The Escape Plan » #38: Paste Is Not A Food Group

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February 9th, 2006 at 9:28 pm

The Challenge: Make someone a homemade gift to show how much you care about him/her or to thank him/her for a job well done.

Kim:
Well, as you may remember from Challenge #33 last Saturday I hosted a surprise birthday party for Jason to celebrate his 30th birthday, which happens to be this Saturday. This party would NOT have happened if it weren’t for my sister-in-law, Katie, who initiated the idea and pretty much organized most of it. So, in order to show her how much I appreciated her help I took a page out of my own childhood- I made her a homemade card. Ironically she had brought Jason and I the funny pages a while back from her massive Sunday paper. I had them in the recycling, so I dug them out and started reading some of the captions. I ended up cutting out captions and putting them in an order to tell the story of how the party came to be. I even found a cartoon of a little blue bird, which is symbolic for Jason (Jbird). The text came together perfectly. I added some fancy little borders on the card and away it will go to her house. I plan to mail it so she will be surprised, unless of course she reads this first.

Jason:
I hate origami. I only wish I knew that before I started this challenge. I spent half an hour trying to make some "simple" origami creations for Kim. We just got back from Tampa, and she manages all of the details for my speaking engagements. I wanted to thank her all of her hard work — she really does a great job, and makes it look easy. I was so excited to make a little origami sculpture. "This will be so cool," I thought. "Very creative," I thought. "And simple, too!" I thought.

I blew 15 minutes trying to make a bluebird. I wanted to make a bird because "JBird" is one of Kim’s nicknames for me. Got to about step 6, then the instructions got confusing. I’ve never been very good at comparing and following 2-D diagrams and 3-D reality. (I have a heckuva time putting office furniture together.)

Then I decided to try something a bit easier. I found a simple heart project that involved six steps and was supposed to take 1-3 minutes. Ten minutes later and I was ready to throw my origami rejects out the window. Finally, I decided to express my appreciation the old fashioned way: marker on paper. My final project was not as exciting as I had hoped, but at least it was sincere. And frustrating.

(In a related story, while Kim was doing her project — completely independent of me — she found a cartoon of A BLUE BIRD MAKING ORIGAMI. I wish I could make this stuff up.)

Dark Room Confessionals (Club K&J Only):
Bonus Video: Kim | Jason
(Watch videos from the first 10 challenges free)

So, who was most creative with today’s challenge? Who went beyond the comfort zone and put the biggest hammer on Adultitis? Who did a better job of capturing the spirit of childhood, Kim or Jason? Cast Your Vote!

Tomorrow’s Challenge: Audio Sneak Peek

6 Comments »

342

I know someone going on a trip and I made a card (from my daughter) that’s going to arrive just before she goes home. I used some way cool stickers, hopefully she’ll appreciate my creativity.

Comment by Jaimie on 2/10/2006 @ 8:57 pm

343

Tonight I’m making a “friendship bracelet” to send to my friend Robin in San Francisco. Some of you might remember them….A very popular craft for girls (and boys) who grew up in the 80’s….still remember the knot-y technique, yet it’s been some 15 years since I last made one! I hope Robin likes it!

Comment by Marci on 2/10/2006 @ 9:00 pm

346

Tonight I baked some cookies from a favorite family recipe - Cowboy Cookies! There are a lot of memories wrapped up in the smell of chocolate and oatmeal fresh from the oven - YUMMY! They will be a gift for friends of mine who have asked me to be the godmother to their second child. I am grateful for the honor.

Comment by Jenna on 2/11/2006 @ 1:24 am

355

For Linda: So I went into the box of our dating treasures and found an old card that I gave you in 1973 with these words:
I want you to know that before we met I couldn’t sleep too well…I was sorta lonely…and wandered around aimlessly doing a lot of talking to myself…and then I met you…a nice person… ZOWIE… now my life is bright and sunny and I’m happy-happy-happy…I just wanted to tell you that I’m real glad we met.
I also found the plastic yellow with black bumpy top VW bug model I made for you which was our “dream” car back then. I glued on 1 headlight, the seats and I couldn’t find 1 tire-so I put on a spare-like we use today but not available in the old days.
So here is the making part: I’m making a promise to you that I’ll do the very best I can to watch my weight(go down I hope) and to implement a work out program. My family is sprent with heart problems and I can’t control my family history. But I can control what I eat and my lifestyle. I want to see our sons succeed-enjoy our grandchildren and enjoy our older years together…in good health.
I also make the promise to not hound you as you try to improve your lifestyle. L. walt
Above note written on Kim and Jason card: I’d be lost without you, with K and J in a cardboard box

Comment by Walt Kotecki on 2/12/2006 @ 2:19 pm

358

I pulled out the construction paper, crayons & colored pencils & made a homemade ‘thank you’ Valentine’s day card for my mom & dad. My mom is the champion of writing - she writes all 5 of us kids weekly (or pretty close to it), but do I write back? rarely! I can probably count on one hand how many times I do. I usually pick up the phone & call, which is good, but it would be nice for them to receive a little surprise in the mail too. So I did that. I hope they will get it on Valentine’s day & know how much I love them & appreciate all they have done & continue to do for me.

Comment by Sue on 2/12/2006 @ 5:22 pm

393

[...] Dreary-ness, that begins with ‘D’. The thirty-eighth task: Make someone a homemade gift to show how much you care about him/her or to thank him/her for a job well done.I won a competition on Kim and Jason’s podcast, but I didn’t tell Jen about it. Instead, when the prize (a K&J print) arrived, I bought a frame and framed it. [...]

Pingback by The Rodeo » Blog Archive » Almost Hand-made (T.G.E. - Part 3 of 40) on 3/23/2006 @ 9:20 pm

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