on a treat for themselves.
9. Frame your wedding photo for the wall. You know your photos have been sitting in a box, waiting to be ordered from the big day. Well, order at least one photo and have it framed.
10. Framed artwork. Buy some cool artwork for your living room or bedroom. Many newlyweds are slowly making a home for themselves, what better way than to add some character and mood to your bare walls.
There you have it, ten creative ways to give paper in celebration of your first anniversary. And don’t forget to give her flowers too, the traditional first year anniversary flower in the orange blossom.
Find out more about anniversary traditional and modern gifts, anniversary flowers, birthstone gifts and more at
kincaidesigns.com. You can also shop for handmade jewelry for all those jewelry anniversary gifts.
I wanted for a long time now to wrap around two circles/ovals one inside the other, one end wider than the other, but when I started to wrap on one end, the other would not stay put. Last night I had this idea how to do it, using Corra's pipa tutorial, and it seems to be working, I like this resulting pendant. Sterling silver with amazonite dangling bead. 2.5x3 cm overall.
I made today two new pendants. The first one I started last night, but I didn't like they way I did it, so I rewrapped it this morning.
The second one is a paisley pendant using the same pearls and additionally white freshwater pearls and sterling silver beads. I quite like this one.
Jens Pind is the name of the latest weave I've learned today. It took me yesterday close to 2 hours of frustration after which I gave up, but today I started with full force and it 'clicked' almost instantly. Must have been very tired last night for my mind to blank out so much.
No, it's not about the song, but the name of the weave I've learned lately. It is also known by another name, dino snorting drano, and although it's a gorgeous bracelet weave, I'm not sure what the person creating it was snorting when it gave this name *roll eyes*. Thank got it's also called by the alternative name, which is what I'm gonna use.
I was busy the whole week with this byzantine necklace, a piece on commision. Now hope they will actually buy it :)
Tonight, after all this chainmail, I wanted to do something entirely different, but still something in my comfort zone. So I picked the herringbone weave, which I love so much. The beads are goldstone, they sparkle so much in the light, they're simply gorgeous. For the first time since I make herringbone, I've used thicker wire for wrapping, it has quite an interesting effect. I might use it again for larger beads.
Since I'm on a chainmail roll, here is my latest creation. Spent the better part of Friday evening and Saturday morning winding and cutting the coil to make the rings for it (two sizes, AR 3 and 6), and Saturday afternoon until late in the night I was working on the necklace. I pulled apart at times bits and pieces of it until I got the design the way I wanted it. Although it did turn out to be come something else than I first envisioned. Oh well...
