What do you buy for the terribly moderately wealthy man who has everything? TMW James Matthews turned 42 years old last week, and his younger bride Pippa Middleton decided to do something very special for his birthday: CRAFTS. I tend to think that the Middleton women view themselves as very crafty people, like that’s their gift: hostessing, cooking, throwing parties, doing crafts, making things with their hands. While I buy that Carole is good at those things, I don’t think her daughters are very good at it. Like, Carole always did everything for them, so they never learned how to do any of that sh-t properly, which is why they still need Carole to organize their lives. To be fair, Pippa seems more self-sufficient than Kate. Which is probably why Pippa was seen buying a crapload of crafts ahead of TMW James’ birthday.
Newlywed Pippa Middleton must have plenty of time on her hands these days – she’s taken to making her own birthday cards, much to the irritation of fellow shoppers. My spies spotted Pippa stocking up on card-making materials at a branch of Paperchase near her West London home ahead of hedge fund manager husband James’s 42nd birthday.
In fact, Pippa, who had her cocker spaniel Rafa and James’s black labrador in tow, was buying so many items that other shoppers were forced to queue up behind her for ten minutes, while one of the dogs licked at their feet. I hope Pippa took inspiration for James’s birthday from her famously inane party-planning book, in which she gave superb advice.
‘A well-wrapped gift helps express how much thought you’ve put into it,’ she cannily pointed out. ‘And don’t forget to remove the price tag from the gift.’ Genius!
What are your general thoughts on homemade cards and crafts? Like, if it’s a homemade card or craft from a child, of course it’s cool and special and it’s the thought that counts. It’s a homemade card or craft from an adult, they better know what they’re doing. Personally, I hate sugary cards from people – the kind with flowers and poetry leave me cold. If I received a crude, funny, handmade, happy-birthday-jackass card from a friend, I would love it. But let’s be real: that’s not what Pippa was doing. Pippa is a bored housewife to a moderately wealthy man and she spends her time pretending to be crafty.
Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News and Backgrid.
I’ve made homemade cards and I appreciate them when given to me. Someone has made an effort! On another note I read she was expecting.
I saw that too. Don’t know if it’s true.
I gotta say, Mr. bluhare makes me these huge cards with drawings and poetry for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. I have kept every one.
When I say huge, I mean huge. He uses poster board!
You’re a lucky lady bluhare! That’s so romantic and adorable.
That is sweet bluhare. Mr.bluhare gets extra points for good husbanding.
If she was buying a ton of stuff my guess is she is throwing some kind of birthday party and is handmaking the invitations.
I get that pepole are into crafts, but that just isn’t my bag.
My sister is super good with home made cards. She’s also super sarcastic and it comes across in her work.
“other shoppers were forced to queue up behind her for ten minutes, while one of the dogs licked at their feet.”
I’m perfectly content waiting ten minutes if I get to spend it with a friendly dog. Or an unfriendly dog. As long as I have a dog to look at, I’m good.
Same! 🙂
The best gift I received was a basket full of homemade things that I liked. Music , a photo album of our friendship . It was so thought out and special .
I ask our kids to make homemade birthday/Father’s day cards for their dad (they are adults, so they usually make something on the computer). It really means a lot to him, he gets very sentimental.
this made me smile.
I’m glad. My husband lost his parents when he was a child so things like cards and presents from our kids mean a lot to him.
I like hearing about kindness and thoughtfulness in our world. 🙂
I actually prefer something handmade than anything store bought, even if you are Terribly Rich, ehem, Moderately Wealthy.
Modern Calligraphy is very trendy now, and she has all the time in the world to practice and do this kind of things. Probably she is “decorating ” her dining room and making invitations…
I wish I was more crafty and creative. Thank goodness the spawn got their creativity from their late father and not from me or all their school projects would have been sad.
I was just bemoaning to my kids that none of them got my love of arts and craft. I asked my 9 year old if he wanted to take an after school art class. “Why would I do that?” Thankfully they got my husband’s math skills and not mine.
I don’t do cards in general, they often just end up in the trash. I have a ton of cards at home from years and years of birthdays and just random greetings from relatives. It’s a nice thought but … eh. I’m not a card person. Therefore, homemade ones are wasted on me. The only really nice ones are my mom’s. She prints old photographs of the family and buys blank cards to glue them onto. That’s really cute.
