Unique DIY Mother’s Day Gift Ideas from Kids

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Activities Tagged With: DIY, Gift Guides, Mother's Day This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Whether you're wanting a unique DIY Mother's Day Gift from your kids, a Mother's Day gift from your toddler, or a lovely easy Mother's Day Gift for grandma, this comprehensive hand-picked list should have you covered! In addition, the gift ideas in this article include personalized DIY to functional DIY gifts for mom this Mother's Day season! Finally, enjoy and having fun making these DIY gifts for the moms in your life!

Unique DIY Mother's Day Gift Ideas from Kids

Cupcake Bath Bombs

Your kids will have tons of fun making these cupcake bath bombs. Mix a bit of baking with gift giving (and bathing!) makes for engaged kids. Furthermore, you can make many variations of these cupcake bath bombs based on favorite scents and colors.

Mother's Day Drawing

I love the simplicity of this activity because, let's be honest, it isn't always doing crafts with kids! Add a little personalized artwork that any mom would truly adore.

DIY Sugar Scrub

Can you sense a theme here? I should send this Mother's Day post to my husband as a hint. I love baths and this sugar scrub would be a perfect addition. Plus, like the DIY bath bomb cupcakes, kids will have a lot of fun making this gift. Above all, you could make the sugar scrub a customized Mother's Day gift by adding favorite colors and scents.

Clay Footprint Ringholder Dish

How sweet is this ring holder? This DIY is the perfect first mother's day gift. There are a few steps involved but this dish is actually quite easy to make. Plus it has a baby's footprints to make it truly personal.

DIY Peaches & Cream Bath Bombs

I can't get enough of these DIY bath bombs. So, I am guessing that the mothers in your life will enjoy them, too. Impressive to make by hand, these bath bombs are the perfect homemade Mother's Day gifts from kids!

Hand Painted Vase

Check out this fun and easy to put together DIY Mother's Day gift. Most of all, your artsy kids will adore making this hand-painted vase!

Pressed Flower Bookmarks

Yes, please. How adorable are these pressed flower bookmarks? Combine nature and crafting to create these stunning bookmarks for the moms in your life.

Creative DIY Mother's Day Gifts with a Nature Theme

This roundup of nature-themed DIY Mother's Day gift has got you covered for the occasion because it contains loads of creative crafting & outdoor learning fun!

Tissue Paper Flower Bracelet

Another craft gem from Buggy & Buddy! In other words, work fine motor skills by creating a tissue paper flower and beaded bracelet.

How to Make an Essential Oil Car Diffuser

I love my DIY essential oil car diffuser. Most importantly, not difficult to make, this diffuser packs a punch with making a car smell lovely & for crafting with kids.

Bottle Cap Keychain

This bottle cap keychain combines a bit of crafting with artwork created by a child. Moreover, this keychain is a wonderful personalized Mother's Day gift from a child.

Craft Stick Flower Pot

I like the gardening idea behind this craft stick flower pot. For instance, you can deliver this post with a planted seed or flower in the soil. Furthermore, this craft stick flower pot could also serve as a functional pencil and pen holder in a mom's home office or the kitchen's command central.

How to Make Your Own Montessori Smelling Bottles

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Montessori, Montessori Lessons Tagged With: DIY, Easy & Inexpensive, Sensorial Lesson, Shelf Work This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I love the beauty of Montessori materials. While I wish I could purchase them all, I can't. Thankfully, there are ways to bring Montessori into the home without breaking the bank. One such way is to make the materials, and Montessori smelling bottles are easy to DIY.

The smelling bottles are a part of the early childhood Montessori Sensorial lesson sequence, focusing on the olfactory sense. Children and adults, alike, can have fun with the smelling jars, and they're easily adaptable for different seasons and themes.

DIY Montessori Smelling Bottles

Making the smelling bottles is pretty straight forward and can be done with items you already have at home. I found our bottles at a local arts supply store, but you can find them in the travel section of your grocery store or online.

For this set of bottles, I used three different extracts we had on-hand. The beauty of these materials, though, is that you can choose your own scents based on the season, themes you're working on, or your child's interests.

