AH-MAZING birthday BASHYness

[ilovecraigandcooper]

so...it occurred to me YESTERDAY that my wonderful, fantabulous mother in law is turning 65 this weekend! i wanted to do something special because that seems like a pretty big milestone. i brainstormed all afternoon and *thought* i had come up with a pretty cool plan. she loves to read and really likes the book warehouse (like in pigeon forge, our go-to vacation spot, about 4 hours from our house). SO i think, how cool would it be if we surprised her with a weekend getaway, we invited immediate family, got a cabin, and just hung out all weekend in the forge (of course frequenting the book warehouse). i checked on cabins and found one that would work fairly reasonable and i thought it work but a few people in the family couldnt go so the cost was going to be higher on us and my hubby started saying "you know we're supposed to be saving money and paying stuff off and yada yada yada" so the forge idea is pretty much dead

so now im looking for something else amazing, i like experiences much more than actual presents so if anyone has anything cool that they've done as far as a "birthday party" or "a fun birthday experience" THAT IS BUDGET FRIENDLY as to apease my husband, hahahahahaah that would be great... and honestly im starting from square 1, and open to anything!

 

[MapleGirl]

Not sure where you live but I have 2 ideas:
1) Independent (or not) bookstore crawl: Like a Pub Crawl.... Take a day and get a group of people together who want to celebrate your DMIL and go from one bookstore to another. You can map it out online and maybe discover some new small stores.
2) Have a library-themed birthday party

- Cake shaped like a pile of books or an open book
- Books as party favors and decorations
- party games such as "Name that Quote"​

Good luck!

 

[ceecee]

I really liked the cabin idea, sometimes just time with the family is priceless. We got an email with cabin specials in September and there were some great deals.

 

[MinnieForMe]

Why not see if you can rent a timeshare or condo through VRBO for the area you want to take her? Unless you are struggling and have cc debt, I'd go for it for a wonderful MIL. Mine was the greatest and we lost her at the age of 60. I'd sell almost anything I had to have one more birthday with her!

If it's completely out of the question, I would have a home party but ask her friends and family members to bring their favorite book with a message on the inner cover as to why they love it and why they want to share this book with her for her birthday.

Do you scrapbook? Do you have kids? My MIL's most treasured gift was a book I made. The title was "I love Grandma because". On each page I put a picture of one of my children doing what they love with Grandma. For example, "I love Grandma because she talks on the phone with me". "I love Grandma because she taught me to bake gingerbread cookies". "I love Grandma because even when I'm bad she loves me." Etc.

I'm sure anything you do will be appreciated.