My dad is 60 years old today! Happy, happy birthday!
As my father’s birthday approached, I knew I wanted to do something extra special.
Back in February, I talked to my mom and aunt about an idea I had that involved a lot of people from my dad’s past.
I wanted to reach out to the people that mean the most to my dad and assemble a list of 60 things that they love about him. I wasn’t sure how I would present this to him until I saw this idea on Pinterest. I felt inspired to print each statement off on a separate card and seal it in an envelope, so I could present 60 separate envelopes filled with loving words to my dad on his birthday.
I reached out to everyone I know who means a lot to my dad. Childhood friends, colleagues, old neighbors, family members and scuba diving buddies. I requested just one sentence from everyone that began with the words, “I love…”
When the sentences started rolling in, I got more and more excited. People wanted to share more than one loving thought and the contributions ranged from hilarious to heartfelt. I found myself laughing and crying as I read everyone’s emails. I couldn’t wait to see my dad’s face when he read their thoughts!
Once I had most of the sentences assembled, I drove to Hobby Lobby to pick up craft supplies.
I bought cards, envelopes, labels, stamps and ink. I wanted the gift to look homemade with a vintage flare.
I stamped each envelope with a number from one to 60.
I then formatted the cards in Microsoft Word and printed each loving sentence on a separate card.
And here’s where the fun came in! Whenever possible, I included an old photo of my dad with the person who wrote the sentence printed on the card in the envelope.
He got a big kick out of the flashback photos!
Once I had the envelopes sealed, I stacked them in numerical order and tied them together. I included a label on top of the envelopes that read, “60 Reasons Why You’re Loved.”
Underneath the label was a picture of my dad when he was only 16 months old!
I cannot tell you how much fun it was to watch him open each and every envelope.
“Timmy wrote one!?”
“Sharon? You got Chuck and Grady!?”
It was very apparent how touched he was to read such loving words from his closest friends and family. And he deeply deserves all of the love that came his way!
Happy birthday to my dad.
I love you!
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Julie, what a beautiful gift! Your post brought tears to my eyes! It seems both you and your dad are very lucky people! Such a beautiful, thoughtful gift! Mind if I steal the idea? 😉
Please do!!
My mom turns 60 this year and this sounds like something she will love. What a great idea!!
That is so incredibly sweet, I love love that idea! What a touching and loving thing to do. My Dad’s turning 60 this year so I may just have to steal that;)
Happy Birthday to your Dad!
I love this idea!!!! It’s so cute!!!! 🙂
I saw this idea on pinterest. We did this for my grandma’s 70th birthday. She loved it, too.
Oh my goodness Julie – that is the most adorable, sweetest thing ever! How awesome.
What a great idea!!
LOVE this idea! Thank you for sharing!
That is the sweetest idea!!!!
What a great idea! You’re so creative… I’m not sure I have that in me. Haha! Happy Birthday to your dad!
That was a fantastic idea! Your dad is lucky to have such a creative daughter!
That is incredibly sweet, and if you don’t mind, I might end up borrowing that idea for a future birthday gift when my dad is 60 as well. Its soooooo sweet!
This is such a thoughtful idea!! I would love to do this for my mom. Thank you for sharing!
That is the sweetest gift I’ve seen, how thoughtful!!!
Wow – sweetest gift ever! I’m sure he loved it.
I saw this idea on Pinterest too and just loved it! We want to do it for our parents next big anniversary- would be so cool to incorporate funny & sweet stories about the couple from the past 30 year. Yours came out awesome!
You’re such a sweet and thoughtful daughter… I’m pregnant with my own little girl due next month and this made me emotional thinking about the future. I can only hope that one day she does something so sweet for her daddy. 🙂
I absolutely LOVE this idea! My dad’s 60th was last October and I only wish I would have seen this before then. *** 61 reasons why you’re loved? Thanks for sharing :).
What an amazing idea!! I got chills reading this!!
I just saw this idea on “READY FOR LOVE”, one of the last girls did this for her Dad and he loved it! Am I the only one that watches that? 🙂
Wow girl, this is an amazing gift to give!!! Love it.
