Anything For You – How to Say It With a Gift?

How to let your loved ones know that they are everything to you, that you want to share everything with them and shower them with gifts, without spending a penny? All you need to make an unforgettable morning surprise is a good idea.

Several years ago, my Husband received two gifts from me on his birthday. On the day of the party, he was presented with tickets to a Philharmonic, which he could show his guests. I knew, however, that he attached great importance to the exact day of his birthday, so I prepared another surprise.

On this day, I wanted to give him the whole world. The truth is, however, that I am neither the President of the United States, nor an oil baron with an unlimited budget, so I had to confine myself to our small flat and the things I could find there.

I set my alarm clock half an hour earlier than usual (like I did when I prepared heart-felt sandwiches on a different occasion), grabbed a long ribbon, a pair of scissors and got down to work.

When my Husband woke up, he found over 20 gifts scattered all over the flat, including: his left shoe, his right slipper, his winter coat, his bath towel, his aftershave, his wallet, his keys, his mobile phone, his mug, his chair and his backpack.

Pretty unusual, wasn’t it? Fortunately, my Husband understood my intentions correctly. Here is what he wrote in our family chronicle on that day:

‘In the morning, I received another surprise gift: ribbons on my personal belongings. I felt as if I had received a ton of gifts from the best of Wives. As if she had given me the whole world…’

Although my husband didn’t receive anything new, the joy of discovering all his things decorated with a ribbon in different parts of the flat made the morning on his birthday truly unique.

What else can you say with this gift?

1. Anything for you on the International Women’s Day

On the International Women’s Day, use a ribbon to decorate all the feminine items of your beloved woman. This way you will tell her:

‘I notice and appreciate your femininity.’

This might be a great gift for an adolescent daughter. Among her own things, you may also tie a ribbon around a new feminine trinket: a lip balm, a mirror or a pretty notebook.

2. Anything for you after we’ve moved in together

Have you just got married and moved in together with your belongings accumulated separately before the wedding? This might be a good time and way to show each other that ‘what’s mine is yours’. Tie a ribbon around all of YOUR personal belongings as a gift for the other person. At the wedding, you gave yourself as a whole to your spouse, and this symbolic offering of your personal items will be a beautiful confirmation of this act.

3. Anything for you on the first wedding anniversary

A year after the wedding, you have lived for some time together, and the organisation of your new life has likely consumed most of your funds. In such a case, celebrate your first anniversary by rejoicing over what you already have! Use a ribbon to decorate all of your shared items, especially those received from the wedding guests and acquired after you got married. Once again feel pride and joy looking at how your love nest and your relationship develop. Spend the entire day among ribbons and bows, as if everything that surrounds you was as new as on the wedding day. And don’t forget to take photos, so that you can go back to this memory on the next anniversaries!

Do you have other ideas for things that may be said with a ribbon? Please, share them in the comments below!

My advice:

– Make sure to take the daily routine of your loved one into consideration. If he/she enjoys sleeping in the morning and always leaves home in a hurry, it might be better to prepare the surprise for the return home from work.

– If you want to prepare your surprise for the morning, and you can’t do it in the evening when the other person is already asleep, remember to prepare the ribbon! Looking for it in the morning when it’s dark, and you don’t want to wake the other person up, may lead to frustration.

– If you think that your loved one will be disappointed with a lack of a tangible, ‘new’ gift, and you want to prepare something that also says ‘Anything for you’, here is another suggestion. Give them a coupon which reads: ‘Anything for you’, and encourage them to think of a dream gift. Do it only when you believe that granting the wish will be in your power, and when you are ready to make this dream come true.

– A coupon is also a good idea for a spot-on gift that you have funds for, but you don’t know the taste or needs of the recipient. If you put some effort into personalising the coupon, and then fetch the gift together, it will be a far more personal present than a standard gift card bought in a chain store.