Mother's Day: some people hate it, others absolutely love it. Personally, I think this day is nice. Many people often say they appreciate their mother all year round anyway, but is that true? When was the last time you brought your mother flowers? Or told her how wonderfully she manages everything? Especially nowadays, it is important to have fixed dates to work toward. The fact is, there is always a lot to do, and unfortunately things like this get overlooked. Even if many people don't admit it, it is nice to be thought of, and even the smallest gestures make someone happy. And it doesn't always have to be flowers or chocolates. There are really lovely things you can create in just a few steps, and they don't have to be expensive. Children usually already have really, really great ideas here. Let these ideas inspire you, and if it didn't work out this year, make a note of them for next year:
Handmade gifts for Mother's Day
Decorate a picture frame with flowers and leaves
What you’ll need:
- Picture frame
- dried leaves, blossoms, fruit slices or berries
- Sheet of paper, colored or painted, construction paper
- double-sided tape (Or roll up Tixo), or glue
- Scissors
Crafting instructions:
For the pictures, look for beautiful motifs in nature: leaves, clover leaves, blossoms, or even an orange slice or berries. I think that alone is a wonderful task for children. It is lovely to see how attentively they walk through nature and collect things.
Let the found treasures dry well. The best way to do this is to place the blossoms and leaves in large, heavy books a few days beforehand; this makes them nice and flat.
Paint a sheet of paper in the desired color or use ready-made colored construction paper and cut it to the right picture-frame size. Then attach the motif, e.g.: a large dried leaf, to the paper with double-sided tape or glue so that nothing can slip.
Or arrange lots of beautiful blossoms nicely on the paper and glue them on.
Extra tip: Here, you can also simply roll up a piece of Tixo so that it sticks on both sides. To do this, cut off a piece of Tixo, place the sticky side facing outward and stick the ends together well.
After drying, place the whole thing in the picture frame and hang it up or set it up.
From experience: Really great idea and truly lovely to look at. I am delighted with this craft made by my daughter.
Make beautiful cards with children for Mother's Day
What you’ll need:
- construction paper
in bright colors
- scissors, possibly lever paper cutter
- possibly punches or punch set
- craft glue, Uhu Stick
- colorful Feathers
- possibly glitter pens
Instructions:
The construction paper
They can decorate the card according to their own taste. We used glitter in a shaker container, Rhinestones
For children, glitter pens
Extra tip: Cards are especially popular with mothers who do not like having things standing around. Cards can be stored wonderfully in a space-saving way.
From experience: Very sweet idea and also a nice exercise for the children. My children did a really great job.
Stones as markers for the vegetable or herb bed
Does Mom have an herb bed? Or a vegetable bed? Here you can make beautiful and practical markers for the good things. It really is very, very quick:
What you’ll need:
- Stones, rather flat and larger
- Paint; acrylic paint is very suitable here
- possibly Zen Pens
Instructions:
The stones should be nice and large so that long names fit and they remain clearly visible even with rampant growth. Prime the stones in the desired colors or paint them directly with the pattern. You can add nice accents or decorations with Zen Pens.
From experience: My daughter painted beautiful stones for my flower garden just like that, with rainbows or flowers on them. These are also great Zen Pens, as they can also be used to create beautiful patterns. It looks sooo pretty in the garden and flower bed. I think it is a very lovely gift!
Make lanterns from empty pickle jars with children for Mother's Day
What you’ll need:
- washed-out large pickle jar
- colorful transparent paper
- Scissors
- paste
- possibly Glitter
- tea light
Craft instructions for the lantern:
For the lanterns, take empty large pickle jars; they should have as large a diameter as possible so that you can later place the tea light inside.
Now cut the transparent paper into small pieces or even tear it, and glue it to the outside of the glass with the paste. Finally, the glass can be sprinkled with a little glitter – our children love it when it sparkles. Once everything is on the glass, let the lanterns dry. After drying, you can place the tea lights inside and let the colors glow.
These lanterns are quick to make and are very suitable as a small gift to bring along. Our children made this craft in kindergarten, so it is also excellent for younger children.
From experience: I was very happy about it; both children did a really great job. Now we finally have beautiful lighting on the terrace.
