Great Gifts for a Wedding Shower

I am definitely NOT the most crafty person on the planet, and I actually get a little freaked out at the prospect of making something by hand.  It is especially terrifying when the gift is for someone's once-in-a-lifetime wedding shower.  I do, however, like to give a gift that is somewhat personalized and really from the heart.

This was my dilemma last month.  My lovely cousin, Lisa, is getting married in September and she was a junior bridesmaid in my wedding 13 years ago and my two girls are now in her upcoming nuptials.  This kind of incredible family circle was deserving of thoughtful and well thought out gifts, even from my two girls.

My youngest turned 7 years old on the day of the shower!  She was so excited to share the day with Lisa.  We talked for a long time about what she could give her.  Lisa is marrying a firefighter, and you may know what kind of crazy schedule they keep.  He will be gone for days at a time and she will be all on her own for the first time.  To help keep her company, we came up with the idea of going to Build-A-Bear and making her a very special bear to hug while her husband is gone.

She picked out the perfect bear

My daughter loved picking out the perfect snow white bear.  She put love in to the heart that goes inside, she helped stuff it and she even gave it a dry bath before picking out a pair of fun PJ's for her to wear.  This unusual gift is a great example of really thinking about the bride and her future life and trying to ease changes that happen when people get married.

Helping to stuff the bear with love

She put the bear heart on her's and made a wish for her cousin

My oldest daughter is very crafty!  She loves getting craft oriented gifts and she loves making them too.  We spent some time on Pinterest and came across an idea to create handmade photo-tile coasters and we were able to use the pics from Lisa's engagement shoot that she had posted on Facebook. (sneaky, right?). Read a detailed how-to here.

My daughter LOVED this project.  If you wanted to make this project and did not have photos ready to use, you could use photos from your loved one's Facebook photo albums and they would love it!  You can even just buy one larger tile and buy a display stand for it instead of using it for coasters.

A fun bow is the perfect way to wrap this up

For my present, I wanted to gift the couple with some nice bottles of wine.  I remember when I first got married and my husband and I would come home from work and enjoy a bottle of wine with some sliced Italian meats and cheeses with some fresh bread.  Mmmmmm.  We would talk for hours and enjoy each other's company.  That all changes so fast!  Everyone seems to have no problem celebrating the BIG days, like Anniversary's or Valentine's Day.  I think most married couples need to learn to celebrate the everyday.  To help the couple along, I created some custom wine labels to put on the wine.  Things like, "First Time Locked Out Of The House" and "First Mid-Week Date Night."

Labels were put in the back of the bottle, so the couple will still know what they are drinking!

To do this, I first went and bought an assortment of red and white wines.  I searched and found a great free template for wine bottle labels.  Once I downloaded and customized them, I printed them on a full page sticky label and cut them out.  Finally, I bought some basket filler and found a terrific collapsible picnic basket in her wedding colors!

With a little planning, some brainstorming, Google and Pinterest....finding and making the perfect gift can really be easy!  Making that extra effort will make any present more meaningful for you and the recipient.