Homemade Mother's Day Gifts

Paper Clip Bracelet for Mother's Day

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Mothers Day Gift: IOU's

My Mom loved having her feet rubbed and the grandchildren were happy to do that for her while she told them a story. You know what your own mother would enjoy and you can ask your children for ideas. You might be surprised at how well they observe what we like, Little things being done by the people she loves most in the world is what's important.

Happy Mother's Day to Everyone,

Source: This is something we've often used in our family. I've been on the receiving end of a few envelopes myself and I spent every one of those IOUs too. It was such a thoughtful little gift that really wasn't so little in the long run. Nice memories.

By Julia in Boca Raton, FL

Editor's Note: This idea was submitted too late to be posted by Mother's Day but it is a great idea for many people and events.

Flower Pin for Mother's Day

Here is the perfect gift for family and friends, that you can whip up in a matter of minutes. This flower pin is easy to make and they turn out so very beautiful. Everyone will want one.

Approximate Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 20

Supplies:

• 20 small flowers about 3 inches in diameter made from cloth, felt, or sequins. (You can buy these online very cheaply.) ($3.00)
• 20 small ribbon roses that fit the color of your flower ($.50)
• 1 hot glue gun and glue
• 20 3/4 inch pin backs ($.50)

Steps:

1. Gather supplies and open up the pins. Make sure the pin is sitting in the direction you want to put it on the flower with the open side down. Line up the flowers and the rose centers.
2. Apply the rose centers with a touch of hot glue. Repeat until all are finished.
3. Apply the pin backs with a touch of hot glue.
4. Your craft is finished and ready to give to your friends and family.

By gem

Recycled Planters For Mother's Day

To go back a few steps, I took the containers and used my soldering iron to make about 10 holes in the bottom of each container for draining, set them on a tray in the windows in my Sunday School class to have the best growing factor four days before I wrapped the pots for their gift home, I did not water them since I wanted to avoid any mishaps.

I taught 4 year-olds for 16 years, took a break when my youngest graduated HS and then came back on board 7 years later when my youngest granddaughter's 3 yr old class needed a semester teacher. Brought back many hands on teaching lessons of God's world.

By T and T Grandma from Benson MN

Mother's Day Cookies

The cookies were simple sugar cookies cut out in flower shapes and a couple of hearts with my kids names on them. Everyone has a sugar cookie recipe but if you are baking impaired, you could just go to the supermarket and buy cookie dough. Flower shaped cookie cutters can be bought at the dollar store. You could also cover the plate with her favorite store bought cookies.

My kids decorated the cookies with colored sugars and decorator gel for their names. We make our own colored sugars which is pretty simple and they can be stored. It is as simple as sugar and food coloring. Some of the companies that make food coloring have even made neon colors and combine these with the normal colors you can make some really pretty shades of sugar. Find some small jars or plastic bags and but some sugar in and then some food coloring and stir or squish in the bag until well mixed. Now here is my mom's favorite Sugar Cookie recipe:

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups Flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt

Editor's Note: Here is a link to Debra's article with recipes for flavored sugars.

• Mother's Day Tea Basket With Flavored Sugars

By Debra Frick

Egg Carton Flowers

Supplies:

• pipe cleaners
• Styrofoam egg carton
• miscellaneous plastic beads
• tissue paper (optional)
• scissors

Instructions:

1. Cut egg carton apart, keeping (and separating) the bottom circles.
2. Cut tissue paper into squares.
3. Because pipe cleaners are part metal, they have a built-in needle. Push pipe cleaner through base of "flower" cup.
4. Push the decorative paper onto the pipe cleaner also.
5. To finish: place one or a few beads on tip, beads should fit snug. If you only have pony beads, give it extra pipe cleaner, fold over and twist.
6. Adjust cup if desired.
7. Place in a nice vase and give to someone special, mom perhaps? This is an easy craft, and helps to re-use the unrecyclable Styrofoam egg cartons.

By Starchild from Lamoille County, VT

Mother's Day Silk Bouquet

Silk flowers can be bought at Walmart for 88 cents a bunch or at the Dollar store for, you guessed it, $1.00. Look for roses in her favorite color, daisies, lilies and carnations, and don't forget to get some leaves or ferns to fill in around the flowers. You will also need:

• Wire cutters
• A big rubber band
• Floral Tape
• Ribbon

When you get it to where you want it, wrap all the stems with the rubber band. Spread it out because next you will be covering this with floral tape. Floral tape is sticky but it needs to be pulled to release the sticky. So lay the tape at the top and pulling as you go wrap the floral tape around the stems. You can do this twice and as thick as you want. But, believe me, if you are having children do this, they will get it pretty thick themselves. Now help them tie a simple "tying your shoes" type bow around it. Make it more fluffy by using several thicknesses of ribbon.

Hope your Mom loves it. It can be stuck in a vase or handed to her as is. Flowers that live forever and will be there to remind her the next time you break a window that she is your favorite Mom.