Materials:

Small bottles
Cotton balls
Various scents (I used Vanilla, Peppermint and Lemon extracts)

Approach:

To make your own sensory bottles, put a cotton ball into two of the small bottles. Place a few drops of vanilla extract on each cotton ball. Repeat this process with the peppermint and lemon extracts, using two bottles for each scent. It's best to start with only two or three pairs of bottles.

I placed colored sticker dots on the bottom of each the pairs. This builds in control of error to the lesson and allows the child to self-correct as needed.

Once the bottles are ready, it's time to your child to do the work by using a traditional Montessori approach.

Your children will love using these homemade Montessori sensory bottles. Trust me.

Thanks for visiting! I hope that we inspired you.

Marnie

What You’re Missing in Your Home & Classroom

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: DIY, Living This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

The other day I was attempting to make a sign for my garden (you know, one of those adorable “welcome to mama's garden” type signs) and my not so craftiness revealed itself again and again.

but I refuse to give up.

Etsy Will Change Your Life

So, I turn to Etsy, my go to for finding unique items for my home, including my kitchen, my sons' playroom, my sons' bedrooms, and even for unique gifts for friends.

You know Etsy, right?

If you don't, please go visit Etsy right at this instant (but come back). You won't regret.

Etsy does not disappoint.

Here are a few ways I use Etsy in my life to make it more fun and more fabulous!

{Image Source: Mazais Meistars}

Beautiful Learning Materials

Etsy has some of the most unique Montessori Learning Materials I have come across in my search. Be careful with buying main works like the Pink Tower, etc, and use Etsy for creative variations or for supplies in your home or classroom. I also use watercolor clip art for my downloadable learning materials. I also love the Felt Board Story Sets offered on Etsy!

{Image Source: Charlie And Sarah}

Unique Gift Giving

Adorable and simple baby gifts are abundant on Etsy. Check out these sweet wooden toys for infants. I have given this exact set out for gifts several times. This shop is one of my favorites for special occasions like birthdays, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and St. Patrick's Day.

{Image Source: Design House Decor}

Laundry Loving

Spending evening holed up in the laundry room or space in your home is a bit lonely at times. So I chose to make our space cozy and inviting with this adorable, high quality wooden Laundry Room sign. A bit pricey but I love it!

{Image Source: BeIntertwined}

Family Food Affairs

Check out these fantastic Montessori style placemats. My boys love them! I also have unique reusable every day cloth napkins that I purchased from Etsy for fall and summer! I just ordered these cloth napkins for kids! Plus I'm drooling over this vintage wooden sign for my kitchen.

{Image Source: HornsHandmade}

Welcome to Our Home

These wooden signs are an inviting way to greet visitors! I have also ordered wreaths for each season to add an extra special hello.

{Image Source: Janey MacWalls}

Kids' Bedrooms

Light switch plates & outlet covers is a sweet detail to add to a child's space. We also have beautiful decals on their walls to add lots of character (like this adorable mama giraffe & her baby) to their rooms.

{Image Source: Limitation Free}

Kids' Playroom

There are so many cool ways to use Etsy for playroom decor such as fun artwork for the walls! Many prints are digital and super easy to put together for your child's play space. My sons love this Lego Patent poster! We also have a funny wooden sign for the playroom. By the way if you need play space inspiration, check out Fun at Kids with Home's incredible play area!

{Image Source: SeaTreeBee}

Kids' Parties

I love this creative Etsy shop for adding a little awesomeness to my sons' birthday parties. Check out the fun number & initial cake toppers, banners, and cupcake toppers.

I hope you enjoyed these ideas for your home and classroom!

Marnie

Creative DIY Mother’s Day Gifts with a Nature Theme

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Activities Tagged With: DIY, Gift Guides, Mother's Day, Nature This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I am a sucker for Mother's Day! There is no need to spend a lot of money on gifts. Now that I am a mom, I get that! This post gives you several DIY Mother's Day nature-themed gifts with a nature theme to ponder this year.

I have found, vivid memories of waking up early on a Sunday morning. My brother, sister, and I would work hard to make (the worst) breakfast for my mother, ever. She always wore a smile and appreciated the effort. I am laughing now just thinking of it. Mother's Day is special. We celebrate the matriarch of our family. We also celebrate and honor the “moms” in our life that are not biologically related!

