Seven years ago today I married my husband in a small ceremony in our backyard.
It has been the highest of highs (creating two amazing children, buying and making homes together and starting a business topping the list) and lowest of lows (losing my parents and struggling with secondary infertility topping the list).
Traditional or modern.
That was the question.
Well before our first anniversary, my husband and I decided that we would follow the traditional list of gifts for each of our anniversaries.
You know the gift list that was probably created by those geniuses at Hallmark…. paper for year 1, cotton for year 2, leather for year 3. Click here if you are unfamiliar.
Come to find out, thanks to Wikipedia, the origins of the current gift conventions date to 1937. Before that, only the 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, 50th, and 75th anniversaries had an associated gift. In 1937, the Jewelers of America introduced an expanded list of gifts. The revamped list gave a gift for each year up to the 25th, and then for every fifth anniversary after that. You know Hallmark took this list to heart and ran with it!
So, what’s the seventh year traditional gift? Wool and/or copper. Basically a sweater, however, I did have fun with the copper part after I hit up Twitter for ideas! My husband is the worst person on the planet to shop for, so thank you to @christinA.
First I came up with seven significant years to us, scoured our piggy banks to find pennies minted in those years and used super glue to affix them to a piece of paper in the shape of a 7. I included a brief explanation of the years in chronological order beneath the 7, found an inexpensive frame at Aaron Brothers and voilà!
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That is such a cute idea. My husband is super hard to shop for, and I admit, I don’t have much foresight when it comes to thoughtful gifts.
What a fantastic idea! I wonder if I could get away with this for #10 (this year)…
That? That is beautiful and such a wonderful way to celebrate. I love it. 🙂
This is a great idea. I pinned it. I think you could use this idea for more than just anniversary gifts too.
Happy Anniversary! We are celebrating 7 years too in November. But I am far less crafty than you, even though yours looks delightfully simple. Looks awesome!
This is so sweet. We didn’t go the traditional route. In fact, we didn’t go the gift giving route. We did at first, maybe the first 2-3 years, but then it sort of fell off because of finances. We do homemade gifts and silly things like gum and magazines. What? It works for us.
that is adorable! We don’t do anniversary gifts. I know it isn’t very romantic but it works for us.