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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This is one of the most adorable and thoughtful gifts ever. I feel like my gifts are always either really great or absolutely terrible so I’ll keep this in mind!
This is great!!! I’m so happy I got to take part 🙂 Wish your dad the BEST for me!!
Julie, that is such a special gift. I am sure he was absolutely thrilled. Great job!!
Such a cute idea!
Wow! That gift must have taken SO much time! That truly is a beautiful gift- something I am sure he will cherish for a long time.
That is one of the best ideas ever. Very thoughtful, those are always the best gifts.
Awwww…..you have to be one of the most thoughtful daughters ever!
I bet that your dad is so proud to have raised such an amazing young woman! He’s so lucky to have you!
That is such a great idea! Such a sweet way to show that everyone cares!
This is such an amazing and touching idea! My mom has a big birthday coming up in a few months and I just may have to steal this idea from you 😉 Thank you for sharing.
What a FUN idea!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea!
I did this for my husband for his 25th birthday! His birthday was in the middle of his last semester of law school – so it was a great mood booster. He said it was hos favorite gift of all time!
Absolutely amazing. LOVE this! It is so, so thoughtful!
Very thoughtful. It’s crazy how similar you and your dad look. Your sister, on the other hand, = your mom!
Too funny, my dads 60th is today and I did something similar for him! Yours turned out really cute!
What a creative and thoughtful gift!!! You always come up with the cutest ideas!
What a great idea. And yours looks put together so well. I want to do something like this for my husbands 40th birthday.
I did this in February for my Grandma’s 70th birthday — At first I thought…how am I ever going to get 70 people to write something?? But it was a breeze — They are lucky to be loved by so many people — and to have crafty people like us 🙂
I’ve seen this on Pinterest before, but reading a real story about it is so so much better. You’re an awesome daughter and obviously have a really great dad. Happy Birthday to him!
such a cute idea! we did something similar when my mom reached her 10 year breast cancer free mark (which is the big milestone). everyone wrote a reason why having her in their life matters – i could cry thinking about it. glad your dad got to hear from so many old friends, it’s really so special!
Julie:
what a thoughtful and loving idea… Your dad is very lucky to have such a kind and wonderful daughter who mad his day very special…this brought tears to my eyes…
such a cute idea!! fun way for so many people to be involved!!
What an amazing idea! WOW! Seriously was an amazing gift. I’m sure your father was so touched and felt so loved.
Love your blog-and try to keep up with it-you always have such great workout/easy meal ideas and of course I LOVE the Sadie posts (Fur Babies are the best!).
What a thoughtful thing to do!! Great idea
What an amazing gift! So incredibly meaningful. I just kept thinking how much I would love to get that present, which is such a selfish thing of me to say……
So sweet! 🙂
What a wonderful and thoughtful present. I love this! Thanks for posting this and giving me some ideas for upcoming Father’s day 🙂
That is the sweetest gift! Ah! So heartfelt….may have to steal this idea! And btw you look a lot like your dad in that second to last pic 🙂
This is the sweetest gift ever, Julie! My dad turns 60 in December. I may have to do the same gift…. 😉
What a seriously sweet gift! That is something your dad is going to treasure forever!
This is such a great idea! I love love love it! I feel certain I’m going to use it at some point in the future.
Julie, this is just such a beautiful gift! I think it’s an amazing project for you to take on for your dad, and it brought tears to my eyes a little bit, thinking about how touched he must have felt looking back on those 60 years of his life! Happy birthday to what looks like an amazing man, and I hope the whole family had a great time celebrating 🙂
How touching & thoughtful! Love it!
What a great idea!!! My dad turns 60 next year!
What a great gift! Tucking this away in the ol’ memory banks.
What a cute and thoughtful! That’s nice that you got to see his reaction to reading them as well!
Julie,
This is one of the MOST thoughtful, sweetest gifts that I have ever seen. I bet your Dad loved every one of the cards & really appreciated all of the effort you put into this gift. NOTHING beats a homemade gift, especially such a heartfelt one!
That is the sweetest gift!! What a great idea!
That is the most creative and thoughtful present ever! And I have to say you look so much like your dad! Happy Birthday to him! He does not look 60 at all!!
This is a wonderful gift! Such a great and sweet idea!
What a nice idea! Happy Birthday to your dad!
I love that gift idea!! There’s no better gift than one that comes from the heart and involves so much thought!
I love this idea Julie! Both my parents are turning 60 this year too, and I would love to do a similar project. How did you reach out to everyone? How much time did you give them to respond?
Amazing gift! It must have taken so much time, so unique and so worth it!
This is one of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever seen 🙂 your dad is lucky to have a daught like you!
I LOVE this gift. Very cute. I have seen ideas like that on Pinterest. Oh the possibilities. I’d love to do something like that for my dad for fathers day. My dad doesn’t go out much since he has cancer and cant…a gift like that would brighten his day!
This is such a unique and thoughtful idea. It could work really well for a variety of situations too – weddings, showers, babies, etc. I’m going to keep this in mind! Thanks for sharing.
awww, what a cute idea! I am sure your dad loved it. 🙂
My brother and I did something similar for my Dad’s 60th birthday in November 2012. He absolutely loved it and we loved watching him open all the envelopes. The notes and pictures are still in a pretty bowl on the coffee table and he grabes one or two each night and reads them with the biggest smile on his face. Soooo worth the time that it took to contact all the people who care so much about him.
Dads are the best!
We did something very similar for my grandpa for his 70th! Your dad look exactly the same as he did when he was a baby! Hilarious! Happy Bday Bob!
Dang it I just cried