Random Acts of Kindness

I love random acts of kindness. I like to be the one giving out kindness and I like to be the recipient. On Friday, I was the recipient.

The day started off as usual, John walked Jack to school before heading off to work. (I walk him home from school.) On Friday, John returned with a white gift bag. "What's in the bag?" I asked. "This is for you. It's from Mr. Ted." Mr. Ted is a retired wildlife biologist who has decided to spend his golden years volunteering as the crossing guard in our neighborhood. He always greets us by name with a smile and a hello. We often engage in brief small talk about the weather or the kids.

"For me? I wonder what it is?" I opened the bag and inside was a GORGEOUS hand crafted wooden shaker box with a deep red velvet fabric lining the inside. (See picture at bottom of this post.) "Mr. Ted said he gives these to all the ladies," John said. We both marveled at the craftsmanship, not to mention the thoughtfulness and generosity. "Annette, you need to make him a special handmade thank you card."

Well, Ferb, I knew what I was going to do that day! I got out my craft goodies and thought about Mr. Ted, his woodworking hobby, his kindness. I came up with this card below:

Earthtones made the perfect color palette. They are masculine and they represent Mr. Ted's love for nature. The wood grained patterned paper represents his hobby and the mustache represent ... well, his mustache!! The Gratitude sentiment is a new release from Pink by Design. It's part of the Definitely Defined set. I love it.

And here is the box he made. Isn't it just beautiful!?! I love it, too! Thanks, Mr. Ted for making my day a little brighter!

Shaker Box by Ted B.