After we got married, I learned that many couples follow a certain theme when it comes to anniversary gifts, with the first year anniversary gift being a paper gift.
I stuck with the theme and gave Ryan framed images of maps of the places where we met, got engaged and got married and embroidered a special symbol on each map.
This project wasn’t incredibly crafty, so if you’re otherwise intimidated by crafty projects, this is a great one to tackle. The hardest part was the embroidery which I just sort of figured out how to do as I went along, but that doesn’t have to look perfect to still be cute!
I got the idea for this gift from this image that I saw on Pinterest:
(Source)
I didn’t want to do “we met, we married, we live” since Ryan and I are renting our current home and aren’t exactly sure where we’ll be setting up camp for the long haul, so I added “engaged” and took out “live.”
I also used three-dimensional metal stickers for the words rather than words printed on stickers.
I got the idea to embroider symbols on the maps from DIY Theory.
I used red thread to embroider a heart, diamond ring and two intertwined wedding bands.
Met: University of Central Florida
Engaged: Baldwin Park/Winter Park, Florida
Married: St. Petersburg, Florida
Since I am writing this post on Friday and setting it to publish on our anniversary on Sunday, I can’t tell you whether or not it was a hit with Ryan just yet, but I really hope he likes it!
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Julie, what an amazing first anniversary gift idea! I would love to share MyDayRegistry.com with your readers since they’re interested in the sentimental type gifts 🙂
MyDayRegisty.com allows you to dedicate a special day (Anniversary) to your love and is a super sentimental first anniversary gift that blends the traditional (paper) with the modern (clock). You can visit us at http://mydayregistry.com/paper-anniversary-gifts/ 🙂
Where did you purchase the map?! I am going to make this for my hubs this V-day! He likes to buy art from each place we have lived (military spouse here) so I thought this was super fitting.
I absolutely love this idea, and I’m going to make this for my wife for our anniversary next month. This may be a silly question, but where is a good place to find maps? Sometimes grocery stores have them when you walk in, in the real estate pamphlets section. If they don’t have them there, where’s a good place to look?
I love this! Where did you find the 3d metal stickers?
Hobby Lobby!
Thank you!
Super cute ideas and so personalized. My hubby gave me a Dreamlines sketch of my wedding dress, his suit and my bouquet. I l ove personalized gifts and this hit the nail on the head.