Be creative in expressing how special your oldest & dearest friend is to you on her 40th birthday!

Your dearest friend is turning 40. She has everything that she wished for in material terms; and she is not at all materialistic.
What could be the perfect birthday gift for her?

I racked my brains for over a month for something meaningful that she would not forget in a long long time (she is such a forgetful person; you see).

A little about our history so that you can imagine my dilemma -
Fact: We have been friends for well over 30 years ever since we came to live in the same apartment building.
Fact: We went to the same school, college right from under-grad to post-grad.
Fact: She married another one of my friends from the same building and thus continued to live in the same building
Fact: She has very specific tastes that differ dramatically from my own

I chanced to read on social media that "If you have been friends with someone since childhood and you have fond memories with them ever since, then you are one lucky person". That gave me an idea of all of our common friends (actually almost 95% of them are common considering the above facts) telling her on her special day how lucky we were to have a friend like her.

But how?

Now since I still have the remnants of my erstwhile IT-life, I can't think beyond presentations and Microsoft I guess. Hmmmmm!
So, we did a presentation on "A trip through memory lane of being Priya". 

We collected some of the choicest pictures from four decades and cataloged them by year so that we could all see how she has grown through these. It was a difficult task - getting pictures from everybody, cataloging them chronologically but it was sooooo worth it. We were very naughty too - we paraphrased most of the photos with anecdotes that we remembered.

Guess what? She was overwhelmed. Not only about this but because we used Google Hangout so that our common friends from all over the world could wish her while she was cutting the birthday cake.

If you have some special people in your life, do remember to thank them and overwhelm them with gestures like these and you can create more special memories to remember in the future.
Just an idea!

Renew and spring-charge your wardrobe with leftover fabric like I did

Earlier when I would get my clothes tailored, I would always request my tailor to give me the material left over. However, I have always been disappointed to hear that 'no material was left over'. Now that I sew the dresses, I am fascinated to find that if the cut is right, you are left over with quite a bit of fabric.

 

Also, I am so forgetful that I have 'burnt' quite a bit of dresses too while ironing. I can't wear them but why should I waste the entire fabric?

I put such fabric that I have collected to good use by reusing such leftover fabric.

This is a kurti I made with leftover material from another kurti. I found matching patches to attach on the sides so as to increase the length & breadth of the kurti.

Now, I also had this crepe material from a shawl that I accidentally burnt during ironing. I made rose flowers & stitched them to give the neck, slits & bottom of the kurti a different kind of look.

I am sure you can revamp your closet to give your dresses that 'new look'. So, what are you waiting for? Spring is in the air; do that spring cleaning of your closet & bring that spring & zing to your wardrobe without burning a hole in your pocket. 

If you need more ideas on what to do with such excess fabric... you know like making making different accessories to complement your wardrobe, then you will love this website -

http://www.allfreesewing.com/

It has inspired me to save up every spare bit of cloth and make beautiful little things that don't even take that much of your time.