Grandma's 1st Mother's Day is special too!

I'm a very sentimental person. Especially now that my daughter is here; each time an important Holiday or milestone comes around I try to come up with unique ways to celebrate it, or family traditions that I can start. (Check out my Valentine's Day family mailboxes)

So it wasn't lost on me that this Mother's Day is going to be a very important day for my Mom as well!

I browsed around the internet for a few hours, not wanting to send just the typical flowers or chocolates and a card. First I was going to order *this snowglobe*. But once I added the personal message it came out to around $100!

Then I found this poem online, the blog I found it on couldn't find the original source either :( I would love to give them credit though!

Now That I’m A Mother

Until I became a mother,
I did not understand,
The profound sense of love
In a mother’s heart and hands.
As I whisper, “Mommy loves you”,
I rock my precious child to sleep.
Small perfection in my arms,
Sweet breaths, slow and deep.
I now see me as a baby,
You’re rocking me to sleep.
You whisper, “Mommy loves you”,
My heart is yours to keep.
At last I recognize your love,
As a mother now I see.
As I hold and love my child,
You feel that love for me.
I will always be your baby,
Despite the years that pass.
You have given me my life,
And a mother’s heart to last.
The greatest gift I can offer,
More than words could ever say,
Is to give my child the love,
You gave me every day.

I started bawling my eyes out at my desk at work & knew instantly I was going to use this poem. Sending the poem over to my husband produced a similar reaction. The only problem was, I couldn't find anything big enough to fit the whole poem! Until I came across *this photo plaque*. The only problem was that the reviews said the final product arrived very faded and hard to read. I figured I could do the same thing myself, print it out, and frame it! So here is what I came up with:

I'm going to put it in a very simple black & white frame like this one. I think it will be GORGEOUS!

Malden Linear Wood Matted 8-By-10 Black Picture Frame

I'm going to make a Spanish version for my mother-in-law as well with her favorite picture of my daughter and probably one of my husband as a baby as well to tie it together a little more.

Hmm I think I like the Spanish one better! lol

Anyone who stumbles across this blog is more than welcome to download this image to their computer and use it for their own mom! (If you click on the photo it will open up much bigger) All you have to do is open it in Paint and copy in your own photo to cover mine! And change the name at the bottom of course.

Print it out, frame it, wrap it, gift it ... and watch the happy crying ensue!! (Not to mention it's a very frugal gift too!)

You're welcome!

Linking up with these fantastic link parties:
Watch Out Martha Mondays @ Watch Out Martha
Bedazzle Me Mondays @ Everything Under The Moon
Meet Me Mondays @ You Are Talking Too Much Chic & Crafty Thursdays @ Frugal Girls

DIY Project - Family Valentine's Day Boxes

Family Valentine's Day Boxes

Any time a holiday approaches I usually procrastinate up until the very last minute, don't end up making any plans at all, and then scramble to find something to do.  Now that Mia is here, I know I need to plan better and work on creating family traditions & rituals for her.  Some of my very best memories from my childhood are the holiday traditions we had, especially those around Christmastime.  

So with Valentine's Day approaching quickly, I turned to every mom's best friend - Google - for help.  At first I wasn't finding much - just the usual traditions of baking Valentine's Day cookies or passing out Valentine's Cards to the entire classroom.  Then I came across the idea of a box for Valentine's Day cards for each family member.  I took this idea and ran with it.  

The basic concept is that each family member writes little Valentine's to the others and delivers them into the boxes.  If your child is too young to write, you can write for them!  So for example - "Mia" writes to her Daddy - "I love it when we have bath time and splash together"

Working on very little time I dragged the husband to Micheal's and grabbed 3 basic photo boxes - one for each of us.  I must admit they are not my favorite (for example I don't particularly like the color yellow - and I would have preferred a pink box for Mia) but I knew that if I waited to find the perfect box, it would never get done.  I didn't have much time so I just picked up some basic scrap-booking stickers - one sheet for Mom, one sheet for Dad, and two sheets for Mia because, well, little baby stickers are just sooo cute!  I decorated only the front part of Mia's box and I plan on putting her handprint & footprint on the front.  Each Valentine's Day I will help her decorate another section of the box.  As she gets older the box itself will be a beautiful keepsake of her life & all her favorite things: the scrawled-with-crayon version of her signature at age 4; the Barbies she will become obsessed with at age 5; the dinosaurs she will discover at age 6.  I'm not sure if she will still care about it once she reaches her teen years, but who knows, maybe it will end up plastered with the smiling face of the Justin Bieber of 2025.  And when my other children come along I can easily dash out to Micheal's and get them a box too for their first Valentine's Day. 

Then somewhere along the way I realized these boxes will be perfect for a while lot more than just Valentine's Day!   Visions of beautifully decorated & customized boxes to be pulled out several times a year at each Holiday danced around in my head.  These little boxes would be perfect for delivering & keeping all kinds of cards & letters to eachother.  Mother's Day cards, school pictures, scribbled drawings, anniversary cards, Christmas letters, and more!  When she brings home a macaroni art creation - into Mommy's box it will go.  When she wants to make a Father's Day card with crayons & glitter - it will be lovingly delivered right to Daddy's box.  And when I continue my mom's loving tradition of putting little postcards with handwritten notes on them into my Kindergarten lunchbox - hopefully she will want to hang on to those in her box as well! 

By the time she is 18 all of our boxes will hopefully be bursting to the brim with important treasures.  And her Daddy & I can use them too!  For our letters & cards to eachother over the years.  Who among us has all of these treasures but looses track of them after awhile?  Do you know where all of your cards are?  I bet they aren't stored in anything as cute as this!

*Pictures Coming Soon!*

Linking up with these fantastic link parties:
Motivated Mondays @ Be Colorful