wedding gifts {picnic blanket and a book}

We have some dear friends whose oldest son is getting married in a few weeks. Carl and I love weddings and try really hard to make the gift that we give something that is truly useful – something that goes beyond picking a gift off of a registry. Because sometimes newlyweds really don’t know what they “need” – I know we didn’t.

So for the last 5 years or so we’ve given the book Love and Respect  as a wedding gift. Amazing book! Now, this is not something a newlywed will ask for – but eventually they will need it. We also let them know that we are there for them, always, no matter what. Since Carl does pastoral family and marriage counseling, we’v talked to alot of couples and most whose marriages are falling apart feel like they don’t have anyone to talk to to get help. And before you know it the couple is throwing in the towel. We want to do anything we can to help families get off on a strong foundation. This book really helps with that.

But it is also important in a family to just have fun together so we temper our “gift that they need” with a fun gift. For this couple I made a picnic blanket and tote bag.

The blanket measures 60X82 inches and is backed with a blue denim.

And the tote is made with the same blue denim and lined with a white cotton.

I sandwiched the  layers – top and bottom (right sides together) and batting on top – and then sewed all around the edge leaving about 14 inches to turn the blanked right side out. Then I topstitched all around the edge 1/4″ and 1/2″ inch from the edge. I still need to randomly tie it so the batting doesn’t bunch up when it’s washed.

Always my little helper – esp. when there is a camera involved!

We hope and pray that this couple will have many fun family days using this blanket and that when they hit hard times that their marriage will stand the test.

Thanks for sharing with your friends!

Angi Schneider

Angi Schneider is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Preserving Vegetables and Pressure Canning for Beginners and Beyond, both published by Page Street Publishing. She has taught canning classes for 177 Milk Street, been featured in Serious Eats, and written for Countryside Magazine. Angi has been sharing gardening, preserving, and simple living skills since 2010.