Mother's Day Plant Stakes

The drive to come up with something creative to give the grandmas for Mother's Day--that's what led me to wander the aisles at the Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago, waiting for creativity to strike.

We found these wooden flower pokes back by the paint. I figured they would at least be recognizable, no matter how Nick painted them.

 I've also learned my lesson--we only paint outside nowadays. But Nick has really learned how to paint. His strokes aren't terribly even, but he totally got how to use the brush to get paint on the flowers.

My boy also knows his colors--and he had very definite opinions about what colors each flower should be. Nick has learned the names of every color, and he can even differentiate shades. He said he wanted to paint one flower purple, and when I went to open the little paint cup, he shouted, "No, Mommy! Dark purple. Want dark purple!" I limited him to two colors for each flower, or else all of the colors would've melded together into an unattractive shade of brown.

In the end, I think he did a pretty good job. I had to even out some of the gloppy spots, but the painting work was all Nick. Not bad for a 29-month-old.    :)

Inside each flower, I put a picture of Nick that my sister took a few weeks back. The plant stakes turned out very cute--I stuck each plant stake into pots of gorgeous peace lillies that Melissa from Costa Farms sent me, and gave them along with the plant stake and a card that I made using the pictures of Nick painting.

Here's what the final product looked like:

I wasn't sure about the construction paper leaves. I did them for two of the flowers and then skipped it on the rest. I wasn't sure if they were too cheesy, plus I knew they'd fall off. The plant stakes, however, are forever, because I sprayed them with this spray coating that makes them waterproof and fadeproof.

Before I was a mom, choosing Mother's Day gifts was easy--nice card, perhaps a dinner out, flowers and maybe something sweet to eat. I'm not sure why, but since having Nick, I feel the urge to be creative and have him make presents for holidays like Mother's Day. It's tricky to have a kid who is only two make something useful or attractive for an adult, but it can be done, usually with a lot of intervention from me.

Either way, Nick enjoys the process. Soon there will be two boys for me to make creative gifts with--two boys at very different ages. I'll have to be even more creative to make that work.

I think I'm up for the challenge. I've never been afraid of a mess.   ; )