Mother's Day Prize Ribbon - DIY

Here is a quick gift for mom to wear to her Mother's Day Celebration...out of a coffee filter!

By dying the natural filter in red food coloring, I was able to layer up a prize ribbon, by adding a few embellishments.

STEPS TO CREATE THE "FLOWER"

First, flatten then soak the filters in red food coloring (some more than others)

I created the "flower" portion of my ribbon my layering one flat dark pink, one lighter pink with curled edges, one natural flower created with a running stitch and decorative running stitch border.

Next layer is a yo-yo with the folds outward and finally a centre button with the folds facing inward.

Sew all the layers together when you add the button.

Once I created the flower I added a special banner for mom.  To create the hanging ribbon portion I used strips of tissue and some hot pink fringe I had hanging around(lower left)

the tissue ribbon was cut in a dove tail (lower right)

 

I used a brooch backing in cardboard to the back of the assembly but you could just as easily use a safety pin.

I basically used the model of prize ribbons I have made for my etsy shop and the one I created in a detailed tutorial for amy power's inspired ideas birthday issue.

It's a fun last minute project to add a little something special to maybe a brunch or tea and you could customize it for a birthday or bridal shower.

I'll see if the girls let me wear it this Sunday ...  I'll probably embarrass them ... as usual

Mother's Day DIY

I've noticed my Mother's Day Wreath has been pinned alot the last couple of weeks and now I know why -  It's May 1st and Mother's Day is just around the corner!  

I've been working on a couple of new DIY's for Mom but I thought I would start the month out with a round up some crafts I've worked on over the last couple of years that would work well as a quick gift for your mom, aunt, best friend or grandma!

1 - Felted Rings - a quick little craft you can do with felt scraps.  

2- Felted Knitting Needle Toppers - if your "mom" knits and you want to try felting these toppers are an easy way to give felting a try

3- Inspiration stones - a personalized paper weight is a very inexpensive, unique gift

4- Mother's Day Wreath - this takes a little bit of time but can come out each May

5- Glittered Tea Cups - I had fun with my friend Tiffany making these cute cups - easy peasy

6- Pastel Pink Cake - I was so proud of how this BHG cake turned out - it would be great for a Mother's Day Tea

7- Sweater Cuff Cup - Most moms like coffee or tea and this would be a cute way to bring them something special Sunday Morning

I can't wait to show you some of things I've been working on.  I have missed crafting and it is a struggle to put stuff together with everything packed up - but I think I will rework my craft storage so I can easily work on an idea when it comes to me.  I definitely feel better making things ... and the sun helps to :)  

Happy May!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

With my mom and daughters, Florida Keys, 2005

Happy Mother's Day, to all the mothers, grandmothers, mother-in-laws, aunts, sisters, godmothers, friends and mentors, in our lives.

  

When I lost my mom, a friend of my dad's passed on the poem Journey of a Mother.  It took me a while to get through it all without weeping.  I won't put it all down here.  This is a link to one version.

The following is the part that touched me the most.  Have a wonderful day!

Your Mother is always with you.

She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the

street, she's the smell of certain foods you remember,

flowers you pick and perfume that she wore, she's

the cool hand on your brow when you're not feeling well,

she's your breath in the air on a cold winter's day.

She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep,

the colors of a rainbow, she is Christmas morning.

Your Mother lives inside your laughter.

And she's crystallized in every tear drop. A mother shows

every emotion ...happiness, sadness, fear, jealousy,

love, hate, anger, helplessness, excitement, joy, sorrow...

and all the while, hoping and praying you will only

know the good feelings in life.

She's the place you came from, your first home,

and she's the map you follow with every step you take.

She's your first love, your first friend, even your first enemy,

but nothing on earth can separate you.

Not time, not space...not even death!

Wrap it up Thursday - Last Minute Mother's Day DIY

You can have all the best intentions but sometimes life gets in the way and you run out of time.  If you might not have much time before this sunday and you want to put together a little something personal, maybe an add-on to a flower arrangement or favorite candy, here are a few suggestions.