Photo album like a friendship book for Mom
A beautiful but somewhat more elaborate craft for Mother's Day is a scrapbook
What you’ll need:
- Scrapbook or photo album
- Paper
- pens
- photos of the children
Instructions:
A truly wonderful gift is a self-designed scrapbook for Mom. To do this, write or print a few questions on a piece of paper and have the children fill them in, or if the children are still too small, simply have the parent fill them in and quote the children. The following lines can be included:
- Name/nickname of the children
- This is what you call me
- I like doing this with Mom/YOU
- Mom's/YOUR best saying
- My best experience with Mom/YOU
- My best vacation with Mom/YOU
- This is what I want to be someday
- I learned this from YOU
- I only enjoy doing this with YOU
- I wish YOU
From experience, I recommend that if the children fill it in themselves, first let them work on slips of paper, as mistakes can happen here. Decorate the completed pages nicely and then simply glue them into the photo album.
If pages in the photo album are left blank, the children can decorate them with photos of the children or with pens or stickers, etc.
It is a really lovely gesture for Mom; you will see, she will melt.
Small garden in a flowerpot for Mother's Day
Does Mom love flowers? Then a small garden in a flowerpot is a lovely idea for Mother's Day.
What you’ll need:
- Large planter box or large bowl
- various flowers
- possibly potting soil
- Decorative items: small figures, signs with sayings, bridge, small chairs, etc.
- Stones
- plastic flowerpot
- Moss
- waterproof pens (Eding)
- possibly glue
Instructions:
For the little garden, my daughter researched everything on her own this year and got the supplies with Dad. I admit, I am super proud. But now for the instructions. For this beautiful tiny garden, you need a container, a flowerpot, where everything fits inside. My daughter chose this elongated flowerpot. The flowers are placed inside with a little potting soil.
She decorated the whole thing with a little house: for this, take an old plastic flowerpot (use one from the flowers), cut out a door, and draw windows with a waterproof pen (e.g. Eding). Moss is placed on the little house, or better, glued on with glue.
Now decorate it nicely; here you can really let your creativity run wild: there are beautiful small things, e.g. for model railways, in toy stores. My daughter bought a bridge and placed it over a full length of small stones. Empty areas were also covered with moss. Figures or small decorative animals bring the little garden to life and add splashes of color. There are also small hearts to stick into the flowerpot.
From experience: Goes down very, very well! I am thrilled! My daughter did a really great job.
Flower lettering made of cardboard for Mom
What you’ll need:
- Boxes
- Stanley knife
- floral foam for flowers (Make sure whether fresh flowers or artificial flowers are being used)
- Glue
- Scissors
- Flowers, fresh or artificial flowers
Instructions:
Make the lettering in 3D from old cardboard boxes; my daughter chose MOM. Cut out the letters with scissors and a Stanley knife; the letters must be rounded and roomy so that the floral foam and the flowers fit inside. Cut the floral foam to size with the Stanley knife so that it fits into the letters. Now insert the flowers into the floral foam. My daughter chose artificial flowers; simply cut the stem to the desired length with scissors and insert it into the foam. If it does not hold very well, it is better to glue it on with glue as well.
From experience: Totally lovely idea! I was very happy about it! My daughter is so creative! My son helped with the crafting.
Make a Mother's Day card with paper flowers
What you’ll need:
- construction paper
- scissors, possibly lever paper cutter
- compass
- toothpick
- possibly punches or punch set
- craft glue, Uhu Stick
- pens
Instructions:
For the flowers, cut out the desired number of circles from the colorful construction paper. A compass can be a good help here. It should be a mixture of circles with a diameter of 3 cm to 5 cm. Draw an inward-leading spiral on the circles and cut along the spiral line with scissors. Using a toothpick, roll the spiral from the outside inward. Glue the ends in place (that is, the center part of the spiral!). Finally, cut out a few green leaves.
Cut out the card from construction paper using scissors or a lever paper cutter. Glue the flowers and leaves onto the card.
Extra info: My daughter also made and decorated a pot out of construction paper, where she wrote a card that can be pulled out.
From experience: Totally sweet idea from my daughter. My son helped diligently with the execution! I was really very happy.
