Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mother's Day Gifts on A Budget


Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mamas out there!!

A few days ago with Mother’s Day fast approaching I was trying to figure out what I could possibly do with the little girl I babysit for as a project for Mother’s Day.  She’s a little too old to do the whole make a hand print in play dough deal, and a homemade card just wasn’t going to cut it.  I also didn’t want to simply buy a kit at the store and make some generic gift.  So I decided to head to Michael's and let the creative spirit move me.  

            I no sooner walked through the front door of Michael’s when wham, the most wonderful idea for a Mother’s Day present hit me… hand decorated picture frames!  Actually, it quite literally hit me.  I was taking a few of them off the display and one fell and hit me in the face.  These picture frames would be the perfect way to let the little girl be creative and make a gift her  mom, aunt, and grandmother, would love.
 
Now I’m sure you’re thinking that there’s no way picture frames could be budget friendly.  Well let me tell you, these frames only cost $1 each!  They came in three different shapes, but I ultimately chose the ones with a heart shape in the middle because they were for Mother’s Day after all.  Conveniently located next to the frames there were some pretty flower foam shapes which were on sale as well that I thought would cost me around a dollar.  But I figured since we were making 3 frames, $0.33 cents a frame wasn’t a bad deal so I grabbed some.  Well guess how much I paid for the stickers… $0.01!! That’s right, stickers that were once closer to $4, cost me one penny!!  You can’t even get penny candy anymore, so me finding a whole pack of stickers for a penny is like winning the budget lottery.  I also needed a piece of scrapbook paper to serve as the backing for the frame and luckily for me scrapbook paper was on sale that day.  It only cost me $0.20, not too shabby.  We already had the paint to paint the frames, so this project only cost me $3.41, which is perfect for a girl on a budget!!



The next day we spent the afternoon painting and decorating the frames with her mom, her aunt, and her grandmother’s favorite colors and the stickers.  When the paint had dried I had her write their names in permanent marker at the bottom of the frame.  It would be next to impossible for kid to have the brush skills to paint their names onto a frame, heck I even have a hard time painting names sometimes.  She was able to use her imagination and customize the frames however she wanted, something that you can’t do when you buy a premade kit.  I was so happy with the way the frames turned out and what took us an afternoon will give the special women in the little girl’s life a lifetime of memories!
These frames aren’t just for Mother’s Day.  You can make them for any occasion, especially when the frames only cost $1!!!

Here’s how to make them:
1.       Sand the frame to ensure that the edges of the frame are smooth
2.      Prime the frames with white paint and let dry
3.      Paint the frames with whichever color you choose and let dry
4.      Either paint or write with permanent marker the name of the recipient, the occasion, or whatever you choose
5.      Decorate with stickers, foam stickers, or paint a design yourself
6.      Cut out scrapbook or card stock paper to fill the back of the frame
7.      Print out your favorite picture to fill the frame
8.      ENJOY!


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