Celebrate your leather anniversary with a leathercraft experience for two

Each wedding anniversary is a chance to look back on the time you have shared.

As it comes around each year, many couples may find themselves wondering what to do this time or what present to give.

The third wedding anniversary is known as the leather anniversary.

Leather is not complete on the day you first begin using it. As you handle it in everyday life, its color and sheen gradually deepen, and its character changes with the person who carries it.

The way leather gains character over years of use echoes the way a couple builds a life together.

To mark your leather anniversary, why not do more than give a leather gift and try leathercraft together?

What is the leather anniversary?

The leather anniversary celebrates three years of marriage.

At this stage, you may still feel like newlyweds while living together gradually becomes part of everyday life. The anniversary carries a wish for a relationship that is supple and strong, like leather.

Leather goods such as wallets, key cases, business card holders and bags are popular gifts for this anniversary.

One of the appealing things about small leather goods is that they can be used for years in daily life, rather than simply displayed as keepsakes.

If you would like to make the occasion even more memorable, a leathercraft experience where you make leather items together is another lovely option.

The finished pieces, the time spent choosing the leather and the conversations you share while making them all become part of your anniversary memories.

A good place to start if you have been wanting to try leathercraft

“I’ve wanted to try leathercraft for a while.”

“I’d like to make my own leather goods, but I don’t know where to begin.”

“I’d like to try it once before buying the tools.”

Many people come to Bluno’s workshops with thoughts like these.

Starting leathercraft at home means preparing a range of materials and tools, including leather, thread, needles, fittings and other equipment.

There is also a lot you only discover by trying it yourself: the thickness and softness of leather, how to sew it, or how to attach the fittings.

At our workshops, we provide the materials and tools you need.

We guide beginners through each step, so you can join comfortably even if you have never tried leathercraft before.

Using your leather anniversary as a reason to try the leathercraft you have been curious about can be a lovely way to spend the day.

Taking time to choose your leather together

At Bluno’s workshops, you can make small goods from Italian leather.

The first step is to choose the leather and fittings for your piece.

Quiet brown and greige, rich green and blue, or simple, versatile black—the color you choose makes a big difference to the finished piece.

“Since it’s our leather anniversary, let’s match in the same color.”

“Let’s make the same design, but each choose our favorite color.”

“Let’s pick a color for each other that we wouldn’t normally choose.”

Conversation comes naturally as you look at the leather.

You may feel that, as a couple, you know each other’s tastes well. But choosing together can sometimes reveal an unexpected side of your partner.

Even with the same design, the leather and fittings you choose make each result different. You can match completely, or choose different colors for a more subtle connection.

Making keepsakes that belong to just the two of you

Once you have chosen the leather and thread, it is time to begin.

You may punch stitching holes in the leather, thread a needle and sew by hand, or attach fittings. Enjoy watching the piece gradually take shape as you finish a leather item of your own.

At first, the unfamiliar tasks may feel a little awkward.

But as you continue, your hands get used to the work. As the finished piece comes closer, I think you will begin to feel the particular pleasure of making something.

As you watch each other work,

“That turned out better than we expected.”

“Your color looks lovely, too.”

“How do you sew this part?”

Sharing comments like these is another part of the workshop’s enjoyment.

It is a little different from an ordinary date or meal: time spent in the same place, concentrating on the same activity. A few hours of making things can become a fresh shared memory for a couple.

Finishing the piece is the beginning of its patina

The moment a leather item is finished is not the end.

The Italian leather used in Bluno’s workshops develops a sheen with use, while its color and feel gradually change.

Some people carry it in a pocket, others in a bag; some handle it every day. The way the leather develops depends on how it is used.

Even pieces made on the same day, in the same place, from the same leather may look different from one another a few years later.

How will the leather items you made for your third anniversary have changed by your fifth or tenth?

One of the special pleasures of handmade leather goods is being reminded, each time you see them, of the day you made them and your life together at that time.

Scratches and changes in color also remain as signs of the years spent using them.

You can also make gifts for each other

As well as each making something for yourselves, you can make leather items as gifts for one another.

Choose leather with your partner’s favorite color in mind, then sew each stitch while imagining them using it.

Unlike buying a ready-made item, you can give the time and thought you put into making it along with the gift.

It may be hard to keep the whole thing a surprise, but even keeping your work out of sight for a while and exchanging the finished pieces can make for a fun experience.

A few uneven stitches or small marks are part of the individuality of something handmade.

It is precisely because it is not perfect that it becomes a one-of-a-kind leather anniversary gift.

An anniversary spent making things in Chigasaki

Bluno’s workshops take place at our atelier in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture.

We offer everyday leather goods such as key cases, coin purses, pen cases, book covers and compact wallets.

The workshops are suited to first-time leathercrafters, people who enjoy making things, couples looking for a different kind of date, and partners who want to create a shared memory.

You are welcome not only for your third wedding anniversary, but also for an anniversary of getting together, a birthday, a memory before your wedding, or simply a slightly special day off.

Choose your leather together, work with your hands and complete a piece.

Then let that leather item develop with you in the years ahead.

If you would like to create a memory that remains as something tangible, alongside photographs or a meal, please come to a Bluno leathercraft workshop.

Why not use your leather anniversary as the occasion to try the leathercraft you have always wanted to begin?