BY HAND: In the most recent clean out this month, I found a box of our nicer family photos tossed in a box in the garage. There are other photos in the home, of course, these just were chunked into the garage. I took them back to my house, scanned them, labeled them and am putting them into a scrapbook album for Mom. I also burned them all into CDs to pass around to other relatives as insurance against the inevitable disaster-spill, fire or hurricane! She'll at least have them in one spot, relatively protected, and everyone else will be able to finally make their own copies. Plus I'll have the security of knowing they can be replaced if thats ever necessary.

BY HAND: I've evolved in the direction of taking time to write something reflective and meaningful in a blank or home-made card (yup, more to hoard!!); giving some nominal requested item; and wrapping it in, or including, something really special for her collection: a metallic twist-tie, or tri-color rubber-band, and especially handsome Zip-loc bag, etc. Mom knows what the underlying message is with these trinkets, but she loves them all the same. And hey -- what's one more?? This has been terrific therapy for me , anyway...

BY HAND: The best gift I ever gave my mom was a "love jar". Can't remember where I heard of the idea but she loved it. For mother's day I put 52 scraps of paper, each with a different typed message telling her about a memory I was grateful for like "I'm grateful for every meal you ever cooked, especially the ones you felt least like making", and put them in a clean candle jar with a lid, wrapped some raffia and the instructions around the outside. The instructions told her to open one once a week (she does it on Sundays), read the message and think nice thoughts about the person who gave her the gift LOL.

BY HAND: We made a videotape with the best bits from all the school plays, concerts, etc. she would have attended had she been able.

BY HAND: Rather than giving grandma another embroidered throw or crafty sweatshirt all the grandkids got together and wrote her a letter of what she meant to us - and of funny and touching things we remember from growing up - There were seventeen letters total - we put them in a book and gave them to her after dinner - We read each letter out loud and all got to enjoy them.

BY HAND: A gift certificate that YOU hold on to. Maybe make them one yourself for them on your computer and YOU hold on the the original and give it to them the day before the appointment?

BY HAND: Give the gift of taking something AWAY: old car in the driveway, big pile of branches, pile of dead computers, whatever.

BY HAND: For someone who uses their computer a lot you could gather screensavers, games, pictures from the internet for desktop wallpaper, family pictures for wallpaper or a screensaver, recipes, fun links or links to information about a hobby and copy them to a disk for them. The possibilities are endless and there's a lot of room on one disk!

I'm sure a note listing good qualities would be appreciated, like the night she helped with a last minute book report. Also a framed picture that can be hung on the wall is not as likely to get lost in the pile.

You give but little when you give of your possessions. 
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. 
~Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Submit your handmade gift suggestion