Ok, I cringe a little at the idea of a “push present” – the seemingly new tradition where a husband or partner is required to buy their baby momma a gift (preferably jewelry) for giving birth. Not that labor isn’t deserving of a present or even a gold medal, it’s just I can’t help but think that the idea was invented by De Beers or some other industry looking for yet another way to make a profit off our emotions.
That being said, I am still a big fan of thoughtful and well-timed gifts from the heart, regardless of the occasion.
When we got home from the hospital last month, Kyle surprised me with this shadowbox for the nursery. (He had been hiding it at a friend’s house and sneakily hung it during a trip home the day before.)
Kyle commissioned our friend Amy to design and create the shadowbox. She owns the Etsy shop Colorstory Designs and makes all kinds of decorative products from recycled magazines and paper. For this piece, she used old wallpaper remnants (that we uncovered during some demolition two years ago) as the background and two smaller flowers. (The bottom portion is actually a piece of an old border and almost looks hand-painted.) The large flower was created from layers of paint chips, using the same Benjamin Moore colors that occur throughout our home.
The composition is a metaphor for both the story of our home (a vibrant flower emerging from a rather grungy beginning) as well as a celebration of the new life that will be blossoming in this room.
Although Kyle accidentally dropped a handful of not-so-subtle hints in the months before Avery was born, I was completely surprised and blown away by how it all came together.
So a big thank you to Kyle for the idea and Amy for the execution. It’s a special piece that I know we’ll have for a very long time.
What a lovely piece of art. It complements your whole nursery (and house) design so well, and I love that it’s something that can grow with Avery over the next 18 (or more!) years!
I’m always in favor of art as a present. I find the idea of “push presents” distasteful as well, but I don’t think this falls into that category (despite the timing)! It’s really lovely.
Love that shadowbox– especially how it’s actually old wallpaper from your house. So clever. And the air plants look great too! I’ve seen them in a flower shop near me but never in a home…look so cool!
What a thoughtful and meaningful gift to honour the occasion of a new step in your lives and the one of the house. REALLY nice and special. Thanks for sharing.
So pretty and I love the color combo! What a sweet room 😉
ok, so my husband made fun of me when i saved random wallpaper pieces from each room as we worked our way throughout the house. admittedly, i have never been able to come up with a good reason why other than “because”… i’ll have to show him this, how perfect!
Beautiful. And I’m with you on the “push presents”.
Love it! What a beautiful gift. I have never even heard of push presents, interesting 🙂
Yeah, we hadn’t heard of the term either until we became preggers and people started asking me what I was going to get her and I wanted to gag. We both think it’s kind of a tacky name for a gift but it’s a piece of art that we’ve wanted to do for some time now so the timing worked out and we’re very happy with having a piece of art to commemorate Avery’s birth. I suck at surprises so Lauren had figured me out well in advance. She’s sleuthy like that
We did the same thing…figured we’d use them for “something”. =)
I didn’t even know ‘push present’ was a thing. That being said a surprise as lovely as your shadow box is always nice.
LOL! My youngest (of 3 boys) is 17 – wow how time flies! No wonder, I hadn’t heard of it. But, it was a beautiful, thoughtful gift and that’s all that matters!
thanks kelly;)
lovely.
Belated congratulations to you both. I’m a relatively recent follower of your very interesting blog, and love your real take on things. I’m also originally a Seattleite (but now live in France) so it’s great to see views of the old town. I’m furnishing/decorating a retirement home in Washington State also, so your elegant, simple ideas are great inspiration. I will follow!
Thanks Shauna, Lucky you Francy pants. Lauren and I spent a summer Europe together in College, about of month of that we had an apartment in Versailles and visited Paris almost every day, then we headed south to Italy stopping at various southern France hilltowns to sketch architecture along the way, then from Italy back across France to Barcelona, back to Paris and then home. One of our best memories.
Know about this book? Maybe you guys are contributors…
http://www.amazon.fr/The-Art-Urban-Sketching-Location/dp/1592537251