A Well-Received Gift

Back in July I mentioned that my father-in-law was celebrating a significant birthday. I popped a card into the post for him but, since we were travelling to the UK later in the summer to join in with his birthday celebrations, I still had a little time to think of a suitable present. My husband is next to useless when it comes to gift ideas and frankly I was finding it hard to think of a good present for an eighty year old myself. A quick e-mail to my sister-in-law solved the problem though. When I asked her if she had any suggestions, she pointed out to me that I could make the perfect gift myself! "What about doing him one of your albums, then on his birthday lunch people could write in it and we could put in photos?" she said. Bingo! An album it was then.My husband provided me with a list of all his father's hobbies and interests and the album cover came together quite easily. My father-in-law is a retired lighting engineer, thus the light bulb and electronic equipment. He enjoys going to the theatre and pottering around on his computer. Both my own Dad and Dad-in-law are really very good at DIY - very useful when they come to visit for sure - so I added a few tools into the picture. The Jewish religion plays an important part in my father-in-law's life, so a Magen David, or Star of David, the generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism, was included. He is also a keen Bridge player, hence the symbols of the four playing card suits - hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs. Inside I layed out some family photos. I was able to include a nice variety and decorated them with various papercut illustrations, depending on what each photo showed the family doing. On the first page of the album, above, I added a photo of my husband and I with our two boys and wrote a short message of congratulations from us all.
The album was almost forgotten about on the day of the celebration but I noticed it sitting on the bottom step of the stairs during lunch and my husband quickly encouraged the first few guests to get writing.
It would be pushing it to say that my father-in-law and I are in regular e-mail communication, yet on our return to Israel I received the following message from him:
"I must thank you for the lovely album you made with its thoughtful symbols on the front which reflect my interests and pastimes. I shall always treasure it and the comments that my friends and relatives wrote."
I think he liked his birthday gift.
The Etsy Treasury Gods have been smiling upon me once again. This time a set of my Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah cards, above, bottom row in the centre, were included in a lovely Judaica collection, whilst my Jewish Boy's Treasure Box, below, top right, made it into a predominantly blue themed compilation. Thank you for making room for it Rachel at Swirsky Designs. All these items and more are of course currently available in my shop.