Our 9th Anniversary Gifts to Each Other

We’re back in the time machine again and headed all the way back to 2017. Just short of a decade being married, our last year in single digits was, as always, a special one. Year 9 affords three varied gifting options: Willow and Pottery for the traditional gift while Leather makes its return in the modern category. Check out our perspective on all of the anniversary gift meanings before jumping into our gifts to each other below.

Annie to Jay

Willow

I’ve always thought there was something beautiful about a willow tree. The way its branches swayed in the wind and spread in every direction. This blog process has been so much fun learning the meaning behind all of these awesome gifts. And Willow was no different! Jay likes to “keep things,” but usually they’re all over the house or stuffed down into a drawer somewhere. So I found this incredible wooden keepsake box on Etsy that had an engraved willow tree along with our initials and wedding date. He now proudly stores wedding memories, birthday cards, drawings from the kids, and more in this box on his nightstand.

Pottery

Speaking of kids, pottery was a difficult gift for me to find for Jay. So I expanded beyond just pottery and I bought him a coffee mug that said “No fighting until Daddy has had his coffee.” Years later, all our kids know how to read… but I’m still not sure they’ve got the message!! Either way, it was a fun and simple pottery-adjacent gift that he still uses to this day.

Leather

For modern, a leather gift was tough as we had already visited this category six years earlier. But after some Etsy searching, I found a personalized engraved leather passport case with the message “I haven’t been everywhere yet, but it’s on my list.” Travel has always been important to us and so I thought this would be a nice anniversary gift for Jay.

Jay to Annie

Willow

In the town I grew up in, there was this park with a massive willow tree at the center. I think it was like 100 years old! I have a lot of fond memories as a kid riding my bike around the tree and playing with friends in the fields nearby. So, similar to Annie, it seems I’ve also had an interesting history with willow trees and it was interesting to find it on this list back in 2017! I searched for quite some time for the perfect willow gift – we lived in a townhome at the time so planting a tree was out of the question! I eventually found this store called Willow Tree (how perfect is that?!) that sold beautiful hand-carved and painted figurines specifically for wedding and anniversary gifts. Again, perfect! I bought a figurine of a hugging couple, which has been a focal point of our bedroom dresser ever since.

Pottery

For pottery, there was an art studio in the town that we wanted to move to (and eventually did!) that offered beginner pottery lessons. They had a special date night program based on the movie Ghost. So we worked on our best Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore impressions and hit the clay together! The instructor told us there is a steep learning curve and boy was she right! I’m not sure you could even call what we made “pottery” but it was an incredibly fun night and we made memories together that have lasted far longer than any of the pieces that got thrown in the kiln.

Leather

And lastly for the modern gift of leather. We were in exercise mode together back in 2017 (still are… kind of… off and on, sometimes… aren’t we all!?) and with limited space in our townhome and no local gym nearby, we were confined to whatever workout we could do in our living room while avoiding stepping on Barbies and Legos. So I bought two medicine balls from TRX, which we’ve used together and individually over the years, to get a good home workout in. Workout stuff can be a risky anniversary gift, but it worked out! (get it?)

That wraps up year 9! If you haven’t followed us on Instagram yet please head over there for more anniversary gift options and daily updates. And send us an email if you have any gifts or stories that you want to share with us!