Master Gift

We were invited to a surprise birthday party for our friend, Master Beef. I wanted to mark the occasion, but what do you get a 65 year old man? Giving women gifts is so much easier, jewelry, candy, flowers, scented lotions, soaps, and perfumes. Lots of ideas.

But at our age, (I'm not that far behind Beef), what does one really need? If you don't have it, you don't want it, and if you want it, you can buy it yourself.  What to do?

Beef has a favorite saying. "Just for today, I will not worry." I worked the saying into a small (4 in. x 4 in.) acrylic spatter painting. The saying is written in green acrylic ink along the horizon line to look like grass in the distance. I chose the small size because I don't know much about his home decor. This way, the painting displayed on a small easel can be placed on a corner of a desk, table, or tucked into a drawer. (-;

I didn't have a gift box, so I ended up making one. I followed instructions for an origami stacking box found in The Michael's Book of Paper Crafts. Again, I wasn't sure if the scrap box had any manly type paper. As it happened, I found a 12 in. square of red and black paper. Both are perfect for Beef. He is a 6th degree Black Belt Master. Red is the color of the Master's gi top, and also the color of the stripes on his black belt. Six narrow, red ribbon "stripes" were glued onto the black belt for rank designation.