Not a card person either. I don’t really see there’s any point in buying them unless it’s an occasion where you won’t see the person in question. What is the point of my giving Mr Sixer a birthday card? Or him giving one to me? It’s just birthday-gone-commercial.
I kinda can see the point in making one – although I also wouldn’t bother! We always got the kids to draw birthday pictures for the other parent or grandparent and stuck them on the fridge door until they were defaced by jammy fingers or some other mishap.
I can do crafts though! Good at crochet and patchwork.
Two or three weeks ago I was visiting my grandmother. She’s 92. My grandfather passed away in 2012. She had hauled a box of stuff out and was going through it, and found a card. My grandfather wasn’t some emotionally open kind of guy. He was very much a reserved kind of guy in a lot of ways – but surprisingly sentimental at the same time. He was a sucker for kids and dogs, but still kind of kept up appearances – he was a WW2 vet, and son of a WW1 vet, and emotional displays weren’t their thing.
Anyway, nan found an anniversary card the other day, and teared up. “I didn’t think your grandfather actually bothered to read these things, but this one was very nice”. And he had put a little additional message in it.
The Mr. and I went out and bought each other anniversary cards this year and put a little message in them. I put them up in a box in the closet for safe keeping. It’s one of those things that are dumb until that’s one of the few things that you have left, I guess. Either way I ended up almost sobbing in the card aisle of the pharmacy.
Funnily enough, my dad brought round my mum’s household accounts ledgers the other week (she died a couple of years ago). And we went through and scanned them all into the cloud for posterity.
Double entry bookkeeping of every penny they spent from 1968! I can tell you what she paid for my school shoes when I was 7.
Loads of things reminded us of times and events doing that and it really was quite emotional. I guess ephemera means more than we realise.
Still not buying cards though. 😉
My mother in law recently passed and when I was cleaning out her secretary I found an old pile of cards and love letters his father had written to her from the army. His father died in 1984 so you can imagine the impact they had on my husband.
Both my sister and an ex-bf got so mad at me when they found out that I threw out (store-bought, not even hand-made) cards and even gift tags. What are you supposed to do with that stuff after awhile? Am I a terrible person for not keeping Christmas gift tags because they use cute nicknames? I’ve moved across the country! What happened to “It’s the thought that counts”?
Well, I hate clutter so I see no problem in disposing of that stuff.
People KEEP them? Gift tags? For how long?
Sixer,
My question exactly! And yet, somehow the question itself marked me as insensitive and unsentimental. I don’t know. I live in cities, I’ve moved a few times, it’s expensive to maintain stuff when you still have the actual feelings attached to the stuff, you know?
Also, the older I get the more I want experiences as gifts, rather than things. I would much rather go do something than open something. I have too much stuff. I’ve already given away a lifetime of stuff.
Tell them you have discovered feng shui and are practicing spiritual de cluttering. I hate clutter so I see no issue with it.
When I moved to the UK I was surprised at how big of a deal card giving is over here. Back home people mostly text or call for any occasion. And the variety of cards you can get that target specific people… step-aunts, foster-nieces, IDEK. And the cringey pre-written poems inside, so you just have to sign your name. It just seems bizarre.
Interesting! That explains my mother who takes cards *very* seriously. She didn’t leave Britain until she was an adult. Me, spending most of my life here, I don’t care about cards. Except for the aforementioned ones from Mr. bluhare.
Same in Russia – people love getting and sending postcards. There’s even a popular thing in Instagram among Russian speaking users to exchange postcards. It’s sweetly old fashioned.
A handmade card is a card that you make by hand. It can be a birthday card or for another occasion. You just make it, put it in an envelope (do not wrap it), write the name of the person whose occasion it is on it and then give it to that person.
#Pippatip
Signing your hand made card with your name will help the happy receiver to identify who bestowed the greetings and well wishes upon him.
#pippatip
Purchasing and affixing a stamp to the envelope is the best way to ensure your postal carrier will deliver your card. Self-adhesive stamps are fast and easy but remember to place them on the envelope, not yourSELF. Self-adhesive is a bit of a misnomer there!
#pippatip
When making a handmade card, it’s helpful to use your actual hands to hold the scissors and/or the pen.
