Homemade Present Ideas for Mother's Day
You waited until the last minute to shop for a Mother's Day gift and now the stores are all out of every gift idea you can come up with. Save yourself the frustration of last-minute Mother's Day shopping, while also giving your mother a gift more personal than any store-bought present. Use your creativity to construct a homemade Mother's Day gift she will love, even if you didn't wait until the last minute.
Things You'll Need
- Mason jar
- Epsom salts
- Bowl
- Food coloring
- Essential oil
- Spoon
- Ribbon
- Scissors
- Small candy tin such as an Altoids tin
- Tailor's chalk
- Felt
- Hot glue gun
- Hand sewing needles
- Thread
- Thimble
- Folding scissors
- Buttons
- Straight pins
- Fabric scraps
- Ruler
- Needle
- Pin back
- Two 3-by-18-inch pieces of flannel
- Sewing machine
- Uncooked non-instant rice
- Measuring cup
- Paper
- Pen
Instructions
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Bath Salts
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1
Fill a mason jar with Epsom salts. Dump the salt into a bowl.
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2
Add a few drops of food coloring and a few drops of essential oil to the Epsom salts. Stir the mixture together well.
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3
Pour the bath salts back into the mason jar. Screw on the lid of the jar.
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4
Tie a length of ribbon around the lid of the jar in a bow. Trim the tails of the bow at a 45-degree angle.
Travel Sewing Kit
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5
Trace the bottom and top of a small candy tin onto a piece of felt with tailor's chalk. Cut the tracings out.
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6
Attach the felt pieces to the inside of the top and bottom of the tin with hot glue. Let the glue cool for five minutes.
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7
Fill the felt-lined tin with hand sewing needles, thread, a thimble, folding scissors, buttons and straight pins.
Flower Brooch
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8
Measure and cut a 3-by-36-inch, a 1-by-12-inch and a 2-by-18-inch strip of fabric. Fold the fabric strips in half lengthwise.
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9
Sew a running stitch along the folded edge of the fabric strip. Pull the thread of the running stitch to gather the fabric. Do this with all three strips.
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10
Coil the gathered fabric, tightly at first and then more loosely to form a flower. Secure the layers of the coil with a few stitches as you go.
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11
Use hot glue to attach the fabric flowers to felt with a dot of hot glue. Trim the felt around the flowers so it isn't visible when you look straight down at the flowers.
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12
Attach a blank pin back to the back of the felt to complete the fabric flower brooch.
Heating Pad
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13
Put the two pieces of flannel together with the right sides facing each other. Sew them together along both 18-inch edges and one 3-inch edge with a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Turn the piece right side out through the open 3-inch edge.
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14
Measure and pour 4 cups of uncooked non-instant rice into the heating pad. Shake the rice down to the closed 3-inch edge.
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15
Fold the raw edges of the 3-inch edge in a 1/2-inch. Slip stitch the opening closed with needle and thread.
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16
Include a small note with the gift telling your mother to heat the pad for 1 1/2 minutes in the microwave to heat it up. The heating pad will last 20 to 30 minutes before it needs to be microwaved again.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Add a few drops of essential oil to the rice before filling the homemade heating pad to make it scented. Choose a relaxing scent, such as lavender, to increase the relaxing qualities of the gift.