Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Ideas Please?

So my husband's birthday is this week and mine is later in the month. We already have plans to spend a weekend alone as our birthday present to each other. So I am not spending any money on Jonathan for his actual birthday.

Still, I want to do something special for him on his actual birthday. I already plan to make his favorite birthday dessert-my grandmother's banana cream pie. But you all did such an awesome job with ideas for Christmas, I thought I would ask for ideas for birthdays. I am sure we all can use some great ideas for how to make a birthday special without spending money.

So if you have a great idea or have done a fabulous birthday surprise using no money, care to share? I look forward to the ideas! And Jon if you read this ... please don't read the comments till after your birthday :).

27 comments:

Maine Mom said...

How about writing a love note or some type of letter and have your girls write letters, too. While writing that I thought writing clues to find his pie might be fun. :-)

Kathryn_m said...

What about all you girls putting on a birthday concert for him?

This could include recitations, songs, jokes and skits (dress-up?). During the "intermission", while munching on some hot, buttery popcorn, each of you could relate a special memory that tells him why he is so loved by you.

I hope you get some great ideas to make his day memorible, Stephanie.

Be sure to let us know that day so that we can all send greetings too :-)

Sleepless In St. George said...

how about rounding up all us friends and have them write him notes or send birthday cards! I know this is too late, but one year I scrapbooked my husbands mission. I used his mission journal for the journaling pages. Good luck!

Erin said...

One year for my husbands birthday I wrote out our love story (complete with pictures from our dating years) and gave it to him. I love having a record of that time of our life and it was really fun to walk down memory lane together as we read it.

my stay-at-home-momma drama said...

In your own handwriting, make him a list of the things you love about him - one for every year old he is. I did this for my husband and it meant the world to him.

Davis' said...

I love all these writing ideas. something that has been special to me, (not sure if Jon would like it), but my husband wrote me a letter with his testimony in it, along with some love meant for me. I know you share your testimony here all the time, and it is beautiful. I also did a scavenger hunt one year, and he had to go place to place to pick up pieces of the dinner we were making at the park.
good luck.

Kelly said...

No ideas...I just wanted to sympathize with the double December birthday deal.

I am 12/15 and my boyfriend is 12/16. It's such a busy, crazy, expensive time of year.

Happy early birthday to both of you!!!

Mindy said...

No new ideas here ... Just going to vouche two already give. :) I have had friends of the birthday-person write letters and put them together in a scrapbook/binder deal and they loooved it. I also wrote a "101 Things I Love About You" list and framed it. Also a big success.

P.s. I love how you asked Jon not to read the comments. He clearly has more self-control than I do. :)

Christina said...

I think we are all along the same lines here...I did the *100 things I love about you* for our anniversary one year, and that was a big hit. I also like the scrapbook idea, of course, may be hard to pull off in time for his birthday, but maybe Christmas! (and I have never been able to do a scrapbook without spending money, LOL)

April said...

Reading the ideas you have so far, gave me an idea, for something you and your girls can do.

A Coupon Book. You could make a coupon redeemable for 1 shoulder massage. The girls could do 1 hour of whatever you think your husband would want....I don't have any kids so I can't really think of anything, so I hope you get the idea!

Good luck!

Marleen said...

Thanks for the reminder! I almost forgot and my mom is not near by to bail me out. You have some great ideas. Love the love letter idea and Kathryn's idea sounds awesome. Anything regarding something with music I think will go well. Maybe you could write him a love song and sing it for him. Or, the girls could compose (with your help of course), a fun Dado song and have all the girls sing it for him.

Anonymous said...

One of the coolest things we've done is a little journal. I wrote something I like about him - or something he did I'm grateful for in it (it was only a sentence or two) then gave it to him. He then writes something and gives it back. We have a special spot in our room for the journal - when you've written something, you put it there, he takes it until he's written something, etc. Hope that makes sense. It's so fun to go back through the years and read some of the entries.

Marcee said...

For our anniversary this year, I put together a DVD of pictures of my husband and I from our dating years through our wedding and through our 9 years together! I used songs that we had played at our wedding... we both loved it! Cost about $3 or so for the DVD.

Anonymous said...

