Weekend Projects

Weekend Projects: Leave a Sweet Note Somewhere for Yourself or a Family Member

Written by

Shifrah Combiths
Shifrah Combiths
With five children, Shifrah is learning a thing or two about how to keep a fairly organized and pretty clean house with a grateful heart in a way that leaves plenty of time for the people who matter most. Shifrah grew up in San Francisco, but has come to appreciate smaller town…read more
published Dec 24, 2021
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
I write only when inspiration strikes
Credit: Getty Images/LaylaBird

Apartment Therapy Weekend Projects is a guided program designed to help you get the happy, healthy home you’ve always wanted, one weekend at a time. Sign up now for email updates so you never miss a lesson.

Winter holidays have been hitting differently for a couple years now and, for me, this is the first one in a while filled with more hope than uncertainty. I’d like to think that, moving forward, they will all be tinged with more gratitude and a touch more wisdom, a paring down to the most important things (the people, the love, the togetherness), than they were in that last blissfully naive season of 2019.

This weekend, we’re going to tap into that silver lining. We’re not going to clean or organize or declutter. We’re going to pause and let some of the things in our heart out. Expressing our feelings still isn’t always easy to do in person, but we’re not going to let that stop us from telling the ones we love how we feel about them.

This Weekend: Write a note and leave it somewhere for a loved one (or you!) to find later.

Grab a piece of paper or a notecard — doesn’t have to be anything fancy — and a pen. Write an encouraging or loving sentiment. It could be as simple as a quote or as involved as a letter. Either way, the recipient will feel a squeeze of the heart and a jolt of joy. If you’re having trouble thinking of what to write, a simple “Thank you for _______” or “I love it when you _____” will brighten anyone’s day.

Stick the note in guests’ purses, coat pockets, or a bag of leftovers you’ll send home with them. Or, for members of your own household, you can get even more creative. Hide a note under their pillows, in a book they may read soon, in a desk drawer, or even in their backpacks or laptop bags. Put a note in your bag of coffee beans or bury one in a container of sugar.

Don’t forget about you! Write yourself a note while you’re at it and hide it where you know you’ll find it after you forget about it. This could, again, be in a book or near a refill item that you won’t need for a while.

We all deserve showers and sprinkles of love. This weekend’s project is to spread some. Have fun!

Sorry, this list is no longer accepting subscriptions.

Feel free to subscribe to our other emails.

You can catch up with weekend projects right here. Share your progress with us and others by posting updates and photos on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #atweekendproject.

Remember: This is about improvement, not perfection. Each week you can either choose to work on the assignment we’ve sent you, or tackle another project you’ve been meaning to get to. It’s also completely okay to skip a weekend if you’re busy or not feeling the assignment.