Crafts For Mother's Day

It is often said that the gifts that mothers cherish the most are the ones that you make yourself. Here are some ideas for inexpensive, home made. The most common traditional crafts include beaded projects, embroidered linen or pillows, wreathes created out of fresh blooms or heart shaped baked goods.

 However before you rush out to an arts and craft supply store make sure you have left yourself enough lead time to complete the project. Traditionally Mother's Day is always celebrated on the second Sunday of every May.

It is simple to make your mother a homemade necklace. Simply buy a cord and beads at a craft store and string a necklace. Try to choose beads that fit into her favorite color scheme.  You can also make your own beads by baking certain kinds of clay or dough in the oven.

One very special mother's day craft that is especially suited for moms who are love to garden is called A Sit-Upon. These are comfortable pieces of cloth that your mother can use to kneel upon while digging into the soil. To make your mother her own Sit-Upon simply cut a piece of flannel or part of an old blanket into a yard by yard square. Cut a matching yard by yard square out of an old white plastic tablecloth. Sew the two pieces together and trim the edges. On the plastic side of the tablecloth write a loving message to your mother. She will secretly thank you every time she saves her knees by laying her Sit-Upon on the ground.

If you are handy with a needle, and believe it or not many men are (so if you are man don't rule this out!) embroidering your mother's initials on a pillowcase or apron is a good idea. Even better is a fun or a traditional phrase such as "Mother Knows Best" embroidered on a tablecloth. One of my mother's favorite gifts that I ever gave to her was a pillowcase with the words "Make Your Own Bed" on it. Of course if you are an expert at embroidery it is also perfectly acceptable to embark on a labor-intensive project involving the traditional roses, daisies and violets that are often a part of embroidery.

Wreathes are also easy-to-make mothers day crafts. All this involves is visiting your local craft store or Wal-Mart to pick up some round or heart shaped Styrofoam backing.  This foam backing will act as the armature for your mother's day floral craft. You then have the option of pinning real or fake flowers (preferably your mother's favorite blooms!) to the armature until no white part of the foam armature is left exposed.  This kind of wreathe can also be decorated with bows and ribbons. You can also buy heart shaped armatures at Wal-Mart and other craft outlets that are made out of twisted ropes of grapevines. These grapevines make a very attractive spine to which you can attach blooms with tiny bits of wire. A nice touch is to buy a foot of broad shiny ribbon and write "I love you Mom" or "Mom of the Year" and fix it across the wreath like a banner.

It is also quite simple to make a candle holder out of a small wreathe and place a scented candle in the middle. Rolling the candle in glitter is also a lovely idea.

      There are several kinds of mother's day crafts for children, but one of the most pleasing and educational of these projects is to color flower petals using food dye. All you do is take a flower (a white flower produces the most dramatic results), cut off the end of the stems and immerse the bottom of the stem in a jar of food coloring. Over the course of day, the flowers will soak up the food coloring and tint the petals the color of the food dye.

      Homemade bookmarks and cards, colored with silver and gold markers, make great mother's day crafts for kids.  Photographs of the kids, pasted on the front of the homemade card personalize this homemade and heartfelt gift. Glue, glitter, crayons, markers, scissors, construction paper and a little imagination is all that is needed to create unique mother's day crafts. A handmade card is always appreciated, whether you are five years old or 40;)