Homemade cookbook with the children's favorite recipes for Mother's Day
What you’ll need:
- Scrapbook or ring binder or cookbook to fill in
- pens
- photos of the children
- Recipes
Instructions:
The children write their favorite recipes on a piece of paper or in a book. They decorate the page and add a photo of themselves. Have the pages bound or glue/file them into a scrapbook.
Extra tip: If you like, you can design any leftover pages with photos from the time spent together.
Make homemade bath salts for Mother's Day
These bath salts are made only with natural ingredients:
What you’ll need:
- coarse-grained sea salt
- dried blossoms (rose or lavender are very suitable) or herbs (lemon balm, chamomile, mallow blossoms, linden blossoms, etc.)
- essential fragrance oils (pure and natural)
- washed-out jar (e.g. jam jar)
- Possibly ribbons for decorating
Instructions:
For the bath salts, transfer the sea salt into the pretty jar and add a few drops of the essential oil. Use 5 to 10 drops here depending on the desired fragrance intensity. Mix everything well so that no lumps are visible and the oil is well distributed. Now add the dried blossoms and/or herbs. Mix everything well again until all blossoms and herbs are evenly distributed in the salt.
Now seal the jar airtight with a well-fitting lid and decorate it. You can attach beautiful ribbons and, of course, small cards here. If you like, you can also write a text on it with a pen, such as “Bath salts”.
From experience: Totally sweet idea from the children, because I really enjoy taking baths!
Decorate a wooden box for Mother's Day
If Mom has a lot of bits and bobs, then this gift is very suitable:
What you’ll need:
- small wooden box (e.g. from Ikea)
- old brooches, large buttons, artificial flowers
- hot glue
Instructions for the decoration:
Glue the brooches or buttons onto the box with hot glue and let them dry. And Mom already has a wonderful one-of-a-kind piece from her loved ones.
Extra tip: If the children are already older, it can be beautifully decorated with Zen Pens gorgeous embellishments.
Make tea bags for Mom yourself
What you’ll need:
- tea filter paper
- embroidery floss
- needle
- Scissors
- Loose tea that Mom likes to drink
Instructions:
First cut a motif out of the tea filter twice: a heart is of course a good choice here, but there are naturally other motifs too, such as a circle, star or triangle, etc. Now thread the embroidery floss onto the needle and sew the 2 filters together with large stitches – leave a small opening, fill the loose tea in here and only then sew it completely shut. Finally, sew in another piece of embroidery floss where you can attach a nice tag, so that you can easily pull the tea bag out of the cup. The tag can either be made from paper or from the tea-filter scraps. Of course, decorate this nicely too.
I hope there are a few ideas here that you would like to recreate. They are all lovely ideas that moms are sure to be happy about. And to all artists: this is not at all about who has the prettiest one or who does it better. What really counts here is that you thought about it and took the time for it.
Homemade bath bombs for Mother's Day
Only natural ingredients are used in this recipe:
What you’ll need:
- 200 g baking soda
- 100 g citric acid (available at Billa or Spar)
- 30 ml vegetable oil, e.g. olive oil
- 50 g cornstarch
- 5-7 drops essential oils
- 1 tsp water
- Food coloring
- dried blossoms (e.g.: roses, lavender, marigold, etc.)
- dried herbs (e.g.: lemon balm, chamomile, etc.)
- optional honey or powdered milk
- possibly metal baking ball molds, or shape with your hands
Instructions:
First mix the baking soda and starch well in a bowl, add the vegetable oil, the essential oils, and the water, and knead into a dough. Finally, add the citric acid and knead it well into the dough. Depending on how many colors are used, portion the mixture.
Add the respective food coloring to these portions and knead well. With liquid colors, use only a few drops and stir quickly, otherwise the reaction between baking soda and citric acid could start prematurely.
First place a few blossoms into the molds, then fill in the dough and press it firmly into the mold. Of course, colors can also be mixed so that layers of other colors can be added here. If using molds, fill the 2nd mold as well and press them together so that these molds can connect. Then remove the ball from the molds and let it harden at room temperature for several days, or place it in the refrigerator for about 5 hours so that it becomes firm.
From experience: Very sweet idea, so relaxation is guaranteed.
Have fun crafting!
Read also: Gifts for Christmas
Photos by Sabine, meinhaushalt.at
