Gifting a Word Collage

Here's a great idea from Tiffany...something that I've never thought of.  Read on...

Recently, my husband celebrated a (rather) milestone birthday and I wanted to commemorate with family and friends - but with everyone around the world, I was stuck.

Then I stumbled upon word collages - what a great gift for a writer to give her husband. And a great way to incorporate love from everyone. I had family and friends send me a word (the total equaled his number of years) to describe him or their relationship with him. He was touched.

Word collages are great for our military spouse life because they are inexpensive, special and unique. Imagine you have a retirement to attend. What do you give the retiree, or the spouse, to commemorate such service - and not spend an arm and a leg? Or spouse club going away parties? Or little morale gifts?

Here are my tips for word collages in the military life:
- Incorporate jargon. You know those silly acronyms and words that somehow become part of our vocabulary. Word collages are a great place to celebrate the weird language we have learned - and the intricacies of a field or specialty.
- Don't forget to include some of the jokes, quotes, rules and overused phrases among the guys or girls in your community. I would avoid anything too offensive, but those slightly off-color jokes can bring back lots of memories.
- If you are commemorating a whole career, make sure you think back to the early days. Were there special schools or trainings? Deployments? Include words from all his or experiences. (You might need a spouse to help with this one!)
- Include a list of duty stations, zip codes or bases in the collage. (My friend made one of all the street names of their former addresses. Too cute.)
- The best word collages have a whole mix of words. Use names of tools, uniforms or equipment. Use verbs regarding tactics or missions. Use commands and lyrics. Use places and addresses. Use adjectives or adverbs to describe certain experiences.

If you want more tips, come on over to my website.  I have lots of ideas!

Have you ever created a word collage? How was it received?

Thanks Tiffanie for the neat idea!