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.