#pippatip
#handmade
#notfootmade
Deedee,
LOL at #notfootmade
2nd picture: “Oh James, you’ve made me fabulously heppy with your millions! I pray it will last and last.”
lol. “May our connubial bliss be very long, like your neck.”
Hahahaha!! Oh my lord that cracked me up!
I started cracking with Pedro45’s self adhesive thing above, and this finally made me caw out loud like a startled chicken.
my best friends and I do homemade cards because we make them super ridiculous and personalized to an insane degree, the are so fun to make and receive!
Where does she work now? Just out of curiosity, since she has stopped writing magazine articles and books.
Slow news day at the DM, I see.
Snore!
I treasure all the cards my little grandson makes for me.
I use all kinds of scrapbooking elements to make handmade cards. I make about 50 of them for Hanukkah and Christmas, and I make them for birthdays and other special occasions too. I DON’T make them for everyone, though, but I do find they’re always appreciated.
Ahh, we haven’t had any Pipster news in a while. All is right with the gossip world again…
I think a handmade card is a lovely idea, it shows a lot of thought and effort went into it.
Beyond that…why does anyone care what she does or doesn’t do?
Pips has quite a life of moneyed leisure. Love how all the other shoppers in line were pissed off at her and her dogs!
She reminds me of Wallis Simpson. There is something pathologically off about that family’s need to be noticed. She is very thirsty and in that way the Middleton family and ” Jackie” Kardashian seek to remain relevant.
So sad really.
Stay tuned for more from them all…
Hm, I don’t get that impression at all. I jaunt read a terrific biography by Anne Sebba “That’s woman” – Wallis, life and personality was nothing like Pippa.
Agreed. Wallis was a pure force of nature. She more complex than all them mixed together.
Doesn’t she have an assistant to do all of that? Most of the Terribly Rich do.
Anyone with cash can buy a gift or card. Homemade is from the heart.
I never know what to get my dad because he has everything. Us siblings team together and take him to dinner at his favourite (super expensive) restaurant.
I’m not at all crafty and I find it very boring. Pippatips looks mannish. Terribly wealthy James seems head over heels in love. Can I confess that I’m jealous of Pippa? She’s settled for life. If (when) they divorce she’ll probably end up with half of his modestly terrible fortune. I’m her age and while I don’t believe I’m made for marriage, I would give anything to catch a wealthy guy. I’m doing ok financially at the moment, but I’m terrified for the future, as I live in a corrupt and unstable country. I’m afraid I won’t be able to take care of my loved ones if something happened to them. My BFF just married a filthy rich Swiss guy after 15 years of struggles and low paying, humiliating jobs. I’m happy she’s safe at last but I’m also a bit envious that she’s finally carefree. So yeah, Pippa’s life, I’d trade places any day.
Yeah, Pippa’s got it going for her. Honestly, who cares if she looks mannish, has no particular talents or incredible career. Middleton women don’t seem to be into that anyway. Pippa got herself a husband who is in love with her and has money. She is in good physical shape. She has access to all the fun events t the very top of the British society and, whatever anyone says about her family, they are very close to one another.
I’m envious of her. In a good way, but I do wish I was as lucky. She never had to struggle for anything in life and probably won’t have to either. She doesn’t even have to deal with strict royal protocol and severe criticism the way her sister does! Not to mention being married to that moody baldy. Yes, Pippa is one lucky gal!
She looks so toughened and brown, like beef jerky in a hat.
Lol! That’s kind of harsh.
They’re “BFFs” with Federer but her cocker spaniel is named Rafa?!
LMAO at “Genius!”
Bless her heart.
My mother started our family on handmade cards only and has kept them all. Years later they are hilarious to pull out at family gatherings. The funniest ones are from one of my sisters who has not one sentimental bone in her body.
We still do it as adults.
I continued this with my family. I am not naturally craftsy but once I had kids I forced myself to enjoy it. We make puppets, knit (my sensitive boy loves this), watercolor, collage and whatever else I can find. So they make cards and usually a little craft gift. I keep them because they are from their hearts and not a generic card that is impersonal.
Now I know why my mother gets misty eyed when she looks at our creations from childhood.
Not a pippa apologist, but I doubt this is a true story as dogs aren’t allowed into paperchase…