Rose Pen Gift

This handmade rose pen is a cherished gift I found on my office desk many years ago.

Rose Pen Gift

If you are a fan of one of those pin your favorite "I can make this" ideas on an online board, it is easy to be seduced into thinking handmade flower gifts have to be complicated, intricate and expensive.

I submit exhibit A, a handmade rose pen gift. I found it a good 6, maybe 7 years ago lying on papers on my work desk.

I used to bring fresh flowers from my garden in for the office coffee room. It was during the craze to decorate pens with silk flowers. I had admired a number of them but not had the time to make one for myself. My first thought was that one of my colleagues may have made this one for me.

As I asked around about who had made it, a colleague friend said several days later that her young daughter had suggested she should make one for me. Her daughter at the time was not very old but she liked to pop into my office when she came by the office after school.

My friend said they had meant to make it at home but time had caught up with the looming holiday so they brought the leftover supplies from another project to the office when she had to work late. She had forgot to check for floral tape. Doesn't this have "not going to come together" written all over it?

I said who was it that said improvisation is the mother of invention, or was it masking tape will do when duct tape is nowhere to be found. Either way, it was not a problem.

This gift was quickly made by wrapping tape around a silk flower and writing pen.

Green floral tape would have finished it nicely but frankly when I look at this tape now, I have fond memories of the little girl who used to visit me on her way to her mother's office. I can also still imagine her carefully wrapping the masking tape around the flower and pen for me.

And look, no need for duct tape, it's still holding up after all of these years!

No floral tape? No problem, any tape will work. No one will see it once it's in a floral vase.

This very simple, inexpensive but thoughtful gift has literally lasted years, keeping me company in two offices and now decorating my little office corner in my kitchen.

So looking for a simple, quick, last minute Valentine's Day gift idea the kids can make and not sure this will work?

Trust me, it will be just fine.

Charlotte