Help Me Out: Thank You Gift Ideas

Photo Credit

I'll admit it. I'm horrible about sending thank you cards and notes. I'm quick to give a thank you call and send a thank you email, but the old school in the mail type of note seems to be beyond my power.


To be honest, sending any personal mail causes me to become terribly ineffecient and forgetful. It's an odd, annoying quirk that I really want to change.

I don't know why. I go to the post office frequently to conduct business, but I suck at sending my personal mail. I have a stack of wedding announcements, birthday cards and Christmas cards (two years running!) unsent in a file. I facebook friends excited about the neckwarmer I've made them and NEVER send it. I lose addresses and feel like a weirdo when I ask for addresses again.

But, I want to show quite a few people in my life that I really appreciate all of the support that they've given my family from afar. Their kind calls, emails and PLENTY OF PACKAGES through the mail, have been so helpful since Baby H arrived. I kept saying I was going to send out thank you cards right after she was born, almost 7 months ago!  but haven't.

I have to stop putting it off or she'll be a year old before I say thanks. I need to send a Thank You note and crafty type gift to friends and relatives that live all over the US. But I'm not sure what to send.

Help!

Here's what I'm thinking:

Ideally the gift will be easy to replicate and not cost to much to make for at least 10 people. A lot, I know. But they each deserve something special.

So far, the only things I know that each thank you gift will include are photos of Baby H. I have a ton of her first photos that I never mailed out and we're taking her to pose for her new ones this weekend. So each package will get two photos - newborn and 6+ months. Most of the people receiving them will have seen these pictures online but I want to send them hard copies.

I've found a lot of ideas of how to make a nice card online, but not enough ideas about what sorts of gifts to make to go with them. 

I'd like each gift to also include something that the recipient can use. But I'm stomped as to what that might be. All of the recipients are women but besides that and having a love for yours truly in common, they have varied tastes. I am pretty good with a glue gun, you know I crochet, I have every scrapbooking pen, marker or paint imaginable and I'm not afraid to try new things -- so any good idea might be doable if it isn't to costly. I'd like to be able to make and send them by the 5th of May.

Alright here's the quick rundown of what I want to send:
1. Two baby photos
2. Thank You Card
3. Usable Crafty Gift -- what sort unknown

What do you think? Know any good sites to peruse?

I anxiously await your suggestions,
~Dee

Thank You Gift Frame: A Hodpodge of Crafts

I have a colleague who is beyond supportive and a great mentor. We recently went on a work trip together and she was a lifesaver. Her kindness and patience with my slow, tired 7 month pregnant brain and body made our co-presentation a success and resulted in a good boost for my career.

I decided to make her something as a thank you. But what?

She'd commented on a doodle I'd drawn during a seminar and I'd joked that I'd doodle her a violin one of these days (she played semi-professionally for many years). I started out with just a doodle of a violin with some detailed pen work and then decided that I wanted something more involved than a sketch in a frame. It turned out great if I say so myself.

You can make one too!


Here's what I used:
A frame - Any kind will do, but I picked up one with some depth, almost like a shadow box for a 3D effect.
Craft Paper
Sketch
Craft Foam Sheet
Glue or some other adhesive - I used Elmer's Spray Adhesive

Embroidery Floss - I used this to frame the note tag inside and also to crochet a flower. If you don't crochet, a fabric flower would do.

Scissors
Beads
Other embelishments 

You can assemble the frame components in any order.
He is how I made the violins:
The Violins
1. I drew a doodle of the violin and then printed it out on a fancy sheet of craft paper. I made two in two different sizes.


2. I cut out the violin sketches and adhered them to the sheet of craft foam and then cut the foam around the shape of the sketches.


3. Then to add more depth to the violins, I sewed the strings on with black embroidery thread.
Front View

Back View


Finished Project:
I placed each component in the frame and used tape to secure the components into place.


Close up!

I plan to give it to her tomorrow. I hope she will like it.

Tell me what you think,
~ Dee