List of Gift Ideas for After Miscarriage or Infant Loss

Posted on November 10, 2022January 27, 2023 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

I can only speak from my experience with miscarriage, but here are some thoughts based on what helped me or what I’ve read about in articles and books that have helped others:

–Be there.

People are there after a baby is born and healthy. Be there for the parents, whether physically or emotionally, when the baby is only there in spirit.

–Meals

People are great at organizing meal trains for families with new babies; trust me, families who have lost babies need this just as much, if not more.

–Help with chores, groceries

Ditto to above.

–Say the child’s name

Over and over I read in books and articles how much parents want to hear their baby’s name after a loss. They are parents. They want their baby’s memory to live on. If their baby has been given a name, say their name, write it in the sand or the dirt, keep their memory alive.

–Physical recovery for the mom

Whether a mother has been through a miscarriage, stillbirth, or birth, her body will have been through quite a lot. On top of the unimaginable emotional grief, her body will also be recovering. Gifts like herb baths, heat packs, soft socks, and cozy pajamas can be helpful in providing comfort during physical healing.

–Offer to send out an email, make calls, texts

Without stepping on any toes, some of these logistics might be helpful for a family who has been through a loss. While they may want to write up what they want to say, they may need support in sending that message. They may need someone to go into their computer settings and block baby product ads. They may (or may not) want help cleaning a nursery.

–Continue to be there

Like most losses, people are often there in the beginning, and then they get caught up in their own lives and they slowly disappear. Check in. A baby’s first year, especially, is usually full of monthly milestones and fun holidays. These days don’t go unnoticed by parents who don’t have their babies in their arms on those days. Let them know you’re continuing to think of them. Even a small text with a heart can remind them they’ve still got support.

–Offer to take other kids for outings

When a family has other children, they might need support getting those kids to school or activities. Maybe they just need time and space to grieve alone. Offer to take other kids to a park or on an outing or take them over night. That being said, a parent may want to keep their other children especially close, so be understanding of that as well.

–Honor Baby

Find ways of honoring sweet Baby.

All of the above are non-present gifts that can feel so much more important than anything else at the time. But sometimes a tangible item can help say a lot too.

Other ideas:
(While I haven’t ordered from any of these links, they may provide some ideas. Obviously, do your own research before ordering or donating to any of these links.)

–Jewelry
baby feet necklace
angel wing necklace
blooming in Heaven
double heart

–Family painting/photo
loved for a lifetime
family line portrait
our favorite ‘what if’
loved for a lifetime baby outline
birds

–Book
This can be tricky, because people sometimes resonate or don’t resonate with certain approaches, but it’s worth considering. I’m compiling a list here.

–Blank journal
There was a blank journal included in a care package that a baby loss group sent to me after my miscarriage, and I filled in every last inch of it and then got another. Everyone is different, but for me, writing about what I was going through was one of the most helpful parts of healing. It doesn’t need to be fancy, and I loved the blank pages vs the lined. The group drew a small, simple heart on the cover, and it was perfect.

–-Teddy bear/weighted bear
Molly Bears
Twinkle Star Project
Walter’s Bears

–Frame
no foot too small
every second of my life
our perfect angel
forever in our hearts

—Jizo statue

–Candle
Having a specific candle to light on special days or in times of especially strong heartache can be a comfort. This is the one we use to honor loved ones who have passed, but there are so many others.

Scrunchies

Posted on November 3, 2021February 10, 2023 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Scrunchies can be a fun, easy, and appreciated gift. These are a great opportunity to use fabric scraps and you don’t have to worry about the packaging and transportation of a new, store-bought item. Once you get the hang of making these, you’ll be able to make bunches at once. Give one as a gift, tie one to the outside of another present, or make a variety of different scrunchies. Enjoy!

