“Open When” Letters: A Thoughtful Gift for All Occasions

Gift giving can get stressful and downright annoying sometimes. Don’t get me wrong — I absolutely LOVE giving gifts. I think I get more excited than the ones on the receiving end most of the time. But sometimes, gosh darn it, you just get tired of buying more stuff that will be oohed and aahhed over for a few weeks and then ends up sitting on the counter or in the closet collecting dust.

Anyway, lately for gift-giving occasions, I’ve been trying to do more meaningful type gifts that show (a) I put time into it and (b) I gave this gift specifically for the person receiving it. It’s also a bonus if the gift is the kind that keeps on giving.

For my husband’s birthday this year, I decided to give the “Open When” letters a try. I loved how they turned out! I made enough so that Matt will have letters to open for at least 9 weeks after his birthday (I made the rule that he couldn’t open more than 2 each week).

Here are the different “Open Whens” I used:

It’s Your Birthday
We’ve Had an Argument and You Think I’m Wrong
You Feel Insecure
You need a Reminder of Why I Love You
Distance is Keeping Us Apart
Something Exciting Happens
You Feel Grumpy
You’re Stressed
You Have Been Injured
You Need a Smile
You Need a Reminder that You’re a Great Dad
You’re Having a Hard Time Saying No
You Need to be Reminded Who Your Biggest Fans Are
You’re Not Sure How to Vote in November 2016
You Want to Go Down Memory Lane
You’ve Forgotten who You Really Are
You Have a Decision to Make
You’re Thinking About Drinking the Last Mountain Dew

As far as what goes on the inside, that’s completely up to you! Mine included lots of inside jokes, pictures of our family, encouraging notes, and memories from over the years. Its been fun to see Matt open them and for us to laugh or reminisce together.