Ahhhh Mother’s Day. The inevitable holiday that stresses us all out over what to buy our mothers. Since they are one of the most important people in our lives, we want to get something special. However, if your mom is anything like mine, finding something special is impossible. My mom buys everything she wants, she has everything she wants, and she is always telling me she doesn’t want anything more. Great mom, thanks for making it easy.

To give you a little example of how hard my mom is to buy/make gifts for, I’ll give you a little insight into a past Mother’s Day gift I gave my mom. I had spent hours putting together a scrapbook filled with photos of the two of us, from my birth to the present. She opened the box, pulled out the book and without opening it, said: “Oh this is beautiful.” Then she put it down.

And didn’t pick it back up.

She had about as much use for that scrapbook as if I had given her cans of Spam. Although, to be honest, she would probably find something to make with the Spam. To be fair, I’m sure she eventually looked at the inside of the book when she found time…after she did her spring cleaning, held a garage sale, and then realized no one wanted to buy a book of photos of us. I’m sure she looked at it then. And to pat her on the back a little, if she had made something with that Spam, it would have been delicious. She’s an amazing cook.

I learned my lesson that year, and from that point forward I have always bought my mother’s gifts instead of making them. However, one thing I still make is her cards (because even if she doesn’t look at them, there hasn’t been too much time wasted). Besides, isn’t that what mothers always say anyway, “Just get me a card.” Or, the more cliche, “I don’t need anything besides your love and affection.” Duh mom. You already have that, let’s get a little creative. So for my mother, who is obviously reading this post (or who better be), please come up with a list of goods that you request for next year. Or better yet, get it ready for your birthday.

I don’t like to buy cards when I can make them for free. Especially given that I probably have more decorative/scrapbook paper than Michaels. I made two simple (but VERY time consuming) cards for my mother and B’s mom. I cut out my own heart (the old fashioned way, by folding a paper and cutting out half), and traced it with pencil onto my folded cardstock (I used one 8.5×11, folded it so it’s 5.5in instead of 11, then cut two 4in width cards). Then came the tedious part. I used a needle to punch holes around the heart line, probably about a 1/4 inch apart, or closer. Not all of them were even, so spacing doesn’t matter too much. When I went around the whole heart, I used my eraser and got rid of all pencil lines.

Then I started threading. Just like sewing, in and out between holes (that doesn’t sound good…). I tried to use every hole once, but some were skipped. It’s not too noticeable if you don’t miss two in a row.

Then came the stamp. I’m not a stamper, so I only have a few choices. I thought, “You Are Fabulous” was a good choice, because obviously my mother is fabulous (how would she have created such fabulous offspring if she wasn’t herself?). The card was muy simple, but the effort was destined for at least a small smile on her face. I mean, at least this time she doesn’t have to open it to see the effort.Other than our moms, in our house we have a stepmom and grandmas to make cards for! I wanted to do something a little different for them (can’t have them comparing cards and thinking we made the same one for each of them now can we?). These were SUPER simple, and not tedious at all. As long as you have the ingredients, you can make this card in five minutes or less.

          Ingredients:

White Cardstock

Decorative Cardstock (mine is a floral pattern)

Twine

Some type of embellishment or sticker that can apply

Glue & ScissorsI folded the cardstock in half and cut two four inch wide cards. I then cut the decorative paper to fit on the cardstock, and rounded the corners. Before I glued it down, I tied a piece of twine around it, and completed it with a bow (off centered). Glued it to the cardstock, and added an embellishment. Done and done. Because I didn’t go buy specific ‘Mother’s Day’ embellishments, I just picked any that could relate to the holiday.

Easy, simple, but special cards for special people (my grandma is just as fabulous as my mom). And for the record, I had a bakery deliver my mom’s favorite cake to her for Mother’s Day. So don’t let her tell you all she got was this card. 🙂