Now that I am a mother to three sons, I view Mother's Day as taking a break for myself but also integrating the role a mother plays in a child's life. I tell stories to my son about my mom, their nana, to make the idea of a mother and a mother's role come alive to them. For that reason, I collected several meaningful & creative Mother's Day DIY nature-themed gifts from kids.

DIY Mother's Day Nature Themed Gifts

In my quest to deliver a beautiful Mother's Day gift to my mother and my mother in law from my sons, I gathered amazing ideas from my friends around the internet. I hope you enjoy.

Tissue Paper Votive Holder from Craftulate

Seed Tape from Childhood 101

DIY Mother's Day Flower Pots from Kitchen Floor Crafts

Wildflower Seed Bombs from Mosswood Connections

Nature Weaving from Mosswood Connections

Washi Tape Flower Pots from And Next Comes L

Adorable Garden Markers from Adventure in a Box

Decorate Garden Pots from Mama Smiles

Car Diffuser from Carrots Are Orange

Lavender Bath Salt from Teach Me Mommy

Pot Painting by KC Adventures

Teacup Planter from Crafts on Sea

I hope you enjoyed these ideas! For additional DIY Mother's Day gift ideas, click on this link!

Marnie

DIY Heart Felt Pillows Sewing Activity for Kids

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Activities Tagged With: DIY, Fine Motor Skills, Holidays, Practical Life, Shelf Work, Valentine's Day This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Observing kids sewing has to be one of the coolest experiences as a teacher or a parent. Watching their fingers work those fine motor skills while they actually create something right before their eyes. Sewing is a favorite work of mine in the Montessori classroom. This Valentine Practical Life activity is perfect for February shelves. I hope you enjoy it.

So simple! This Montessori activity is perfect for the month of February Practical Life shelves.

Montessori Valentine Practical Life Activity

Here is how I made my heart felt freshen up pillows!

Sewing Materials

half a piece red felt
sewing needle (TIP: I used a fairly blunt needle and had to really push it through the felt. So, I recommend using a sharper needle or punching holes prior to the child doing the work to assist in the sewing activity.)
cotton balls
essential oil
yarn (of course you can use string, too)

Sewing Approach

Fold the piece of felt in half
Cut out a heart shape
Thread the needle
Tie and anchor knot
Sew 3/4 way around the heart
Place five to ten drops of essential oil onto the cotton balls
Stuff the cotton balls into the heart
Continue sewing up the heart

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. ~ Lao Tzu

This valentine practical life activity is perfect for a parent gift. Place these lovely smelling mini heart pillows in a drawer, hanging in your car, in your car vent, or in your glove compartment.

If you need additional ideas for your February shelves, check out these posts:

Marnie

DIY Puzzles Kids LOVE

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Activities Tagged With: DIY, Holidays, Valentine's Day This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Simple DIY puzzles for kids with a little Valentine theme. Why not throw a little love into your child's learning with these easy to put together puzzles?

Simple DIY Puzzles

I picked up cardboard hearts at Michaels on sale last spring after Valentine's Day. Best sales right after the ‘holiday'.

Honestly, I had visions of creating sight word puzzles but this project took a turn based on what I found in my supply closet and then, best of all, how excited my boys were to piece together my ‘prototype' of these easy DIY Puzzles!

Safari (you know, the company that makes those super cool figurines?) sends us a beautiful catalog every few months or so. The catalog is nicely photographed and there were images that fit these hearts perfectly. You can order one for your own purposes on their website.

So, I chose a few animals I thought would draw my sons into the activity and cut these images out of the catalog. I used a glue stick to paste the image onto the heart. Then I covered the heart with contact paper to make it a bit more sturdy. Finally, I cut the hearts into four or five pieces.

I placed the puzzles pieces in an open container in my sons space. I waited for them to discover the puzzles.

My sons dug into the activity. I thought putting the heart pieces together would be too easy but there was a challenge that I did not expect.

The boys put the puzzles together and ran to find the matching figurines. The puzzles challenged them. They even asked for more.

Thanks for much for letting me into your day! I hope we inspired you even in some small way.

Warmly, Marnie & her boys