Twins 18th Birthday

I have made birthday cards for twins Amitai and Gavriel many times over the years, the last time being in 2021, when they turned 15. In October they turned 18 and once again their mum asked me to make each young man a special card to mark their big day.

Amitai enjoys spending time in the gym, where he builds up his strength and muscle with dumbbells and barbells. He plays FIFA on his Xbox, and goes to כושר קרבי, or combat fitness, a pre-army physical fitness class. He is also a big Spurs supporter.

Amitai's mum told me that he has a mullet haircut, a style that first became popular in the 80s and has once again come back into fashion!
His birthday card shows him working out, the latest FIFA game, the cockerel and ball emblem of Spurs, and the fitness class logo. A big number 18 marks his age.

Amitai's brother, Gavriel enjoys playing computer games. He loves the family's cat, Molly, and is also a regular at כושר קרבי, or combat fitness, where mum said they mostly seem to run around and crawl though sand!

My card shows bearded Gavriel holding Molly the cat. The computer game Polygon can be seen on his laptop. Once again I added the fitness class logo, and a big number 18 to mark Gavriel's age.

Mum was delighted with the cards and sent me these fabulous photos on the day of their birthday. They were captioned with the simple message "Perfect".

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Spider-Man, Spider-Man

Twins Benji and Daniel turned 6 in May 2022. The previous year they had received musical instruments as gifts from their grandparents for their birthday, so I showed Benji playing the accordion and Daniel the guitar on their birthday cards. In 2022 mum told me that the boys were into the Marvel superhero Spider-Man. She asked me to make two different cards for her boys but on the same theme.

For Daniel's card, I showed him standing in front of a red spiders web background. Spider-Man's squinty white eyes can be seen next to him. I added the black Spider-Man logo, a spider symbol that relates the character to the spider's extraordinary skills and abilities. The spider is a traditional symbol of protection, power, agility, mystery, creativity and wisdom. A black number 6 marks Daniel's age.

Benji's card shows him standing behind the skyscrapers of the New York City skyline, which provide the backdrop for Spider-Man's daring stunts. Benji is wearing a red Spider-Man T-shirt. Spider-Man's mask is behind him. I added the black spider symbol once again and a number 6 to mark Benji's age.

Mum told me that both boys loved their cards.

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Swimming and Spurs

Gavriel and Amitai are twins. Their mum told me that Gavriel likes playing the piano, swimming and Molly the cat. These themes were very similar to those that mum gave me last year, so I made sure to make Gavriel's birthday card as different as I could, primarily by starting with a vertical layout.

I showed Gavriel holding Molly. He plays the piano but practices on an organ at home. It is his dream to have a piano, so I showed one on the card. I added a swimming pool ladder and some water and Gavriel is wearing some blue goggles on his head to illustrate his love of swimming. A yellow number 15 marks his age.

Amitai's favourite football team is Tottenham Hotspur. Mum sent me a picture of Spurs 2018-2019 teal coloured third kit (Tottenham Hotspur Football Club are commonly referred to as Spurs) and asked if I could show Amitai wearing that particular shirt. She also told me that he is a regular at the gym and asked me to show him doing a squat, with a bar on his back. Finally, mum suggested I include his silver laptop computer as well.

I added the Spurs emblem, a cockerel standing on a football, along with a black and white football. Did you know that those footballs were first used in the 1970 World Cup, chosen specifically so that spectators watching black-and-white televisions could clearly see the ball, with the black accents on a white background revealing the ball's direction of spin?

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Making Music

Last year Benji and Daniel were obsessed with Fireman Sam, or Sami HaKabai as he is known in Hebrew, and in fact a fireman was mum's first request for their 5th birthday cards this year too. I reminded her that it had been last year's theme, so mum put her thinking cap on and decided that I should show the twin boys with the musical instruments they had recently received as gifts from their grandparents.

I showed Benji with his toy accordion. Apparently it isn't too hard to learn the accordion. With daily practice, you should start to get comfortable in about 3 or 4 months. Maybe Benji is well on the way to being an accomplished accordionist by now 😉

Daniel received a toy guitar from his grandparents. I hope he has been practising too! His card also showed him with his new instrument. I added a big number 5 to mark their age on both cards and some balloons and notes too, to continue with the musical theme.

Mum sent me these lovely photos, top and below. Both boys look pretty happy with their cards!

* This post has been shared on Creatively Crafty Link Party, Thursday Favorite Things, The Weekend Link-Up