This year I made a list of things I love about my husband--one for each year of his life--and posted it on my blog. I also posted pictures of him from babyhood, on. He loved it! And he loved all the positive comments and "Happy Birthdays" he got from it too. Another hand-written copy is upcoming for Christmas.

Anonymous said...

How about a full body back scratch/rub/massage? Which ever he likes better. Take your time from head to toe!!

Wendoyoublog in Colorado said...

How about a simple act of service like a nice vacuum/cleaning job on his vehicle. My dh likes those kinds of surprises.

The White Clan said...

My kids and I always decorate the house while he is at work, so when he comes home it is all fancy. I give them a roll of craft paper, and I write Happy Birthday Daddy, and they trace their hands and draw pictures of them with him. It is something simple, but very fun.
We also make his favorite dinner (shrimp gumbo and Alabama style potato salad), which happens to be one of my least favorite, so he knows it is a special treat. Hope that helps!!!

Amanda said...

Mine is always up for massages ;)

Susan Anderson said...

Once I purchased a small journal and a pen. I wrote in it as the first entry, then put it on my husband's pillow with the suggestion that we could write little love notes to each other in the journal and then leave them on the other person's pillow.

Another time I gave him a home spa treatment, complete with a big, plush towel, massage oil and water with lemon in it...the whole works. That went over big but might be hard since you're pregnant.

Another cute thing to give is one of those letters you write cutting the words out of magazines and pasting them on colored construction paper. You can only use whole words and since advertising is always done in hyperbole, these letters turn out pretty funny.

And of course, writing a poem or letter is always appreciated!

Anonymous said...

If you happen to have the software on your computer and a DVD burner you could make him a DVD with pictures of him growing up and then take video clips of the girls telling funny stories, saying or singing Happy Birthday, etc... I did this for my hubby this year, and took video clips our 3 year old introducing each section of pictures, etc... it was super cute and he loved it! The girls could color the DVD label and case too!

EMILY said...

if jon is anything like mark all he REALLY wants for his birthday is you in your birthday suit! seriously:)

Sunny said...

I usually make my husband his favorite meal for his birthday. He loves food.

Jennie said...

I think you have some great ideas. I wish I could share some with you. However, I am in the same situation. My b-day was a couple days ago, my husbands is 2 days after Christmas, and my daughters is on New Year's Eve. I just wanted to wish you luck and see what great ideas are shared. I may have to borrow some of them. :)

Hilary said...

I realize that flowers are typcally given to women, but with a little twist they are loved by men. Take two hershey's kisses, glue them together (on the bottom's), pierce one through the tip with a skewer, wrap chosen color of celophane around the kisses, use floral tape to secure and wrap down the the skewer, you can wrap leafs in as well. A fun way to dress up chocolate.

skbkmjfamily said...

I have made a ten things I love about you book.

I have also done a list of the 100 things I love about him. I did this one for valentines day when I was stuck in the hospital on bedrest so no shopping, I found the note in his scriptures one day, he said he reads it often.

I made a page that said "We love you because" than asked the kids and I put down my own. I framed it for him to have in his office.

I have thought about making a calendar with all of his favorite meals on certain days, and those days I would make the table extra nice.

Make a cd of songs that remind you of different phases in your life, than over dinner/or listening to them you tell him why.

susette said...

When my husband turned the big 4-0 I took my camcorder all over town and had complete random people tell him hello and wish him a happy birthday ie; UPS man, barber, people at the gym where he works out, friends and neighbors out working in their yards, people at his work, the bank tellers where we bank, family members, and the list goes on. It was so much fun and the people that commented had fun too. Some of them sang, some told a funny joke, some acted pretty silly, but it was just plain fun. That evening I had invited a number of friends over for cake and ice cream, visiting, and watching the video, which was a complete surprise to him. It was really one of the most memorable birthdays he had and he still has the memories on video.

KIC said...

When my husband and I were dating, one year for valentine's day I did "101 things I love about you." I typed the 101 things up (small) and cut them into little strips. I then bought a couple bags of hershey's kisses. I carefully pulled the little "flags" out and replaced them with my little strips of paper. After my husband and I were married, I found ALL the strips neatly clipped together in a box. He had kept them! I hope this makes sense??
You could put them in a cute jar for his desk. You could do "101 things WE love about you" and get the whole family involved.