I look back on my childhood and thank the stars above. For everything you gave me, but mostly for your love. – Wayne F. Winters, from “Ode to Mom”

Mother’s Day is a great opportunity for us to show our moms (and those who have been “just like a mom”) how we care without having to spend a lot of money on a store-bought gift. After all, moms most appreciate the thought that goes into the gift. So, if you’re feeling crafty and want to show mom how much she means to you, read on!

Simple Mother?s Day card

This is an easy craft that any child can make, using simple materials around the house.

Your supplies:

• Construction paper
• Acrylic paints
• Crayon or marker
• Small paint brush
• Scrap newspaper

Make the card:

1. Fold construction paper in half to create a card that opens.
2. Draw a heart onto the construction paper.
3. Squirt some of the paint onto the newspaper. Have the child dip the tips of his fingers into the paint and press onto construction paper while outlining the heart shape. Use a different color to fill in the heart.
4. Write ?Happy Mother?s Day? on the card with a marker.

**If you want to jazz up the card, spend some time collecting items from around the house (like buttons and beads, pipe cleaners, glitter and even dry beans). Moms always have fabric on hand, too, as well as twine and party supplies. Maybe you can ask Dad to help out. Glue some of the items onto the card to add a decorative, personal touch.
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A bouquet of photo flowers

Mom will love this bouquet of flowers, especially since it will be graced with family photos. These flowers are destined to live long after Mother?s Day.

Your supplies:

• Construction paper, various colors
• Photos
• Glue stick
• Tape
• Scissors
• Green pipe cleaner, one for each flower
• Optional: patterned paper

Make the bouquet:

1. Cut photos into circles to be used as the center of the flower (make sure you have back-up copies of the photos you?re cutting!)
2. Cut flower shapes out of construction paper.
3. Glue the photo to the center of the flower.
4. If you want more decoration, glue your construction paper flower onto the the patterned paper and cut around it, leaving about half an inch for the border.
5. Glue or tape the pipe cleaner to the back of the flower and trim the ends.

Easy Mother?s Day soap

OK, this might be the most fun of all the Mother?s Day crafts – make Mom a bar of soap. It?s really easy to do.

1. Go around the house and chip off pieces of soap throughout.
2. Take the chips, place them in a pot with some water and heat until it begins to melt.
3. Stir the soap while it?s melting.
4. Once it cools slightly and you can handle it, take it out and mold it into whatever shape you desire.
5. Wrap it in some wax paper and tie a ribbon around it. Voila! A new bar of soap just for mom.
6. The key is to blend colors and aromas so use as many different soaps as possible.

These Mother’s Day crafts only scratch the surface of what you can construct using found materials around the house. Don’t let these suggestions limit you – keep searching for items to add to your collection and who knows what you’ll be able to create! For additional ideas on Mother’s Day crafts, you can visit Kids’ Domain or DLTK’s Holiday Activities for Kids. For craft supplies, check out your local craft store or an online site like Sunshine Crafts.Have you looked outside?

Go for a walk; look up, look down. Perhaps you can find some pretty flowers or leaves that you can place in a large book and press for a couple of days. Bougainvillea flowers and fern leafs press exceptionally well. After they are dried and flattened, they will make a uniquely pretty addition to your Mother’s Day card. Once you’ve collected all of your items, sort through them and label each baggie by category.

Assembly:

Sit at a clean table or on the floor and spread out all of your materials. Think of a specific theme you would like to create for your card. Perhaps you will choose “hearts,” “superstar,” “animals,” or “nature” as your theme, depending on the decorations you’ve collected.

Once you’ve decided on a theme, select a material for your card and cut it into an interesting shape. This card may be larger than a store-bought card and can either bend in half, such as in the shape of butterfly wings or a heart that open up to reveal a mirror image, or remain a full-size poster to look more like a picture.

If you use construction paper for your card, you can layer two or three different colored pages and staple or glue them together so that each color is revealed at the edges when they are folded in half.

If you decided to use cardboard, you may decide to create a large picture where the front can be a decorative poster and the back can contain your Mother’s Day message. Consider cutting the cardboard into a large shape, such as that of a flower, tree, or star.

Finishing Touches:

Once you have created the shape of your card or poster, it’s time to decorate it! For a poster, line the edges of the cardboard with a material that can be easily glued down, such as twine or fuzzy pipe cleaners. You can also apply glitter to the edges of your poster. Cut pieces of fabric and glue it to construction paper that has been cut into shapes and glue those shapes to your card. Cover your pressed flowers or leaves with saran wrap and glue, tape or staple these to your poster or card. Now what is missing to complete your Mother’s Day theme? Glue buttons, beans and beads for added color and shine.

Write your message:

On the back of your poster or inside your card, write a thoughtful message to your mom, thanking her for some specific act of kindness you remember from this past year. You can cut words out of a magazine or newspaper to create your message or handwrite it with colorful markers. Be sure to sign and date your card.

These Mother’s Day crafts only scratch the surface of what you can construct using found materials around the house. Don’t let these suggestions limit you – keep searching for items to add to your collection and who knows what you’ll be able to create! For additional ideas on Mother’s Day crafts, you can visit Kids’ Domain or DLTK’s Holiday Activities for Kids. For craft supplies, check out your local craft store or an online site like Sunshine Crafts.