70 birthday letters as a tablecloth
Have a 70th celebration coming up?
Ever tried using 70 letters as a tablecloth for a birthday party?
Me either.
Until, now.
In my travels on Pinterest I’ve seen lots of letter parties
and I thought this would be a great idea to gather 70 letters for my mum for her birthday celebration.
So, I asked people to email, text or send a letter about her,
(and enlisted some fabulous helpers too),
they could write one line, or a paragraph, or a letter, whatever they wanted.
And they did.
It was magic.
I got to read all those beautiful things about her.
Then…
the night before I flew down to Sydney.
I started to collate the letters to put in a box to give to her.
And a little bit of magic happened…
I laid them on the floor
and thought,
“What a great tablecloth!”
Some were cards,
some were blue,
some were pictures.
All precious.
So, I photocopied them all in black and white to make two sets.
The originals went in the box to keep
and the photocopies would became the tablecloth.
(That way they could get messy and we’d still have the real ones).
Here’s the table set with letters as a table cloth and the box of letters at the end.
It was just us…
No kids, just mum and dad and the big kids and partners.
An intimate gathering like the old days, before grandchildren came around.
Which was just awesome on it’s own.
But…
what happened next blew me away.
People started picking up the letters and reading them aloud.
There were tears,
and laughter,
and beautiful food,
and impressive wine glasses.
It was like everyone was there, even though they weren’t.
It wasn’t planned that way.
It just happened.
We all got to read them.
Beautiful words,
from dad,
and family,
aunties and uncles,
and cousins,
and friends,
and grandchildren,
and angels who weren’t with us.
We read them until there was no tablecloth left.
It was so wonderful, I think we even forgot to look at the view.
What a day!
Truly magic.
We had my grandma’s 70th in the very same restaurant.
That’s a memory to cherish.
Love ya mum,
happy birthday, I hope you are still celebrating, you are one in a million. x
Thank you to all the wonderful people who wrote letters,
I know a few of you read my blog. You guys rock. x
So, if you are planning a celebration of the important kind,
21, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 or an anniversary even,
why not give 70 birthday letters as a tablecloth a go?
I think you are going to love reading the tablecloth as much as we did.
I’m not sure if we made 70 letters in the end,
but it didn’t matter,
not one little bit.
Ever tried a letter party? Or celebrated without the little kids? Got an awesome party celebration idea? I’d love to hear.
Happy weekend guys
Live with Love,
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14 responses to “70 birthday letters as a tablecloth”
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Hi I'm Sarah, I'm a blogger and an artist who’s made the sea change and moved to the north coast of Australia. I love an easy DIY and making my house my canvas, my new home has become my greatest project: Yamba Scandi. Come visit me in my shop to view my collection of prints, canvasses, home decor and paper goods READ MORE.
Sarah Preston
Yamba Scandi Collection // Black and white prints and canvasses // Home decor //Paper goods
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What a wonderful celebration for a special lady. A beautiful tribute, I know she was blown away. Well done to you all. Thank you for sharing. You truly do live with love and shre it with everyone. Another beautiful memory created. Lots of love xoxoxo
It was one of those days to remember
and it was even more special with all the beautiful letters from fabulous people.
Everything aligned..
we will be talking about it for years to come I think.
Thank you lovely lady. Have a wonderful weekend x
What a lovely idea! It must be amazing to read gorgeous words written about you. This would be a lovely gift for anyone. Such a thoughtful idea. x
Nicole @ The Builder’s Wife recently posted…How to Create a Mood With Lighting – HIT
Thanks lovely, I totally recommend this, it was amazing for everyone involved. Have a wonderful weekend. X
Oh I think I have something in my eye! This is just beautiful – what an ace idea. I know of someone who collected letters for their parents’ anniversary and presented them in a beautiful box, but the tablecloth idea is genius. It’s official, you ARE a genius, and a thoughtful, big-hearted one at that! I hope your mum had the bestest birthday ever. PS where were you having dinner? The food and the views look stunning! x
Sammie @ The Annoyed Thyroid recently posted…The Ultimate Rabbit Hole #72
That is what I was going to do, but this just evolved, it was more than I could ever have imagined.
We all had tears and laughter such a fab day, thank you lovely X
The restaurant was the Public Dining Room at Balmoral, the food was incredible, I’ve been dreaming about it ever since and the staff were wonderful.
We did 70 memories for 70 years for my mum’s birthday. It was a lovely surprise for her, Ia couple of months before it I borrowed her address book and sent out the letter explaining it – we asked people to write down their favourite memories of mum. There was such a variety of responses some were from her childhood /teenage years, work friends, family friends and Family including us kids! The letters and emails came to my address so I could collate them without her knowing a thing. She was absolutely thrilled with them and spent days reading through them. It was a perfect alternative to a party which she had said she didn’t want!
I love the tablecloth idea too! Glad it was a wonderful celebration for your mum too.
It’s such a wonderful thing to do, I bet you loved it as much as she did, I know I loved reading them all and I’m glad we all got to read them together over lunch.
What a fabulous thing to do for your mum, she’s a lucky lady, I’m glad she loved it.
What a truly gorgeous thing to do, so special. We just had my Mums 70th I wish I’d thought to do something like that. We did celebrate with a special adults only dinner though that was really lovely.
Vicki @ Boiled Eggs & Soldiers recently posted…Your Weekly Feed # 56
what a fantastic idea! I would never have thought of doing this. So heart warming! Xx
Shannon@ my2morrows recently posted…The Ultimate Rabbit Hole #72
That is such an awesome idea! It could work for any milestone occasion too. What a blessing to read all the letters!
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[…] from TOMFO linked up last week with an awesome idea of using letters for a birthday table cloth. If you haven’t read this yet, you really need to check it […]
This is a beautiful idea! Lots of special people got to share in making some awesome memories, first by writing the letters, then by reading and celebrating them and finally by having the tablecloth to commemorate it all. Just WOW!!
I had tears in my eyes reading this because we did something similar for Mum and Dad’s 50th anniversary. It started off as a fun project and became more than we ever could have imagined. It was so special – rarely do people appreciate the impact they have had on people’s lives and for us it gave us the opportunity to see our parents in a totally different light.
I think we probably went through the same emotions reading your post. If anyone is thinking of doing it I can’t recommend it enough.
PS I shared Project Gold too – it’s here https://www.plusatesix.com/2015/02/project-gold-fifty-years-memories/ if you’re interested.
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