How to Create Religious Mother's Day Crafts

Delight your mother with a homemade Mother's Day craft reflecting her religious faith. Mother's Day is a particularly appropriate holiday to observe with a homemade religious craft. The celebration falls on a Sunday, which is many faiths' Sabbath or day of observance. Also, a handcrafted gift will likely hold much significance to your mother, who may keep the gift for years. Both young and old can make a craft, and its creation can require great or little skill, depending on the age of the giver.

Things You'll Need

• Letter-stamped beads, spacer beads, possibly in the shape of a religious symbol such as a cross, star or heart
• Elastic string or other stretchy material to make necklaces or bracelets
• Shadowbox
• Simple photo album
• Printer
• Card stock in various colors
• Markers, crayons or colored pencils
• Tape
• Scissors or die-cut machine
• Craft or Popsicle sticks
• Small (1 ½-inch to 4-inch) flower pot
• Craft pipe cleaners
• Dry beans
• Green tissue paper or plastic wrap
• Frame

Instructions

Religious jewelry

1. Look for religious Mother's Day quotes, lines of poetry and scripture references that could be used to fashion a necklace or bracelet. For example, you could spell out the Jewish Proverb "God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers." Another option is William Makepeace Thackeray's "Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children." You could go with a simpler option for young children, such as "MOTHER."

2. Spell out the quote or word, using letter-stamped beads, with the words or letters divided by spacer beads or beads in the shape of or stamped with a religious symbol such as a cross, heart or the crescent moon and star.

3. String the beads onto your string or other material. If this is your first time making beaded jewelry, expect trial and error, as you may have to start over a few times.

4. Tie off the ends, and seal with a drop of glue.

Shadow box

1. Create a shadow box or simple photo album using Herbert Farmham's poem "God's Masterpiece is Mother" or another religious Mother's Day poem. You can easily find options online.

2. Draw a picture of or collect items mentioned in the poem, such as a flower or a tree. You also could take pictures of the sea or a starry night, for examples.

3. Print up or write out a copy of the poem, and compile the poem, pictures and items into a shadowbox, or a simple photo album if the collection contains only pictures.

Bouquet of Thanks

1. Scissor cut or die-cut flowers out of colorful card stock.

2. Write a one- or two-word sentiment on each flower regarding something your mother does for which you are thankful: loves me, makes muffins, folds clothes, paints toenails, plays ball, for examples. Be specific.

3. Tape each flower to a clean craft or Popsicle stick.

4. Place in a flower pot filled with dry beans or craft foam.

5. Wrap the pot with green plastic wrap or tissue paper and secure with tape or pipe cleaner.

Handmade Cards

1. Look for handmade card templates online, or create your own with stickers, glue, markers, and sturdy paper.

2. Consider what religious symbols to incorporate, whether your mother would prefer a heart, angel, rose, flower, or another icon.

3. Consider providing a shadowbox or a frame that could hold several cards from over the years.

Tips & Warnings

• For the jewelry craft, it is wise when stringing beaded jewelry to lay out your words first, interspersed with spacer beads, before threading them so you can see how long the jewelry will be. Longer passages would obviously work best on a necklace.

• For the bouquet of thanks craft, an option could be gluing a picture of the mother's children in the center of each flower. Also, this project could be used for a large group of Sunday school children as a surprise for their mothers.

• Regarding handmade cards, paper artist Robert Sabuda has created simple-to-make pop-up cards using card stock or construction paper, glue, scissors, and other easy-to-find craft supplies. Print-outs and directions can be found at robertsabuda.com/popmakesimple.asp.

• For all handmade gifts, keep in mind whether your mother would prefer something consumable or a gift to keep. Although crafts can be inexpensive to make, mothers may hold onto the memento forever. If the gift is meant to be kept, consider providing an appropriately-sized frame or keepsake box.

References

• Religious crafts
• Printable handmade cards
• Mother's Day Crafts