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February 16, 2011

Neighbor Gift Idea

Y'all will NOT believe this... 

I have been a slacker neighbor.

Yes it is true.

It's ironic since so many of you were so empathetic and sweet when I did the post about us moving in and no one talking to us from the neighborhood. For those of you who missed it...when we first moved in our new home, it was kind of lonely.  It had made me so sad until I realized there was nothing wrong with me making the first move and introducing our family to the neighbors.  Check out how I did that here.  I called it sconing the neighbors.  After we did, everyone waved, stopped by, set up play dates...it was amazing.  And we are so thankful!

But in August, our next door neighbors moved and our new neighbors began renovations that lasted through November when they finally moved in.   

AND I NEVER OFFICIALLY WELCOMED THEM! 

Ugh.  The holidays swept me up on the festive train to crazy and I just plain forgot.  But it kept coming to mind and I finally put a plan of action into place to scone my new neighbors and give them some extra goodies too.

First, I wanted to give them a framed picture of their new house.  But I don't know their style so I wanted to keep it safe. A white frame.  Check.  I also wanted the picture to be fun.  So one day I took a photo of their house and worked a little techy magic on it. I wanted the photo to look like a drawing so...
It would go from this...

To this.
I had to edit it a lot because of shadows in front of the garage but I finally completed it. 

I think it turned out so pretty and polished looking in the frame.

I printed it out on some sturdy, white card stock and made sure to use a matte in the frame to make it look even better.
 
I baked THE SCONES and put them in a glass vase with a ribbon tied around it. 
(I used a glass vase just in case they did not have one handy since I was also giving flowers)
Using one of the cones from the Valentine issue of Good Living Magazine, I filled it with the bouquet of flowers and attached a family photo with our home phone number on the front.
 This is what I wrote on the back. 

I put it all in a basket (I have way too many) and we brought it over to our INCREDIBLY NICE neighbors.
The presentation came out so sweet. And guess what else?  They said they never had anyone do this before and they were so touched.  We ended up getting a tour of their lovely home and chatting for over an hour.

What a blessing they are!
 I know the welcome basket was late but I believe it is better late than never.:)

15 comments:

  1. Hmmm, you've made me think. We've been here since Dec.3rd, and have yet to meet any of our neighbors... maybe it's time to introduce ourselves... I love the picture idea, you are very creative my friend!
    Have a great day!

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  2. oh my goodness!! Oh my goodness!! I am in awe of you more and more every.single.day. Now, what do you do for belated birthdays? ha ha!! Love you.

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  3. what a cute house that is!! awww I wish you were my neighbor!

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  4. Such a warm welcome!

    I'm sure your neighbors understand all about life getting hectic at the holidays. The point is, you moved beyond your paralysis and did what you'd been putting off and felt guilty about, to a positive outcome. Way to go!

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  5. Jess - Why the world didn't I move in next door to you? You are the BEST! I sincerely hope this is the beginning of a life long and wonderfully neighbor-y relationship with them. Good job, girl. :)

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  6. I want a neighbor like you! that was way too sweet! and cute! I love the picture that you edited too. I wish i knew how to do that. It's awesome that because you took the time to do something sweet for your new neighbors that you didn't even know, that you were able to show them some of God's love towards them and what a redeemed heart can look like!

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  7. this is the cutest idea ever!!! I LOVE the house pic! So cute! You sure are one creative girl!!! Lucky neighbors! I still wish you had moved in next to me when my neighbors moved! Then I would get some scones :) No just kidding..about the scones anyway :) can't imagine why you wouldn't want to move up here to the north pole to be haunted by little boys :) My neighbors are still scared to death of us & run inside when they see us come out of the house! Just wait until they see I have another ...probably boy :)

    Oh & I totally did the same thing when I messed with my blog settings & threw up the under construction thing :) I feel so bad yu are having to mess around with that!

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  8. Oh my goodness--you have the luckiest neighbors in the world! I love the photo with the phone number (and that sweet note) the best! Such a great idea!!

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  9. Wow! That is a really nice welcome gift!!!!!!!

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  10. wwhhhhhaaaaaattt!!! How TOTALLY Awesome are YOU!! Totally Awesome!

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  11. How cool!!! Thanks so much for sharing this. . .we live in kind-of a new neighborhood so we have lots of chances to welcome new neighbors but our neighborhood seems a little "closed off" too. . .(not my style) so I think I'm going to steal all your great ideas here!!! Thank you! And I'm sure they appreciated the thought -- always better late then never (or at least that's what I keep telling myself about my kids Christmas thank-yous that still need to be addressed. . .oops).

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  12. Ok, you have to teach me how to do that with photos. I LOVE it - what a great idea for a gift. Seriously!!!

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  13. I am so amazed by you. Seriously amazed.

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  14. Your such a good neighbor. I love the picture you took and what you did to it. I use to follow you awhile ago- you were just looking to move and looking for a home. Glad I found you again!

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  15. I am sharing this tomorrow on my blog--I love it so much!!!

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