HAPPY Holidays: Simple Gift Idea for a Friend

Hi TT&J Readers! I’m Stephanie from Somewhat Simple and I’m thrilled to be here today! If you’re still looking for a simple, thoughtful gift for a friend, this one is for you!

I have a good friend who happens to be a big-time magazine lover. One year for her birthday, I bought her a big stack of magazines, but I wanted to deliver the gift in a personal and thoughtful way. That is when I thought of the perfect idea!

You know those Candy Bar Posters that use the names of candy bars in sentences to create a card-like gift for a friend or loved one?

“Hi SWEETHEART. You are such a BIG HUNK. Thanks for being my LIFESAVER“

…. we’ve all seen these, right?

I decided to use this same concept, but instead of candy bars, I’d write a note to my friend using magazine titles- perfect!!!

This simple gift idea for a friend is easy to throw together and would be a good present for any holiday, any friend and would fit any budget! Here is what I did:

First, I grabbed about 10 magazines that I knew my friend would love to read.

Next, I wrote a thoughtful letter with her in-mind. I mentioned favorite memories I had of the 2 of us together, things I love about her etc. I added titles to magazines where they fit.

Here are some of the things I said in the letter, (most of the personal stuff has been taken out to protect our dignity- ha ha!) but this should give you an idea of how you could re-create this for someone you love:

It seems like just yesterday we were SEVENTEEN and the two of US were hanging out all the TIME and becoming great friends! Let’s TRAVEL down memory lane, shall we?

Remember our trip to the lake in the summer of ’97? LIVING on a houseboat for a week with a clogged toilet was awesome! That was my first (and only) time water-skiing. Swallowing half the lake and getting the biggest wedgie of my LIFE was not the HIGHLIGHT of the trip for me!

Girl’s Camp that summer was OK! I’m not a huge fan of Girl’s Camp nor do I like living in scenes straight out of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC but I have good memories of the time we spent together- and I think I could still perform the dance we made up for skit night.

Now that we are PARENTS, we have entered a NEW ERA in life that isn’t always full of GLAMOUR. But I am grateful that we are in this journey of motherhood together and I appreciate you more and more EVERYDAY.

I could go on and on about memories and things I love about being your FRIEND, but I’ll keep it short and REAL SIMPLE: I’m grateful for ALL YOU have ever done for me- the laughs, the support, the phone calls and the advice. These are things I wouldn’t trade for all the MONEY in the world! You’re the kind of person PEOPLE love to be around and I feel FORTUNE(ate) to call you my best friend. Even though our HOMES & GARDENS are states apart, I thank my lucky STARs we have been able to stay IN TOUCH. I’m glad you decided to marry Mike and not RANGER RICK so the 2 of us can run in the same FAMILY CIRCLE. I love your guts and hope that at age 33 you still feel YOUNG AND MODERN.

(I didn’t include every magazine I mentioned in the stack that I gave her- that would have been expensive and would take me forever to find all those titles!)

Lastly, I placed the letter on top of the stack of magazines and tied it up with some ribbon. That’s it!!!!

Unless my friend is a good actress, (which is possible ’cause she is good at pretty much everything!) this gift was a great success! She definitely seemed to love it, and the smile on her face as she read the letter was pretty fantastic.

Thanks for having me today, Jen!

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Thanks Stephanie! I LOVE that idea because it’s a great way to give your friend a really thoughtful gift they will treasure! And, everyone loves looking at Magazines, too! Stephanie has great ideas on her blog, Somewhat Simple. Here are a few I think you’ll love:

She is always sharing yummy recipes on her blog. This Crockpot Meatball Soup is one I’m definitely going to have to try!

The New Year is a great time to get organized, reflect and set some new goals! These New Year Memories and Resolutions Printables are perfect to help your family do that!