The one thing that is true is that friends are the people we CHOOSE which means they must have a special place in our hearts. I'm a very friendly person...I get along with just about everyone and enjoy most people's company on some level. However, I have a very small circle of individuals I consider true friends and I value those friendships more than words can say. From listening to our readers yesterday it seems that many of you have those important "true" friends in your lives as well. So today is all about honoring those people, the ones that have hung with you through thick and thin.
As a kid growing up in the 80s I learned the craft of the friendship bracelet. The concept? Take some brightly colored thread safety pin it to the thigh of your pants and weave it together to form identical bracelets for your friends. The funny thing about those bracelets is that I remember making DOZENS of them!!!
Those bracelets became the focal point of my early junior high existence. You see it was easy to see who valued who as a friend. Then of course the phenomenon spread to friendship jewelry that was store bought where you keep one and give the other to your best friend. I'm here today to encourage a rebirth of the friendship bracelet. No, I don't expect grown women to walk around with brightly colored thread on their wrists. But what happened to our childhood ability to recognize the people in our life that we chose? For some reason our friends are the people we EXPECT to be there, the people we use to make us happy, support us when we are sad, and experience every life moment with us and yet...we don't often take the time to recognize them or just say THANK YOU!!!
So here are three easy ways to gift a grown up version of the friendship bracelet:
#1: There are so many jewelry options out there I had to go with a REAL bracelet for my first suggestion. Starting at as little as $14.99 you can send your friend a bangle bracelet etched with a friendship sentiment that will serve as a reminder of your friendship each time they wear it. I'd recommend redenvelope.com as a good place to find a good quality bracelet for a friend.
#2: For those looking for a crafty or lower cost option of a gift to say thanks to your friends how about creating a fortune cookie box filled with fortunes that speak to how much you value your friendship. By cutting a circle out of a piece of foam or felt you can fold in half and glue the tip and fold in half again glueing just the tip to create a fortune cookie shape. Fill with your fortunes and put in a $1.49 fortune cookie box from Michael's and add a note that says, "Fortunate to have YOU as a friend".
#3: With the surge in popularity of social networking sites like Facebook it seems that many of us have reconnected with friends we once considered very important in our lives. It has been nice to see how these people are doing...if they have families, where they live, what they are up to in general. There are a few of them I'd like to rekindle a friendship with and more than just over facebook for them I recommend finding a photo of the two of you and turning it into your OWN photo postcard. Some of you may have received our photo postcard and it would be easy to make one of your own. Just pull together your pictures, drop them into Word, Photoshop, whatever and create a collage of images and send as a .jpg to your local photo processing place (Walgreens, Costco). Then attach it to a kimac with a message about how glad you are to have reconnected. At less than a $1 this is a great way to recognize as many friends as you want without breaking the bank.
Signing off until tomorrow...
13 comments:
I am a fan of option #1 as I make jewelry here & there... and you CAN make a bracelet for fairly low cost these days, just search the aisle @ your local craft store, go home, pick up a pair of needlenoise pliers for crimping beads to close it, and poof.. the ideas are limitless!
Actually, just this past weekend I was thinking about those friendship bracelets that I used to make and thought about making some. I think this is just the motivation I needed to make it happen!
I love the postcard of the 4 of us! Its crazy how little we have all changed. Except for clothes and hair!
Have a great Thursday!
DD who is almost 14 is now into making these bracelets, I find thread all over the house!
I'm lucky, a good friend is coming down from Wisconsin for a visit tomorrow and she is a bead bracelet designer.... I told her to bring along her stash... I'm in the mood for something new! I told her I would barter some of my greeting cards! Who wins out in this deal???
Good morning! I'm completely giddy this morning. :) Love your post Heather! I made those friendship bracelets! And you know what! I would probably even wear one at my old age... maybe... okay, I guess I can't wear that to work... but maybe if it's made all in black I can pull it off. :) Do you remember the friendship pins where you took safety pins and put colored beads on them then attached them to your shoes? Aw- the good ol' days.
You may not want to pick your friends nose but a true friend will tell you when you have a boogie that needs to be picked! HA!
One more thing. For the music lovers out there (hi Katie) this link was in my inbox this morning at work and if you have 5 minutes take a peak. Hopefully blogger won't cut off part of it.
http://gizmodo.com/5231112/best-video-ive-seen-today-will-make-you-smile
It worked! YAY!
Truly I'm surprised.
HEATHER! I used to make those friendship bracelets in elementary school, ALL THE TIME! we made them at recess, after school, and even in class while the teacher wasnt watching us! and just recently, I came across some colorful thread while babysitting, and had the urge to make a few friendship bracelets. I am CURRENTLY wearing three different multicolored thread friendship bracelets!! I gave one to the little girl I babysat, one to my mom, and the other to my best friend in college before she moved home.
Hi everyone... tuning in a little late today. I've been hosting candidates for a position we are hiring.
I too love those bright colored braclets, but I have to admit I never learned how to make them. I knew how to do laynard, but never the braclets Heather pictured.
Hopefully by now everyone is becoming a little more committed to the idea of doing a thoughtful gesture for a friend on Monday.
Also, don't forget to send us a picture and story for Saturday's slide show.
Chaotic... if you're out there and you get this... can Heather, Cheryl, Katie, and I come and visit you in July?
Hello? Where is everyone?!?! Lindsay? Dana?
Good question. Come out, come out where ever you are?!?!?!
Okay, that anonymous was me! Heather and I were in a staff retreat and so I had to post that very quickly!!!
Where are the rest of you?!?!
Staff Retreat? Are you getting pedicures and massages? I want to be in a staff retreat!
Cheryl- no, no pedicures and massages! More like presentations on multicultural competence, how to deal with the media, and student retention. Equally as interesting to me, but not as relaxing of a "retreat" as you are thinking!
I taught my daughter's how to make these bracelets...
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