Friday 13 March 2015

Last minute Mother's Day gifts


Mother's Day is bittersweet for me.

When my son was born we did a lot of family gatherings to include the Grandmother's in the celebrations. I got a little frustrated as time went by as I never really felt honoured on that day. Some times I think it was down to me not truly feeling like a Mother, and then there was this feeling that the only important people to celebrate were the Grandmother's.

Things changed and I started to feel more celebrated as a Mother. Life was good and we still honoured the Grandmothers with gifts from us and our son.

Then that all changed when my Mum passed away. It was shocking, horrible and the biggest loss of my life. I miss her terribly, we were a unique team and she was my biggest supporter. I miss her warmth, her chats on the phone, her love for my son, and laughing with her about times gone by. Mother's Day just isn't the same anymore. However, my son still has a Grandmother who loves him very much so we honour her with gifts from all of us. You would have seen the Mother's Day Planter that my son made for his Grandmother. It was still fun to help him with that, to nurture his creative side and to see the pride in his face from a job well done!

My family honour me greatly on Mother's Day and totally make the day all about me. I take great pleasure in that and focus on their love rather than feel sad on that day.

As my son loves to make gifts almost as much as I do, I thought I would share some easy gifts to make in case you are still lacking inspiration this close to Sunday! A homemade gift is such a special treat.

HEART HANGERS


These little hearts are a great way to say 'I love you' to Mums and Grandmothers! The first is made out of wood, painted in a bright colour, with the initial of the recipient. I showed how I made this in this Little heart hangers post.
The second is a plain fabric heart I picked up at a craft store (though you could sew your own), which I then glued flower sequins to and embroidered the word 'Love' in the middle. You could embroider the name of the recipient, or simply 'Mum'.


HEART CUSHION

If you prefer to work on a larger scale, you could make this heart cushion. This is totally no sew, so perfect for those of you, like me, who have trouble sewing on a button, let alone anything else!

I purchased 2 different coloured fleece blankets from Tiger (there's that store again!) and made a heart template out of paper. I then traced the heart onto both pieces of fleece and cut it out. I laid the 2 pieces of fleece over one another and pinned in place. I took my fabric scissors and cut a fringe into the edge all around the heart shapes. Once that was done I began knotting the 2 coloured fringes together. Leave a small area unknotted so that you can fill with stuffing before completely knotting up. This is so easy!


RESIN FLOWER EARRINGS

These flower earrings are by far the easiest 'craft' on here! I purchased a pack of resin flowers from Hobbycraft along with earring backs.



I used hot glue to glue the earring backs in place on the resin flowers. Boom! Job done! Easy, yet unique earrings!

ARM KNITTED SCARF


I am not a knitter, and I am currently learning how to crochet (with very mixed results!). I knew I wanted to have a go at something knitted and I had seen these arm knitted scarves all over Pinterest. After studying a few videos and not getting it AT ALL, I almost gave up, until I found Flax and Twine and her brilliant picture tutorial! It all just fell into place and I was able to whip up a scarf in about 45 minutes!  I was able to make 2 scarves from 2 balls of wool. Have a look at the tutorial here. I have even used it to start an arm blanket. I am not quite finished with it but hope to have it on the blog soon.

PERSONALISED NOTEBOOK

If your Mum or Grandmother loves writing, or uses notebooks on a regular basis, then how about a personally decorated notebook, just for her?

All you will need is a plain note book (yes this one is from Tiger!), some decopatch paper, PVA glue, paintbrush, small piece of ribbon and any other embellishments you fancy.


Start by measuring out your paper, leaving enough to wrap around the inside of the books cover. Take some glue and cover the back of your paper. Apply this to the front of the book and leave to dry. This can get creased but I have read that it is best to leave it to dry rather than try and smooth out the creases. I did try this and it worked for the majority of the paper.


Cut into the corners of the paper so that it can be folded over to the inside of the book. Glue down. I then took a piece of plain card and measured it to fit inside the book. I glued decopatch paper to this card and left it to dry. Next I took a small piece of ribbon, and cut 2 matching lengths,enough to allow it to be tied in a bow. I glued this down in the middle of the inside of the book. I then took the piece of card and glued it into place over the ribbon and edges of the front cover. I then did the exact same thing with the back of the book.


The book can now be tied together with the ribbon to stop it opening up inside a bag. I finished off the book with a little wooden heart.

I left the spine clear to allow easier application of the paper. Plus as the book was white and the dots are white it complements the design well.

There you have it! Any of these can be made before Sunday in no time at all.

I hope you enjoy Mother's Day, either as the Mum, Grandmother or the child.


















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