Originally posted: 2012/02/04
It’s hard to believe it has already been two months (on Groundhog Day).
Had I planned things more carefully, I would have waited to give Jenny this groundhog card in February. Instead, I already gave it to her in January. Since I completely botched the timing for Groundhog Day (that’s OK, we’re not superstitious), I had to come up with something more clever.
No, I’m not going to let you read the inside of this card! Scroll down for the real card.
The idea came a to me too late, and I didn’t have much time to work with. But it was worth trying anyway. Jenny’s necklace had already been ordered, and I wanted a good card to go with it. I was looking at a dead keyboard, I remembered a picture a friend recently sent me, where keyboard keys were removed to spell words.
From that moment on, I was on a mission. For a couple days, I gathered all the dead keyboards I could find (even made a trip to Goodwill). I was going to make my own anniversary card, and find a way to make it work with the necklace. It’s not just about the gift, it’s the presentation!
Putting it all together (the day before I gave it to her) took considerably longer than I expected.
After stripping the keyboards of all their keys, I put each set of keys in its own plastic bag, so I could sort out the letters I needed.
The larger keys worked better on the inside, and the low-profile laptop keys worked better for the outside.
I wanted to build the card using a box large enough to include the necklace (which was in its own box), but that would have been way too big. I had to improvise, and cut out the center of the box instead. Cutting out the front of the box eliminated my original idea of the sun (hard-drive platter) on front, with little sunbeams made out of straightened paperclips. I was so bummed, because I had a specific plan to go with what I wanted to say, but I was still able to use the hard drive-platter on the back.
It took several hours to assemble, and I barely finished it before Jenny came home from school. I had to ask her not to enter the kitchen when she came in, so I could hide it and clean up. The “finished” pictures below, were taken after the event, because there was not enough time to do it before.
Here’s the finished (rushed) product. Yes, it’s Über-mushy and cheesy, but you’re still reading this, so I see no need to apologize. You can click on the pictures to see them larger:
I still wanted to use the hard-disk platter, because I knew she’d get a little ‘misty’ reading the card, and would need a mirror. That’s why I wanted it on the front of the card, disguised as the ‘sun’. Running out of time, I quickly decided to put it on the back without any preconceived camouflage.
We made dinner plans (thanks to a handy coupon we got in the mail), so I already knew were we were going to be. Next, I enlisted the help of a good friend to deliver the package.
When we arrived at the restaurant, it was about a 40 minute wait. Things didn’t go exactly as planned, because we were still in the waiting area when he arrived. My friend texted me as soon as he was about to head in. I was really nervous and excited, my heart was pounding so hard that Jenny could feel it. She was starting to wonder if I was OK. Seconds later, my friend walked in and approached Jenny with a huge envelope, and said “I need you to sign for this.”
She was instantly embarrassed, but signed anyway.
After all that hard work and planning, I really wish I hadn’t accidentally turned off my autofocus before taking these pics. But they’re still clear enough to give you the idea.
I love making my girl cry!
The rest of the pictures aren’t quite as poorly focused…
YES! One of my plans finally works!
The ‘mirror’ on the back of the card turned out to be useful, just as I had hoped!
Homemade Anniversary Card. Complete with rear view weeping mirror!
Here’s Jenny’s new necklace:
I had forgotten how much I like product photography, until I took this picture.
When the necklace arrived on Wednesday afternoon, Jenny brought the box inside. I was worried that she had an idea I was up to something. I really wanted to give it to her as soon as it arrived, but I managed to keep it a secret, all the way up to Friday!
Here’s a small portion of the aftermath, and a tribute to what was left behind from the technology used to create my romantic nerd, geek love, techy anniversary card. I only wish I had started earlier, and had more time to make it even better.
In the words of Mon Mothma: “Many Bothans died to bring [her this card].”
If you don’t get it, watch this. All the dead components were recycled responsibly.
One of the many cool things about Jenny, is that she would have been just as happy if I had written her a simple love-note on a napkin. Which is what I might do next month, because I have no idea what I’ll do next!
Just a few more re-posts to go, and we’ll be caught-up with where we left off before the great website crash of 2012! Then we’ll be able to bring you new adventures that you’ve never seen!
Jared and Jenny 