Make Mum’s Cuppa Special on Mother’s Day

Question:
What do you get when you cross some tea bags, a pair of pinking shears, a stapler and your old clothing?

Answer:
A fantastic Mother’s Day gift that will go on giving her warm fuzzies for months.

Here’s how to personalise Mum’s cuppa.

1. Buy a box of Mum’s favourite brand of tea and gently tear the tags off all the bags.
2. Get the kids to do lots of little drawings of a similar size to the tags.
3. Staple the new tags onto the string of each tea bag.

We bought a box of 100 tea bags, so that the treat would last for a few months, however 100 tiny drawings was a bit much to expect of my little artists.

I made up the short-fall by cutting up scraps of clean pretty fabric with pinking shears in Mum’s favourite colour (blue).

My scraps were purposely chosen, from clothing that each of us has worn in the past, to evoke lots of wonderful loving memories.

Tips:

• One thing I have learnt from doing this is that is impossible to put teabags back in their box neatly. So I’d suggest you look into getting a little gift box to scatter yours in.

• If you have problems stapling your tags onto the string, try glue instead. - or just tie the string around a scrap of fabric.

• Ideas for tag materials:
  • scrapbooking paper
  • magazine pictures
  • photos of family members
  • ribbons or woollen bows
  • crochet hearts or flowers
  • beads and buttons

Wishing you all a warm & loving Mother’s Day this year.

Hand~Made Mother’s Day Card

As promised, here is the how~to to go with the lurvely Mother’s Day card I made for my amazing mother.

Just why is she so amazing?

Well, apart from giving birth to moi, she’s the most loving, giving, caring person I’ve ever met. Patient too.

You can tell she is because I made it to adulthood.

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Artist Canvas Keepsake

This is a fun way for your child to create a lovely keepsake for your wall or Grandma’s. If you want to, you can even frame it!

You will need:

• Good quality acrylic paints
• Paint brushes
• Small canvas ~ available from most cheapie stores

What to do:

• Choose a day when your child is relaxed and well-rested, to ensure a good experience for both of you.
• Dress your child in their oldest clothes, so you and they don’t worry about mess (too much, anyway!)
• Set your child up with their canvas, paints and brushes. Have separate containers and brushes for each colour.
• Don’t tell your child how to draw something unless they ask for help. Remember, this is a keepsake to remind you in 10, 20 or 30 years time of their artistic efforts (not yours).
• Once your child says the painting is finished, put it somewhere high & safe to dry.

Other thoughts:

• Before your child begins painting, talk with him or her about what they might like to paint. If they can’t think of anything, talk about things and people whom they know, to give them some ideas.
• If you want to, get out the camera and take some photos of the artist at work.
• 4yr old Mr Bump has gone through phases where he scribbles over nearly-finished work because he gets frustrated. If you think this may happen, then watch carefully, unless you want a blobby tantrum-brown canvas!