Homemade Mother's Day Gifts

by Joann

“You left your mark on my heart” is such a sweet thing to say, but when it comes to homemade mother’s day gifts, an easy and touching project that you can help your child or children make for their mommy, delivers this message in a slightly backwards way. (Then again, kids do that a lot.)

First off, buy a small block of modeling clay, in a color that mommy likes. Resist temptation for picking something very glittery, shimmery, or marbled, as that would be counterproductive to the end result. Then, use a rolling pin to flatten the clay to a desirable thickness for a pendant, and cut out a heart shape using an Exacto or other small, sharp tool.

If the child is too young to do this neatly or safely, you can have them draw a heart shape, then cut it out neatly yourself and use that as a guide for cutting the clay – that keeps the sharp things in your hands, but still lets them be involved with one more step of this process.

Once you have a heart shape cut out, stamp the child’s index fingerprint deeply and neatly into the clay. (If it doesn’t work well enough, just start over and try again.) Cut or punch out (a narrow stirring-straw is handy here) a small hole from somewhere in the top of the heart, and, when you are satisfied with the overall look of things, bake according to instructions on the clay’s packaging.

Once the pendant has baked and cooled, you can either attach a metal ring or bail for hanging from a real chain, or string the pendant on a thin, coordinating ribbon. If you do the latter, knot the ribbon tightly together against the pendant after stringing it through, so that it ends up falling flat and not twisting when you put the necklace on.

Now, if you have more than one child and fitting their fingerprints on one heart would make for an unwieldy pendant, let each make their own small heart in the same way, and then string them spaced across a whole necklace, like charms.

Kids will love that not only did they help make the present, but no one else could have made one exactly like it. Mommy will love that it’s a sentimental gift which can do more than just sit on a shelf.

If you want to see other terrific money savers, then take a look at these easy homemade gift ideas.