Q: What do you get an adorable father-in-law who is celebrating his 86th birthday and insists that he needs absolutely nothing for his birthday?

A: Uhhh…absolutely nothing?

Beep! Wrong answer!

I have learned that there are ways to give a little something that will almost fit into the category of absolutely nothing.

For many years my sister and a group of her friends have gotten together to celebrate each others birthdays. However, as the years have passed, they have started to purge and downsize; another picture to hang on their already decorated walls, or another knicknack for their already crowded shelves started to become a burden instead of the intended blessing. So one year they decided that the only kind of gift they could give each other was one that was disposable.

Aha! Something disposable.

With my father-in-law we like to give him something–disposable–that will make him laugh. We have learned that he gets a huge kick out of fun cards–like the ones that sing or make silly birthday remarks. He takes them to the senior center to show all his octogenarian buddies.

This year we created our own birthday card hoping to make him laugh. On a recent trip to the Salvation Army Thrift Store my husband found this sweatshirt.

To package the “card”, I used a sturdy zippered pastic bag that my living room curtains had come in. I folded the sweatshirt over the piece of cardboard that the curtain had been wrapped around so that “Aged to Perfection” showed through the plastic. Inside the plastic bag on the back side of the “card” I slipped a piece of colorful scrapbooking paper; on that I added some birthday greetings in big letters, then wrote his address and our return address. And once again I made the postmaster smile.

For those of you who haven’t met her, the Dollar Store Diva happens to be my Mom who has a special power.  She can transform Dollar Store and other inexpensive finds into super fun gifts that would brighten anyone’s day!