Make a Present for Your Mom

The holidays, a birthday or just because you want to let mom know you love her...there are so many times to give your mom a present. But if cash is in short supply, why not make her a gift? How about a personalized picture frame?

Think about what your mom likes. Is she a sports fan? A movie fan? Someone who loves to cook, or go to the beach, or do crafts, or play around with computers? When she has free time, what does she like to do? What kind of magazines does she read? Pick the one thing you think your mom likes best, then start to collect pictures and items that reflect that interest. For a beach loving mom, you might want to collect sea shells, a bag of sand, some pictures of beaches from old magazines or catalogs. For a computer loving mom, find computer ads, old microchips (check with Dad before you take any of those!), or print-out's of source code pages from the Internet. Write, cut out, or print out words that describe what your mom likes to do. For a mom who likes to cook, choose words like "baking", "gourmet", or "dinner." Experiment with different fonts or letter styles and colors. Have Dad or another adult help you buy a picture mat from Wal-Mart, K-mart, Target, or a craft store like Michael's. These come in all kinds of sizes, and are usually under $5.00. Create a collage of Mom's favorite theme on the edges of the mat. Use regular glue, or glue sticks for papers and pictures, and have an adult help you with a glue gun for attaching things like shells, beads, or other heavier decorations. Cover the whole mat edge with decorations. When the decorated frame is dry, find a picture of you and Mom together, or one of Mom doing what she likes best. If you can't find a photo, draw and color a picture of you and Mom doing what she likes to do. Attach the picture to the back of the frame so it shows through. Write your name, and the date on the back of the frame. If you'd like, attach small magnets to the back of the frame so Mom can hang it on the fridge or her office filing cabinet. Or glue a string to the two top corners so she can hang the picture. Wrap up your gift in pretty paper, newspaper, or tissue. Give it to Mom, and watch her smile!

Look around for things Mom loves. Here are a few ideas for different interests: For a sewing mom, sewing needles, bits of fabric, measuring tapes, thimbles, pictures of sewing machines, clothes, fabric or sewing supplies. For an outdoorsy mom, small pine cones, twigs, dried flowers and leaves, tiny rocks, pictures of nature, camping or outdoor gear. For a sports fan mom, symbols of her favorite team, like plastic dolphins for a Dolphins fan, stickers of tigers for a Tigers fan, or toy airplanes for a Jets fan, pictures of the team or players, or pictures of the sports equipment. Be creative! There are all kinds of things to show what your mom likes best! If you have a hard time finding "things", cover your frame with pictures and words that show what she likes.

Ask Dad or another adult before you take objects, or photos to glue onto your frame.Have an adult do all hot gluing. These instructions are only for non-picky mothers. If you mother is generally unappreciative of random things that she didn't specifically ask for (like for example: buying her flowers when she didn't ask for them), don't follow these instructions.