This post is sponsored by Shutterfly. Celebrate mom this Mother’s Day with the perfect customizable photo gift made with Shutterfly.

We love creating art for our home. Check out this modern art piece we recently did or the quirky family portrait the girls painted. Actually, both of those were done solely by my girls. I give them the canvas (or sew it up for them) and let them go to town. I may be the one deciding the color palette, but they are the ones creating the art. There is just something so raw and beautiful with the art kids create. I’ll say it over and over again, kid art is my absolute favorite.

My girls are fortunate to have a lot of ladies lovingly mother them. I am their mom, but both grandmothers care for them with such love, and some of my best friends love them as if they were their own. Mother’s Day isn’t just a day to appreciate bio moms, but all those who love with a mother’s heart … full out with sacrificial joy.

For Mother’s Day gifts, I had the girls create their own abstract art. Each girl was in charge of a color and worked together to paint on poster board. Then, I took a picture of their finished piece of art and uploaded that to Shutterfly.

Once the images were uploaded on Shutterfly, there were so many things we could create. The girls and I had a hard time narrowing down what we wanted to put their art on. There were four people we wanted to make gifts for … two aunties and two grandmothers.

For one gift, we chose the hand drawn wood heart mason jar. This is for their Auntie Linda (who loves Uncle John, hence the L+J). Not only is it a beautiful drinking cup, but it makes a wonderful vase as well. Of course, we wanted to make this a heARTfelt gift, so we made her a design your own pillow with their artwork on it. We cropped the painting to have a specIfic portion of the art appear on the product. For Christmas, we gave her a lot of pillows for her sofa, so we wanted to add another one to her collection.

For another auntie, we chose the design your own candle (in grapefruit blossom scent) and added some of their artwork. I love how modern it turned out!

Every holiday, we always get stuck on what to get the grandparents. They don’t need anything, and they really love their grandchildren, so we always end up giving them some picture of sorts. They love it every time!

For Grammy (my mom), we can’t wait to give her this gold katy necklace with an itty bitty pictures of the girls. It turned out so sweet, so I think I’m going to have to order another for myself. My mom loves lockets and little things that holds pictures, so I knew this would be perfect for her. We also chose the personalized frame and used their art for it. I really love how you can customize so much!

Last, but certainly not least, we chose another photo wood personalized frame for Grandmama (Ben’s mom) and added a message to it. All we need to do is box it up and ship it to Texas.

Looks like we are pretty much all set for Mother’s Day at our house. I think I want to make some cards from their artwork and I am going to frame up their original piece. I think I’m entitled to the original *wink* (though I did order a pillow for myself too!). Once, I find a special spot for those things, I will be sure to share it with you.

I’m kind of addicted to all this customizing; I have some vintage fabric that I want to take a picture of to make into some pillows. The list of home decor things to make from art and photos can go on and on. I’m sure the girls would love to turn their Star Wars drawings into pillows for their room. They would definitely flip over that idea! I better get them drawing to see what else we could come up with. Are you feeling a little customizing obsession growing too?

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We love photo booths over here. Once upon a time, Ben and I seriously considered purchasing a vintage one just to have in our home, but the maintenance stopped us. Thankfully, we go to Palm Springs and the county fair each year, so that’s where we get our photo booth fix in.

I scanned 4 photo booth strips, and used Photoshop to adjust the image to fit the size of the frame I had (I think it’s the largest one of this IKEA frame). Then, I took that file to get made into an engineering print at the local copy shop.

We have a long hallway upstairs that I want turn into a gallery wall of memories, but there was only one framed family picture on display downstairs. Ben had been asking me to put more family pictures up (he appreciates seeing family pictures on the walls displayed in people’s homes), so I thought a little collage of photo booth strips is just what this little wall needed.

We’ve blown up one square of a photo booth strip before, and we have that taped on a wall in our homeschooling room (see that one here). The girls have some things they want to enlarge and make into posters for their room (they are Star Wars and super heroes related), so we aren’t sick of making engineering prints just yet.

Indigo Kimono Jacket

Directions: Fold the fabric in half width-wise, cut out sides in a L-shape to create the sleeve. With the right sides together, sew the L-shape sides. Cut down the middle of one side of the kimono to where the neck would go. Fold that entire length in about 1/4″-1/2″, pin in place and sew.

It went from a shawl/scarf to a kimono-jacket. I know it’s not an exact kimono, but it’s not exactly a jacket, so I say it’s a kimono-jacket. This would make a perfect bathing suit cover up too. I can’t wait to pick up more fabrics like this at the next flea market!

If you can sew a straight line, I think you can sew anything. If you need a little help, my book, Let’s Sew Together, can definitely do the job! Don’t be afraid to give sewing a try.

on me: dress, vintage. sandals, banana republic.

Clay Necklace
inspired by this ceramic necklace

Supplies:
Shape template
Polymer clay, various colors
Rolling pin
Clay tools
Acrylic gold paint
Paintbrush
Leather cording
Parchment paper

Directions:
1. Turn on the oven to 275° F. Pinch off a piece of clay and roll out until about 1/8″ thick. I mixed a pinch of white and blue clay, with tiny bits of pink.

2. Place the template on top of your clay and cut out the shape of your clay necklace piece.

3. Poke holes into the top corners on the clay piece.

4. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and place your clay pieces on to the paper. Bake the pieces in the oven for about 25 minutes, then take out, and allow to cool completely. Once cooled, paint your design onto your clay piece.

5. Cut a 30″ strand of leather cording (or whatever your desired length may be). Insert each end of the cording through each hole, and double knot to secure.

This necklace is simple enough for the kids to make for Mother’s Day. It would also be fun to gather some friends and make this necklace together. Grab a bottle of wine, some cheese and crackers, and call it a girls’ night! I could definitely use of one of those.

Supplies provided as part of the Michaels Makers Series. If you need some additional handmade Mother’s Day gift ideas check out Michaels.com or the other 49 Makers’ ideas on The Glue String for to see how they personalized their crafts!

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You’ve already seen True’s art here, but I had to share the rest of the signs she made. They are taped all over the house and they are so cool! She really loves creating, helping me with craft projects I’m working on, or watching me make something. It’s fun to watch her evolve as a little artist.

We’ve never actually given the girls Easter baskets and this year will be the first time! I’ve typically used these bags, or we did surprise balls one year, so I’m excited about actually giving them baskets. I know Easter is a week away, but if you still need some ideas, I hope these help or you can bookmark them for next year.

I love this mini oval basket from French Baskets (there are so many good ones in this shop!). Shipping is pretty speedy, but you might want to shoot them an email if you do plan to order one in time for Easter.

These two are mini baskets I found at the thrift store. Every time I go, I always keep an eye out for these vintage baskets, so next time, keep your eye out too! Check out this one that is almost exactly like that green one, and this fruit flower one would be adorable for holding Easter goodies.

Of course, African bolga baskets make perfect easter baskets too!

 All these baskets will definitely get more use way past Easter! I’m filling ours with a carrot surprise, this How to Dress a Bunny
doodle book, and Easter eggs with sweet treats.