Above - I quickly printed out a couple of old photos of the girls.  They would be so sweet on a beautiful pencil or pen but I couldn't find any - so hey - they kind of dress up these plain, old pencils.  Make sure you give yourself some space above the head and below the feet for the pencil holes.

I think I would love to have my family put together a cute package like this and rent my favorite chick flicks with a magazine or two... hint, hint.

This is from Martha Stewart.

If you have a little more time - this sweet vanilla sugar packaged so beautifully would be a lovely thought.

This is a valentine's gift from Somewhere Splendid but could easily be adapted for Mother's Day.

How cute.  A card that even the least creative can add to a special gift and let the "mom" in their life feel special.

This is from How about Orange.  You could use a great color that matches your flowers or whatever gift you are including with it.

In either black and white or color, any mother's desktop would love to have a reminder of the special "child" in their life.  I will pop these onto my desk jar and smile with the memories of my little girls over the years ... and that is all a mom wants anyway.

DIY - Photo Wreath for Mother's Day

I find it hard to celebrate Mother's Day without my mom.   I can remember the first Mother's Day after I had Helana, she was just a couple months old and I was so excited.  Not because it was my first Mother's Day but because I could celebrate my mom both as a mother and as a grandmother.  She was so excited to finally be a grandma, and I finally over that last year, learned to appreciate what it takes to be a mom.  So this year, my fifth mother's day without her, I decided to do a little project that included a little bit of my mom. 

She loved linen and burlap.  I thought about burlap for this but I had all this linen and frankly I figured strips of burlap were going to make a big mess I just didn't feel like cleaning up.  I had a wreath left over from my valentine love note wreath so I thought I would do a version of that for Mother's Day.  Like the love notes - you could customize this wreath each year by adding and replacing photographs.  I just grabbed a bunch of photos from my photoshop folders - but the trick was to easily resize them to make a banner.

I used picmonkey to play around with 10 photos and added artistic frames to some and sepia tones to others.  Then I loaded those pictures into Picassa and made a grid collage with a 5:3 widescreen photo frame.  Each picture measures 2 inches wide and 1 1/4 inches deep.

I started out with an 12 inch diameter styrofoam wreath.

I wrapped the wreath in linen strips that I made from a recycled linen slipcover.

I added a little bit of twine to approximately 1/8 of the wreath or about 5 inches.

A separate piece of paper twine is the basis of the photo banner (27 inches long including ties at each end)

Once I decided on the length, I was able to lay out the photo arrangement.

Details : twine/glue gun/flower corsage

A little dovetail in each photo seemed to fit the banner and once arranged, I glue gunned the pictures in place.

The flowers are made from strips of linen (cream one made from thick, cotton ribbon)

You can find many diy's of rolled fabric flower making on-line including here. (my sparkle)

 I think my mom would have loved this wreath.  She would be so proud of her granddaughters and just amazed how much they have grown up over the past 5 years.

From Picnik to PicMonkey

Picnik is leaving in a few days and I have been stressed out wondering how I would quickly fix up pictures and create collages.  On Friday I found out via Hello Hue that some of the picnic people have started up PicMonkey.  So I began to play around with it.  It is also a dream for newbies like me.  It looks like collage is on its way for this program and that will make it almost perfect.

Helana took this picture of Ali with a new hair band.  Look at all the neat things you can do to the pictures.  The girls are really excited to play around with pics for their tumblrs. 

It let me take this birthday picture of Helana and jazz it up a little.  Very "Florida Keysie"

And a polaroid version of a picture taken by the girls, while Scott had me out on the Jet Ski screaming for dear life.  I just love Ali's expression.  Ah ... sisterly love.

I ended up playing with a few project photographs for a new blog banner.  Not quite there yet but I can't go back.  Maybe that's a good thing.

All these cool effects have me thinking of a mother's day project...hmmm...