Upcycled Paper Stockings

Posted on April 21, 2021February 9, 2023 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Stockings from UPcycled Paper

I was inspired to make these during the COVID shutdowns. I’ve been a reusable bag person long before it was law in many places. When grocery stores were scrambling to find their own safety policies at an unprecedented time, some stores let us continue to bring our bags, but one of them didn’t. We started limiting our trips to that particular store, but we still ended up with way too many tragic paper bags. I began brainstorming uses for them, and this is one project I particularly love.

These homemade stockings are darling! I love that they can be customized to the size you’d like. You can leave the bag designs on the outside or turn the bags inside out for a blank canvas.

You can use these as actual stockings, decoration, or as very creative gift bags.

This is such a fun way to upcycle any paper product, whether it’s paper grocery bags, catalog pages, magazine pages, calendar pages, reused gift wrap, old maps, damaged book pages, or even coloring pages.

It’s quite simple:

–Cut the shape of a stocking on two bits of a paper – Remember, if you’d like a specific side facing out on both sides, you may have to flip your template for the second cut out.

–Punch holes all along the edges. The closer they are, the more secure the stocking will be for smaller objects, but the longer the threading will take. Then just weave a piece of string, yarn, or t-shirt yarn through. I’ve also used my machine to stitch these closed.

–Make a bunch at once to have them on hand for future gifts or to share with friends who might like to use them.

–Try making a bunch of tiny ones and number them for a decorative advent calendar.

Have fun with it!

What are your own creative ideas you’ll add to this project idea?

Your actions can and will make a difference.

Fabric Gift Wrap

Posted on April 20, 2021March 6, 2023 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

I am ALL about fabric gift wrap! And having just been through the holiday gift opening, I’m going to highlight some of my favorite things about using fabric, instead of paper:

–It’s SO easy to wrap with fabric bags!
–No need to shop for wrapping paper every year.
–No need to store bulky, awkward wrapping paper rolls and tape.
–SO much better for the environment! (especially when using upcycled cloth)
–WAY less mess! (Can’t emphasize this enough.)
–SO easy and compact to store
–Looks quaint, creative, and homey

For me, using fabric gift wrap has been a gradual process, and I think that’s important to remember. It’s awesome if you can make/purchase a whole stash of fabric gift wrap/bags all at once and dive in, but that wasn’t the case for me. It started with small fabric gift bags people had used to gift me presents. Then, I sewed a few of them one year. And a few the next. This year, I finally had the time to round out our stash quite a bit, which is probably why I’m on a fabric gift wrap mission right now. It was so amazing to not deal with paper or tissue paper. Not only for the mess factor, but for my environmentalist-self as well. My heart sinks whenever I see piles of wrapping paper.

I also think this would be an awesome fundraiser for a school. What a fun project to teach kids basic sewing (these bags can be very simple), to teach them and their families about reducing and reusing, and to help them get started on that journey.

I highly recommend giving fabric wrap a try, even if it’s only a little bit at a time. Keep your eyes out for fabric bags throughout the year, and collect them with your gift wrapping supplies. If you do sew, even if you’re a beginner, sewing fabric gift bags is EASY. As with any project, you can make things more complicated if you’d like, but the basic idea is an easy one. Collect fabric bits, old sheets, even old tee-shirts to use for sewing a simple bag. My favorite fabric gift bag to make is a drawstring bag, but I don’t always find the time to make these. Making fold-over bags for gift wrap is super easy, but sometimes I just sew a simple bag shape and tie a ribbon around the top. Some people will even just use a piece fabric cloth to wrap with and use fancy folding methods. These are beautiful to see, but the process is something I don’t have the patience to master right now.

Whichever method you use, I highly, highly recommend the switch!

**St. Nick comes to pick up some of our fabric bags at the beginning of December to take to Santa for that year’s gifts.**

ALL our holiday wrap in one small, little stack!

