You might find out what her interests are, hobbies, culture etc. Is she interested in nature, decorating, traveling? Start listing some of these and you will get more than enough ideas to fill a page. Also look at the Memory scrapbooking magazine. That one has a ton of good ideas.

what a different blanket! The trim you're referring to, it's the fluffy stuff in the rows in the body of the blanket, right? (as opposed to the trim/binding around the outer edges I mean) Well, if you're frugal enough to hand-sew all the little discs from your blog, you can try your hand at making the trim. You'd have to try a couple dif. ways I think. I'd try something like taking yarn/floss/heavy threads and sandwiching it between a layer of binding, sew it closed, cut in half then you have 2 strips of binding to attach to your project. see reply #241 on this page http://artisanssquare.com/sg/index.php/topic,9709.210.html this looks very similar to what you want, but wow the webpage has some serious popups to contend with. http://www.examiner.com/article/how-to-sew-your-own-trim here's 1 that looks really close to what you're looking to make (I think)-needs a notion http://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/media/products/techniques/brush-loop-fringe.pdf Another that needs a notion http://myownfringemaker.com/faq good luck, please post a finished pic when it's done!

I told DF my plan, and got "the look", which means his mom will probably get offended yet again...whatever. But things change from day to day with her - I'm going to go ahead and just plan a nice meal anyways, and if we need it, great, if not, I'll use the menu for another time. LOL Anita - I *want* to pay to take everyone to lunch ourselves, but my FMIL has a serious problem with the bride & groom paying for lunch on thier wedding day, which is why *she* wants to pay for it (but won't do it in a discrete way, which is why we refused). See the problem here? I can't have each mom make something, because then if one's dish was "more gone" than the other, they would be whining behind our backs (to us, individually) that everyone liked the *other* dish better. I know, it's pathetic, but true. That's why we can't grill either - both dad's grill, and both think they have the "perfect touch", and neither think that *we* should grill ourselves...aye karumba...what a mess. LOL Tally Sue, thank you!! I don't think I'll borrow the cookie cutters, but that is a wonderful idea! I'm going to keep your salad recipes too, because they sound great (esp. the pasta one). That would work with the baked chicken quite nicely (my sis will help, but she can't really cook, so nothing too fancy). Joann's fruit bowl would go nicely with all of those, I think...I'll have to check out that brunch menu. So many options!! Anita, that salmon dish sounds *phenomenal*, but unfortunately, it's hard to find good fish here (we're kind of land-locked). But I'm definately going to look into that... Thanks for all the options, gals!! Cross your fingers that this plan doesn't get nixed too...the rate we're going (everything I suggest seems to get shot down for some reason or other), we'll be having cake, punch, and going our merry way (what a relief *that* would be, eh?). *eyeroll* Whoever thinks a wedding is for the bride & groom is absolutely insane - with ours at least, it's for everyone *but* us, we just draw the line occasionally! LOL

I cherish the *handwritten* recipes I have on scraps of paper, index cards, in letters, etc. You could photocopy them and identify the cook with full name -- and a photo if you have it -- then assemble them, one to a page, in a 'cookbook' with sections for Appetizers, Meats, Desserts, etc. The MOB could add a few lines about the person to each contribution. ("This is Aunt Susie, 1905-2000. She was a good cook. She was married four times, and dogs loved her too!")