My husband’s birthday was approaching, & I didn’t know what to get him… He always says that I don’t need to get him anything. This is probably true, & I know that he doesn’t want our hard earned money spent on himself (even though he deserves some spoiling every now & then).

So I headed off to the internet to see what I could find.

I googled the usual phrases, “gifts for husband”, “gift ideas for men”, “gift ideas for fathers”, “best birthday gifts”, etc… Eventually I found exactly what I was looking for, & I didn’t have to spend a dime! Someone had the idea of making a Birthday video compiled of friends & family wishing the person a happy birthday. This would have been so difficult even a few years ago, but with today’s smartphone technology it was a breeze!

I asked friends & family to take a short video of themselves wishing Marcello a Happy Birthday and/or share some favorite memory of him. Many of his friends & family live in a different state so this was a great way for them to share in his birthday. I also knew that he would love it since his Love Language is Words of Affirmation.

People were able to email, text, or send me videos via Dropbox, & I was able to easily compile a video montage using iMovie on my iPhone. I even found a song titled “Oh Marcello” by Regina Spektor that I was able to use at the beginning of the video! The finished product was over 20 minutes long, & I was able to copy it to our Tivo for a birthday viewing party 🙂

He was totally shocked & loved every minute of it (who doesn’t love hearing from loved ones?)