Gifts That Keep Giving

I was chatting with a friend the other day about birthday gifts, and we were commiserating about how gifting in general has gotten so overblown and materialistic that the true beauty of giving a gift seems to get lost in the shuffle.

My friend's latest challenge was a gift for a 1 year old girl's birthday -- the kind of shopping task which would receive top difficulty points from me. But this particular little girl had a very smart and creative mother with an unusual gift request. They were planting a flower garden in honor of their daughter's birthday so they would have something to enjoy every year when they celebrated. All they wanted were flowers to add to the garden!











I was so struck by the beauty and simplicity of this idea I just had to share it. It just goes to show that the best gifts can be creative, inexpensive, meaningful AND beautiful! And if you know enough about gardening to choose a flowering perennial, you're REALLY choosing a gift that keeps on giving -- year after year!

What creative ideas have you used in your gift giving?