By Debra Frick

Homemade Mother's Day E-card

This is a Mother's Day e-card that I created. I took this picture of California poppies in our front yard (aren't they beautiful?) and used Photoshop to add the text.

By sunhat

"Daffodils" in Vases

Supplies:

• 1 plastic communion cup (disposable kind)
• tissue paper scraps
• white construction paper or printer paper
• 1/2 of a green pipe cleaner
• Elmer's glue (watered down)
• paintbrush
• scissors
• hot glue and a glue gun
• 1 danimals drinkable yogurt container
• ribbon
• hot glue and a glue gun

Instructions:

First water down the Elmer's glue in a small container. With your paintbrush "paint" the watered down glue inside the communion cup. Put the ripped up tissue paper on the inside of the cup. Then paint more glue over the tissue paper. This takes about a day to dry.

Then draw the white part of your flower on construction paper or printer paper. I made 10 flowers on each sheet and copied them on my printer to save time. Cut these out.

Cut 1 green pipe cleaner in half. (1 full size pipe cleaner makes 2 flowers) Now you can glue everything together. With your hot glue gun, glue the communion cup onto the center of the white flower. Then glue the "stem" on the back of the flower.

The vase is pretty simple. Just hot glue the ribbon around the middle and make a bow out of a separate piece of ribbon and glue that on the vase.

It's a good idea to put some little rocks in the bottom of your vase so it doesn't tip over easily.

By luv2craft from Normalville, PA

Mother's Day Flower Plate

You will need:

• 2 paper plates
• stencils
• pencil
• Exacto knife or box cutter
• scissors
• tissue paper
• ribbon
• tape
• hot glue and glue gun

Instructions:

1. First lightly draw a design on a paper plate either with stencils or freehand. If you don't have any flower stencils you can print them off the internet at About.com
2. Cut out your design with a box cutter or Exacto knife. It's a good idea to cut out the plate on an old piece of wood. I used an old piece of countertop to cut on.
3. Turn the plate over and tape different colored tissue paper over the holes that were cut out. Scrap tissue paper is fine.
4. Take the second paper plate and cut out the inside circle and tape it over the back of the plate to cover up the tissue paper.
5. Hot glue ribbon on the front and a small piece of ribbon for a hanger.

This project takes about 45 minutes to an hour to finish.

By luv2craft from Normalville, PA

Child's Hand Painting

Mother's Day Vases with Tissue Paper Flowers

Supplies for Vase:

• drinkable yogurt container
• tissue paper
• Elmer's glue (watered down)
• paint brush
• glitter

Directions:

1. Doing a little at a time, paint glue on the yogurt container and stick on ripped up pieces of tissue paper to the container.
2. Then paint on more glue over the tissue paper until you cover the entire vase.
3. I sprinkled on some fine glitter while it was wet to give it some sparkle.

Supplies for Tissue Paper Flowers:

• tissue paper (different colors)
• pipe cleaner (stem)

Directions:

1. Cut the tissue paper about 4 inches wide and 12 inches long. Make sure that all the pieces are the same size.
2. Stack all the paper up (4-6 pieces) and fold in an accordion pleat.
3. Wrap one end of the pipe cleaner around the middle of the tissue paper. Gently separate each layer pulling upwards toward the middle of the flower.

Supplies for Coffee Filter Flowers:

• coffee filters (2 per flower)
• pipe cleaners (stem)
• food coloring

Directions:

By luv2craft from Normalville, PA

Mother's Day Spring Switch Plate

Crafting Time: 15 - 30 minutes

What You Need:

• plastic switch plate cover
• 1/2 a yard of green 1/4 inch ribbon
• 1/2 a yard of pink 3/8 inch ribbon
• scissors
• craft glue
• two small silk flowers, pink and white

Directions:

1. Cut 4 pieces of green ribbon, each about 1 inch wider than the switch plate. Cut 2 pieces of pink ribbon about 1 inch longer that the switch plate.
2. Glue one of the pink pieces vertically to the plate along the left side of the switch opening. Glue two green pieces horizontally across the plate, placing one above the screw hole at the top, and the other below the screw hole at the bottom.
3. Glue the second pink piece vertically to the switch plate to the left side of the first pink piece. Glue the two remaining green pieces horizontally across the plate, placing one above the ribbon at the top and one below the ribbon at the bottom.
4. Glue all ribbon ends around to the back of the switch plate. Trim the ribbon ends at the back of the plate.
5. Glue two small silk flowers to the top of the switch plate where the ribbon colors intersect. Allow all glue to dry.

By Marie from West Dundee, IL

Mother's Day Picture Frame

Mother's Day Flower Pot

Approximate Time:

Supplies:

• fake flowers
• Spanish moss
• dowel
• floral foam
• paper hearts or any item to put on dowel
• pot
• glue

Instructions:

1. Take the foam and push into pot. I used a tin pot, but you can use any kind you want.
2. Glue item of your choosing on to one end of the dowel then push into foam any where you want.
3. Then stick in the flowers. Then glue on the moss on top of the pot. Perfect for mother on her day.

By Sandy from Bluff City, TN