Need some ideas for mother in law 60th Birthday

[totoro]

My mother in law has actually been pretty good to us. She is a good hearted person, despite her slow going with the willingness to understand K and N.
Or the ability to accept the diagnosis.
But all of this aside, she would truly do anything for us and in her heart believes we are doing the best for the girls.

She has done so much for the whole family and most do nothing for her.

So this is a big one, I want to have 60 presents for her to unwrap!

Her Birthday is October 17th. I have around 12 already.

We have made some and I am picking little cheap things here and there.
I am going to have the girls make as many things as possible.
I had them make a button frame, we glued buttons of all colors on a wooden frame, it is very cute.

We took a slice of a tree and hot glued wine corks on it- very cute cork board! They are big wine drinkers.

I am trying to get K to finish a latch hook rug.

We are going to paint some rocks. Modge podge some pretty jars with colored tissue and make some outdoors lanterns- tie string around them to hang outside.


ANy other simple ideas???
TIA

 

[gcvmom]

Hmmmm... does Raoul have an uncle you could tie a bow around?

 

[DammitJanet]

Dollar store!

Ok...do they have a computer? Or a dvd player? If so, get as many pictures as you can and scan them onto a dvd. Send them to me. I need pictures of the girls, mother in law and father in law, your hubby and you, hubby growing up. Does hubby have sibs? If so...pics of them. In other words...send me her life! Just scan but do it as fast as possible because I am going to be on baby call you know. My new grandbaby will be here anytime now. So scan these pics as soon as you can and mail them to me. I cant down load them fast enough cause I am on dialup. I need them mailed. I will make several DVD's for her.

 

[klmno]

Hmmm...throwing out ideas here- a CD of her favorite songs, a memory photo album or a scrap book- kind of a "this is your life" sort of thing (of course that will take gathering photos and stuff from other faamily members), I like little trial size things that help her pamper herself, maybe make a movie of each member of the fammily telling her Happy B-day and re-telling their favorite memories with her. Will she get the package soon after you put it together? Maybe the girls could make some cookies or fudge or something edible. Also, I tried to look online and find an old class photo of my mom's high school grad class or the way her hometown looked when she was growing up in it.

Just ideas!

ETA: Janet snuck in on me with the "this is your life" idea!

 

[mstang67chic]

Is there any kind of food or candy she talks about from when she was a child? If it's still made maybe you could get that.

What about hobbies or crafts? If she scrapbooks for instance.....maybe some colored paper or stencils. If she likes to cook, maybe a inexpensive but unique utensil. Or even one or two of those little recipe books that are at the checkout lanes at the grocery store. They have all kinds....crock-pot meals, desserts, one pan meals.

My aunt sometimes makes her own bath salts and I've heard it's pretty easy to do. You could put them in a pretty jar from the Dollar Store.

I'll get my mom a big bottle of bubbles and different types of bubble wands from the dollar store. (the kind of bubbles you blow) They make wands in all shapes and sizes.

Old fashioned toys like jacks or anything you can find that she may have played with as a child.

A small calender featuring pictures she might enjoy.

Hand made certificates/coupons from the girls for different things. Hugs, kisses, ice cream sundae, tea party, dress up....anything that would give her time with the girls and that they could handle.

A tiara and/or feather boa for her to wear on her birthday.

Maybe have some presents for her to open immediately and some for specified times during the month. For example, if she birdwatches on Thursday's, have a little pretty journal and pen for her to open on a Thursday. Something like that.

Is there a junk food that she loves but rarely indulges in? Wrap up one of those.


Also, just keep your eyes open for inexpensive but fun things like the bubbles I mentioned. Or small hand held games, puzzle books, bouncy balls....anything you think she would like or that would make her giggle. I think she'll like it no matter what you do. My uncle was raised Jehovah's Witness and never had a birthday celebration until he was an adult. (He didn't stay with it) When he was 30 though, his then fiancee did the same thing so he would have a gift for each year.

 

[Star*]

This is you mother in law right? The one that gives you a hard time about K & N? Right?

How about a broom? And some flying Monkeys? And a bucket of water? And with any luck - a strong wind and a nice house from Kansas.

 

[Andy]

What a great idea! And the best part is that you are including the girls in some great mom/daughter time.

I love the ideas brought forth so far.

One that I have is rather boring but is practicle and will be used. You can bundle as one gift or separate if you need to stretch to reach the 60 gifts: A roll or book of stamps and two boxes of envelopes (one small, one letter size) and a package of note cards.

A special heart touch idea: Have each of the girls write what they think about when they remember Grandma - Give them a paper about the size of 5 X 8 and then mat and frame in a 8 X 10 frame.

Plan on having her open the tiarra and boa first so she can wear it the rest of the openings.

 

[JJJ]

How about a Through the Years book. Each page could have the highlights from that year (start with the year she was born and do one page per year through 2009). If you have pixs of her from those years, add them in. Maybe include an annual fact about something she is interested in (ie. if she loves bowling, list the USA National Bowling champ each year)

Year:


Cost of McDonalds Hamburger:
Top Song:
Biggest News Story:
President:

 

[klmno]

Oh- Andy's suggestion reminded me of something we did one year. difficult child was learning to draw in sd so he made a small doodle drawing with a little caption, I had it reduced on the copier and copied and the copy place made a note pad out of it for us to send to my mother. It wasn't as inexpensive as I'd hoped but it wasn't real constly and it's simple and unique. You could have some of the girls' artwork copied onto card stock or something for note cards - to expand on Andy's thought.

 

[WhymeMom?]

If she has a sense of humor how about a bag of 60 marbles, with note attached: It's a good idea to keep track of these and if someone asks you can tell them you haven't lost your marbles!

 

[Nancy]

I didn't read the replies so I'm sorry if this has been suggested.

Make one of those small memory scrapbooks with pictures of her and her kids/grandkids.

Nancy

 

[mstang67chic]

If she has a sense of humor how about a bag of 60 marbles, with note attached: It's a good idea to keep track of these and if someone asks you can tell them you haven't lost your marbles!

Love that idea!!!

 

[totoro]

I love all of these!!!
Star* you are terrible! I am trying to be the bigger person... she has tried to understand. OK she is trying. After K's HUGE breakdown in Chicago... hallucinating wanting to die where we MADE mother in law go in and try to calm K down, (actually kind of funny in a sad way) she is fully respectful of me!!! BOW DOWN!

Janet one of her sisters is doing the DVD picture things, but I love you for the thought!!!


I am going to do the marbles!
Coupons, little games all of it ! These are so helpful!
She is going to be here in Tucson so I am planning on doing some baking as well.

Star* I am being the bigger person... LOL

 

[DammitJanet]

Ok....

I really recommend those little handheld video games that you can get at biglots or walmart for like 5 bucks. My step mom has a ton of them and she keeps one in her purse at all times. She uses them when she is in a waiting room or riding in the car.

Dont forget puzzle books too. Crossword or word search.

Keychain photo album. Digital if you really want to be nice...lol. They are like 10 bucks. Load the pics of the girls on it from the computer.

You can get a picture of the girls and her if you have one, blown up and made into a puzzle.