We have been on the warpath lately about homemade gifts, and so far, everybody has risen to the occasion. Since we made our decree, I couldn’t be more thrilled with the results! Yes, it is very difficult, but the gifts have really been amazing. And people have really come up with some amazing ideas, including people who thought they had nothing to offer in the homemade gift arena.

So I wanted to talk about one such gift, my mom’s present to Evie for her birthday. For those of you who do not know my mom, she is somewhat obsessed with the Wizard of Oz (along with the rest of her family…Aunt Emily and Aunt Laurie proved they have no problem reciting the script word for word!) And Evie is no slouch in this arena either, given her love of Wicked and the way she orchestrated a Wizard of Oz play for Oliver’s birthday.

So my mom’s present to Evie was a big box of Wizard of Oz dress up clothes.

Let me tell you why I love this gift.

First off, dress up clothes are infinitely variable, because they allow for unlimited imaginary play. The simpler something is, the more fun you can get out of it; think of how much more opportunity for play a doll offers compared to some super complicated, technologically advanced Barbie playset. With the doll, the sky’s the limit. With the playset, no imagination is required; you can only really play with it in the way it was designed to be played with. Your imagination can be lazy.

But second off, I’m sure one could go out and purchase a “Wizard of Oz dress up set” with outfits and props. But in this case, the items were things my mom already had, things that were handmade or sewn, or things re-purposed from thrift stores. Things were combined in new or different ways (like the Tinman’s painted oil funnel / hat, toy gas can / oil can, and Halloween meat cleaver / ax). It’s very clear that a lot of time and effort were spent putting everything together.

And I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s one of the best times anyone has had putting together a present!

Every homemade gift is so much more charming and special than a simple store purchase!

Of course, the set got some use right away, in an impromptu performance.

Thanks for the thoughtful gift! It’s well appreciated (especially by me!)