Trinkets
Another July 4th is upon us and since I’m a sucker for all things red, white and blue, I bought some thoughtful pinches for my peeps.
For the second year in a row, my family will not be in the USA celebrating the day of Independence. However, before I left the country, I sent out the pinches to those family members who would be celebrating in America.
For my cousin, I sent a scarf even though she lives near Hot-Lanta (that's Atlanta ya’ll). She doesn't need a scarf to keep her warm but I wanted her to have one because all my female family members got one last year and I didn't send one to her. Just in case we ever celebrate The Fourth together, I want my cousin to have one too.
This scarf is Target's newest version - you can't see the red tassels from this picture. I also included some Num Nuts which has nothing to do with the Fourth of July except that this holiday is “NUTS”. Any chance I get, I am going to spread the word about Num Nuts. The Gravel is addicting. As a festive touch, I tried to include a scavenger hunt card (Target $1 for 8 cards) in all of the pinches.
For my niece and nephew, I raided Target for lots of $1 trinket items - the exact stuff that I usually stay away from because I try to be mindful of not filling other homes with junk. However, I thought this was the one time of the year when little kids aren't getting a whole bunch of trinkets (popular trinket times are Halloween thru New Year's and Easter). None of these items matter too much so if they get lost, broken or thrown away, it’s all fine. The trinkets included: a bubble wand, sunglasses, rubber balls, tops and a yo-yo.
I wrapped my pinches in white paper and quickly turned them into a flag-like pattern with red and blue sharpies.
My nephew Colton opening up his Target trinkets.
For my son’s tutors, we gave each of them a simple scavenger hunt card (see first photo), a mini flag and a box of sparklers. A simple way to let them know we are thinking of them and wish them a happy Fourth. The note we attached to the pinches said, “We hope you have a sparkly 4th of July!”
For our piano teacher, we wanted to give something sparkly but in a different way. She likes crystals so when I saw this, I had to get it for her. Maybe every Fourth of July she will put it in a window and think of us.
To give the crystal to our piano teacher, I wrapped it in white tissue, used a blue paper lunch bag and wrote a note with a white pen. I tied the bag with a strip of red tulle.
For my sister-in-laws and mother-in-laws, I bought these on sale last year. I couldn’t wait to give these pinches this year. Nautically cute, right?
My sister-in-laws: Hailey, Heather and Camille and my mother-in-law Carole and Hailey's mother Debbie, all received a set of bags.
Now if you think just because I’m not in America that I won’t be celebrating The Fourth, guess again. My sister-in-law lives in So Cal and I live in Minneapolis, the city that brought Target to the world, thank you very much. We each scooped up Target goodies, packed them up to bring with us and met up for our vacation. We did a great job buying items that were all different - no duplicates! Pura Vida!
Traditionally, a gift exchange is not part of a Fourth of July celebration at all. No matter what you give to someone for this holiday, it's thoughtful because no one ever expects anything. Even trinkets. A thoughtful pinch is just another name for a trinket.
It will be nutty, so be safe on the Fourth!
Pinches,
Barb
