  | FeatureThe Newlywed YearsKey words for the first years of any relationship are blossoming, adjustment, balance and sturdy formation. Not surprisingly, the gifts traditional of this time reflect the very same qualities.First Anniversary Traditional Gifts: Paper Modern Gifts: Clocks Gemstone: Gold jewelry, pearl or peridot Color: Gold or yellow Flower: Orange blossom or pansy Buy: Board games and puzzles, a calendar, books, stationary, tickets to a concert (or a Lobo women's volleyball game) or a painting from a local artist. Have cherished photographs professionally framed. Buy a fashion wristwatch for your mate or an antique clock you can both enjoy in your home. Make: Arrange a bouquet of paper flowers, or write a love letter on the back of a postcard from somewhere meaningful to you both. Second Anniversary Traditional Gifts: Cotton Modern Gifts: China Gemstone: Garnet Color: Red Flower: Cosmos Buy: Egyptian cotton sheets and pillowcases, organic cotton clothing, a rope hammock, monogrammed handkerchiefs or towels. Make: Dinner (Cantonese perhaps?) served on china plates. Or assemble a basket with Cosmos seeds, a pair of cotton garden gloves and a red terracotta pot. Third Anniversary Traditional Gifts: Leather Modern Gifts: Crystal or glass Gemstone: Pearl or jade Color: White or jade green Flower: Fuchsia Buy: Leather pants. (Just kidding.) How about a journal with leather binding and a new pair of sunglasses? Make: Try your hand at leather work or take a glass-blowing class together. As a continued theme from your second anniversary, fill a basket with Fuchsia seeds, a pair of leather garden gloves and a green terracotta pot. Fourth Anniversary Traditional Gifts: Linen, fruit or flowers Modern Gifts: Appliances Gemstone: Blue topaz or blue zircon Color: Blue or green Flower: Geranium Buy: Sheets, a fruit tree (plant it in your backyard) or an anniversary bouquet of flowers from each previous year of marriage. And get that mint-green KitchenAid mixer she's been hinting about since you first met. Make: Any fruit dish (cold cherry soup or apple-phyllo tarts are surprisingly easy). Offer to do the laundry for a month—or until your next anniversary. Fifth Anniversary Traditional Gifts: Wood Modern Gifts: Silverware Gemstone: Sapphire or pink tourmaline Color: Pink, turquoise or blue (take your pick) Flower: Daisy Buy: Toast each other with port wine, a traditional gift for the Big Five. Buy a Bonsai plant, wooden jigsaw puzzles, a croquet set, a pool or ping-pong table, or a rocking chair. Make: New shelves and drawers for your closets and drawers. Sixth Anniversary Traditional Gifts: Iron or sugar (candy) Modern Gifts: Wood Gemstone: Amethyst or garnet Flower: Calla lilies Buy: Your favorite candies, of course. Also, a good cast-iron skillet (Lodge is one of the most trusted brands around) is a life-long investment that actually increases the iron content of the foods prepared in it by a small amount. Make: Your favorite dessert, especially if you can show it off in your new cast-iron cookware. Seventh Anniversary Traditional Gifts: Wool Modern Gifts: Desk sets Gemstone: Onyx or yellow sapphire Color: Yellow or off-white Flower: Jack-in-the-pulpit, or any wild flower Buy: Desk Set, 1957’s quintessential Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn romantic comedy. Make: A bouquet made from flowers that grow wild around your neighborhood. Knitting a wool scarf would be especially thoughtful of you. Eighth Anniversary Traditional Gifts: Bronze or pottery Modern Gifts: Linens and lace Gemstone: Multicolored tourmaline Flower: Clematis Buy: Sculpture made by a local artist, arrowheads and other antique pieces from the Bronze Age. Make: Build an horno in your backyard. Take a pottery throwing class together, where you can learn to make replacement cups and dishes for the set you acquired when you were first married. (Some of the original pieces are probably broken by now.) Public Comments (1)
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