I. Love. This. I think it would make me cry to read so many amazing words about my own dad! This might be incorporated into my father’s day idea, if you don’t mind 🙂 I’m sure your dad will ALWAYS remember this birthday, so special Julie!
I did something similar for my husband’s 30th birthday. Instead of envelopes, I used a photo album and typed up the messages and inserted them with pictures into the pockets. It turned out really well and he cried, he loved it so much. Great job!
wow julie, this is absolutely amazing!! such a beautiful idea!
I LOVE this idea! What an amazing gift and tribute to your dad. I am so stealing this at some point in the future!
Julie, what a beautiful gift! I especially loved the card your mom wrote to your dad! What a sweet way to involve all the people who love your dad on such a milestone birthday 🙂
You are so incredibly sweet and thoughtful! What a lovely idea 🙂
Honestly, I got a little teary reading this Julie! It’s so thoughtful and just… so nice! I couldn’t imagine how your dad felt after opening this present. He must have felt so loved and grateful to have an amazing daughter. Aww!
I absolutely thought that was the sweetest and most thoughtful gift ever. I also find it very cool to find out that your dad and my dad share the same birthday and are both turning the BIG 6-0! I wish I thought of this idea because my dad too, is truely a very kind-hearted person and role model in my life!
What a neat and beautiful idea! Looking at that baby pic of your dad, I definitely see the resemblance.
This is SUCH a cute idea. I know that if I were him, I’d be bawling from happiness.
Totally teared up. This is one of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever seen. Good job, Julie!
This is such an awesome idea! I am sure that your dad absolutely loved and appreciated how thoughtful this gift was. This was probably so much more meaningful than a physical gift.
What an amazing, thoughtful gift Julie!
That is one of the amazing gifts I have ever, ever seen. It must have taken a lot of work to track down all those people, organize and print everything — then put it all together! A gift like that comes right from the heart. I’m definitely doing this for one of my family members! 😀
What a wonderful and touching idea! He must have been so happy and suprised to receive a a fabulous gift!
you are such an adorable daughter…you and your dad are both lucky :-)…..amazing gift i ever known….Happy birthday to your daddy….
What an amazing gift! Such a perfect idea. I’ll be using this when my dad turns 60 🙂 Thanks for the idea, Julie!
This is so sweet! The two that you shared made me tear up…and I don’t even know your dad! My dad will be 60 this July, and this is such a fun idea!!
Happy Birthday to your Daddy!
This literally brought tears to my eyes! What a beautiful and thoughtful gift. Your Dad is so lucky to be blessed with such a wonderful daughter, and so many wonderful people in his life.
That is the sweetest and most thoughtful gift I have ever seen. Your dad is so blessed to have you as a daughter!
What an awesome present! And is it weird, that even though I don’t know your dad, I think he looks very similar to his baby picture?! It’s the smile.
I’ve also seen this idea on Pinterest! It’s so heartwarming and such a great gift. The thought you put into creating it is astounding- I’m sure you’re dad appreciated it more than he can express.
That’s the best gift idea I’ve ever seen. So touching and personal! What a brilliant and loving idea 🙂
Ah what a cool idea!!! My Dad turns 64 this year, I feel like this would be awesome for the big ones like 60, 70, 80… Perhaps if my memory is working 6 years from now I will do something like this. I mean heck, I would love if some one had done this for me on my 25th! I couldn’t imagine at 60 or 70, so many memories!
LOVED LOVED LOVED this idea!
how did you print the cards? was it a special type of paper?
I bought cardstock that fit into the envelopes and then adjusted the formatting in Microsoft Word so the words printed on the cards properly!
Oh my gosh! I absolutely love this gift. My parents 40th wedding anniversary is in a week, and though it would be tight for time, I would love to do a variation of this for them!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
That is such a great idea!
What a sweet gift! So, I’m going to hire you next time I need to do something crafty. Lol.
Happy birthday to your dad!
Wow! What a cool and thoughtful idea for the big “60”. The flashback pictures are always such a great hit and sure to bring big smiles 🙂