40 Envelopes with 40 Memories for a 40th Birthday

Yup. It’s that time again…the Pinterest Challenge. And this time, I created a project for Pablo’s 40th celebration. (Maybe next time, I’ll do something for myself!) When I saw this birthday envelope surprise on Oh Happy Day I knew it was the perfect way to present Pablo with the sweet notes that I was planning for his birthday.

The first step was to get the memories. Lucky for me, Pablo is very loved so even though I started this the day before his birthday (!), all I had to do was send one group message on Facebook and one group email for the non-Facebookers and the memories came flooding in. There were a few people I couldn’t find but I managed to get over 35 messages. (I simply asked everyone to send me a memory of a time they spent with Pablo. I filled in the last few from me and the girls.) Once I got them all, I cut and pasted them into a word document, formatted them, and printed them on bright colored paper. Some were long and some were short but that worked perfectly for my purposes.

Next I found some random envelopes in my stationary stash and laid them out to spell 40. First on the floor (to get a layout I liked) and then up on the wall of the dining room.

The girls helped me stuff the envelopes…

…until each envelope – all 40 of them! – had a personal note from a friend or relative.

When he came home and we surprised him with it, he was a little perplexed at first. (I think he may have been wondering if this was a permanent installation!)

But once he started reading through all the memories with the girls (with a little bit of editing to take out any mature subjects!), he loved it.

I think it was a perfect gift for him (because he loves reminiscing) and for this year (because with me working part time now, there are no extra funds for a grand gift so I needed to make a grand gesture instead.)

We did get him a few little goodies, though, because everyone needs to open some gifts on their birthday.

As you can see, he had a great time. Thanks to everyone who contributed memories to this project. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Thanks for reading! 

Sue at Home

P.S. Thanks so much for visiting Sue at Home and reading this post. I wrote it back in 2013 and it’s now been viewed over 60,000 times! If you enjoyed reading about my creativity and want to see what I’m up to now, check out Libby & Smee, my handmade line of simple fun statement jewelry! And be sure to use coupon code SUEATHOME10 for 10% off your first order at libbyandsmee.com !