Other alternatives to wrapping paper:
Magazine Gift Wrap
Food Box Gift Bags
Upcycled Paper Stockings

Care Packages

Posted on February 15, 2021August 29, 2023 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

It is definitely a time for care packages. There are so many circumstances right now that call for a little (or a lot of) extra love, whether it’s sickness or loneliness or a family effected financially. Even just a general cheer boost is so very needed right now.

When I hear about someone is struggling, whether it’s during Covid or otherwise, I always want to reach out and do something. I often struggle though with where to begin. What to say. What to send. Especially when the circumstances are very tough, it’s hard to know just what to do.

I’ve been the very grateful recipient of some amazing care packages and gestures during times I really needed it, and this has been a big help in me getting over the hurdle of overthinking things and just reaching out with what feels right at the time.

The occasions when a care package is a good idea are endless, but here’s a small list based on when I’ve received or sent one:

–Expecting a new baby
–After a miscarriage
–After an operation or surgery or treatment
–A birthday
–After a divorce or break-up
–For the parents or siblings after a new baby’s arrival
–For a big celebration- new job, new house, new pet, retirement
–When someone is sick
–After losing a loved one
–For someone who will be alone on a holiday
–After a major life event, happy or sad

Obviously, the occasions are limitless. Every care package I’ve received over the years has put so much joy into my heart. And while something sent via an online store is fun too, there is definitely something extra special about the time and effort of a hand-packed package. So, here are some ideas for what to put inside:

—Homemade cookies (These usually travel well, unless there are terrible mail delays. I often make the cookies ahead of time and freeze them for a few days to give them a little extra chance. I think homemade cookies are good for pretty much any occasion. (A friend even sent a whole box of cookies to us after my mother-in-law passed away, and they were very much welcomed and appreciated.)

–Store-bought food goodies (After I gave birth to my first kiddo, my sister sent a whole package of baby/mini-sized store-bought snacks for me, and I still think back to how wonderful those tasted. New mamas are HUNGRY!)

—Homemade granola {If I’m sending homemade treats in a priority box where weight doesn’t matter, I love reusing/upcycling glass jars to package them. There are also eco-friendly, compostable sandwich bags available at stores for affordable prices.}

–Bath tea blend (I bought a bag of homemade bath tea after I gave birth to my first baby, and I loved how relaxing and calming it felt, even amidst the chaos. Bath blends could be great for anytime, but especially when someone needs extra love and self-care. There are some very simple blend ideas online.)

–Eye pillow (These are fairly easy to sew your own)

—Corn bags

—Paper fortune cookies

–“Hugs” (In a recent care package I sent out, I wanted so badly to be able to give hugs, so I cut out small hearts and wrote a “hug” message on each of them. I wrote a separate hug from each member of our family to each member of their family. So for their family of five I had five hearts from each one of our four family members, making 20 hearts total. ” A hug from Mary to Jon”. “A hug from Mary to Natalie” etc. I put them in a small envelope along with everything else.)

–Pajamas. (Something about a well-chosen set of soft pajamas just says comfort and self-care.)

–Ditto with slippers

–A hand-written card (Never underestimate the power of your words, even if those words are, “I don’t know what to say right now.”)

–Artwork (If you love painting or creating, or if you have kids who do, this is a great thing to include.)

–If kids are on the receiving end, it’s always fun to include something extra for them (while being conscious of things like the mess or effort it puts on the parents, the interests of the kids, and the environmental impact).

—Homemade play-dough. (It’s not just for kids. There’s something very relaxing about working with dough, and an adult is probably more likely to try this if it’s sent as a gift.)

–Coloring pages (As above, not just for kids)

Care packages are ultimately about the thought–the care you put into the package and the care you’re sending someone’s way. I try my best to stay away from items that will add more work for the recipient, but, of course, I’ve also got the environmental bug in my ear as well. Hopefully, the recipient will feel the love and thought that went into what’s been sent and know they’re on my heart. What can be better than a surprise package in the mailbox that reminds us that someone cares