74 Easy DIY Mother's Day Gifts for a Heartfelt Present
You may have graduated from refrigerator art, but she'll still love something special made just for her.
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Whether it's for your mom, grandmother, aunt, or any of the other special woman in your life, you’ll find a thoughtful DIY Mother's Day gift for them here. We’ve rounded up the best gift-worthy crafts from the pages of Country Living as well as creative DIY bloggers. Most are easy enough for beginners, but if you sew, embroider, cross-stitch, draw, bake, or are handy with a toolbox, you’ll find plenty of inspiration here, too.
You can go entirely DIY, or pair one of these heartwarming homemade gifts with a purchased gift (see our ultimate Mother's Day gift guide) for a little something extra. For a small but heartfelt creation, embellish a plain square pillow sham by whipstitching a vintage handkerchief to the front, or fashion a clay trinket dish stamped with a saying she loves. If you’ve got time for a more involved project, try the basket backpack—it's the perfect flower tote or beach bag—or try your hand at a clever string art project that she’ll hang on the wall with pride. Have a mom who loves a sweet treat? Bake up a two-tired cake or cupcakes iced to look like hydrangeas!
Don't have a lot of time? No worries, there are plenty of last-minute DIY Mother’s Day gifts you can easily put together, from simple floral arrangements to a luxurious lavender milk bath to a cute wreath made from vintage seed packets. You can also download and print one of these fun "Do Not Disturb" Mother's Day door hangers or "Best Mom Ever" certificates (hey, printing counts as DIY!). And if you can’t decide on just one, bookmark these projects for later—they all make great DIY gifts for Mom’s birthday too. If you're wondering "What do moms really want for Mother's Day," the answer is anything that shows you care!
More Mother's Day Gift Ideas:
Painted Terra-cotta Pot
Hand-painted flowers add color and help elevate a hardware store terra-cotta pot. Fill with a fern or other favorite plant for a gift Mom can enjoy for years to come.
To make: Use acrylic paint pens to draw and paint flowers on a terra-cotta pot. When dry fill with a fern or an herb.
Date-Carrot Cake
This seasonal favorite, topped with carrot roses, will be right at home on your mother's day brunch menu.
Paper Bouquet
Little hands will love cutting and gluing these paper flowers that Mom will cherish for years to come.
To make: Cut flower petals and centers from bright pastel and white paper. Use hot glue or a glue stick to glue petals together, forming flower shapes. Glue centers on top. Glue green paper straws to the back of each flower for a stem. Shape a piece of brown craft paper into a cone, using tape to hold it together. Tie a rickrack bow around the cone and add a paper tag. Insert flowers into cone.
Hanging Mason Jar Bouquet
Celebrate mom as soon as she opens her door in the morning with a beautiful flower arrangement hung from the bedroom doorknob.
To make: Snugly tie a length of ribbon around the threads of a mason jar (you can add a few dabs of hot glue for added hold, if desired). Fill the jar with water and flowers. Hang around a doorknob.
Handprint Dish Towels
We can guarantee that Mom will find so much joy in using practical gifts, like handprint dishtowels, everyday.
To make: Sew or use fusible bonding web to attach ribbon to the bottom of a flour sack dishtowel. Spread a thin layer of fabric paint, or an acrylic paint mixed with a fabric fixative on a paper plate. Have kids press their hands into the paint and then onto the towel. Iron to fix the paint per the manufacturer's packaging instructions.
SHOP FABRIC PAINT
Celery Root Cards
A lot of moms love flowers and these celery prints give the impression of a classic, roses. Choose a common rose color like yellow or pink, or simply take inspiration from spring and go with blue or green. Either way Mom will be smitten with her DIY flower card.
To make: Cut 2 to 3 inches off the bottom of a head of celery. Pat the cut end dry with a paper towel. Press the cut end on a stamp pad and then onto a blank note card, tapping the root side to help make an even print. When dry, add a sweet greeting.
Painted Wooden Bracelets
Surprise mom with a gift of jewelry that won't break the bank. A few wooden craft bracelets and paint pens are all you need to create something she will be proud to wear.
To make: Use acrylic paint or paint pens to paint designs on wooden bracelets. Finish with a layer of Mod Podge if desired.
Printed Dishtowels
Kids will have fun searching around the house for objects to stamp on dishtowels or napkins that Mom can use on special occasions.
To make: Spread a thin layer of fabric paint, or an acrylic paint mixed with a fabric fixative, on a paper plate. Dip found objects, such as flower-shaped cookie cutters and oversized paper clips, in paint and stamp on dishtowels.
Coffee Filter Poppies
Mom can hold onto the fleeting beauty of poppies this season and into the next with these DIY flowers made from dyed coffee filters. Tip: Make these outside as dye can be quite messy and get into and onto unexpected things.
To make: Dip paper coffee filters in Cherry Red Rit Dye. Lay flat on a cooling rack fitted in a rimmed baking sheet or hang over a drying line. When dry, kink and fold the filters so they have a little movement. Use a dab of hot glue or a glue stick to glue the centers of two filters together to create petal layers. Cut a 6-inch piece of black pipe cleaner and roll into a flat circle; use hot glue to glue to the center of the poppy. Twist three green pipe cleaners together; use hot glue to glue to the back of the poppy. Arrange poppies in bud vases.
Retooled Markers
Kids will love penning the signs for these DIY garden markers made using rusty or wobbly handled garden tools.
To make: Drill a small hole in the wood handles and tie hand-penned wooden tags through the holes with twine. Insert the pointy tips into the soil so the markers stand upright. *Coat wood with clear varnish to protect the handwriting from the elements.
Related: Gifts for Gardeners
Two-Tiered White Velvet Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
For the mom who loves an over-the-top sweet treat this double decker layer cake is just what you need to bake up!
Get the recipe.
Related: Best Mother's Day Cakes
Prettied-Up Pallet
For the mom who loves to garden, the ever-versatile, Pinterest-beloved shipping pallet comes in handy for organizing gardening odds and ends, with the help of a rake head that corrals tools, butcher’s hooks to hold twine, and a mounted enamelware bucket that stores gloves and a hose. Note: Check for the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) logo, which certifies that a pallet has been treated to prevent the spread of insects or plant diseases.
Hygrandgea Cupcakes
For the mom who loves to garden these are the perfect treat to help her celebrate her special day. Give them an extra-special touch with the floral frosting.
Related: Best Mother's Day Desserts
Hand-Stamped Cane Napkins
Make her a set of sunny cane-stamped napkins to brighten her summer table settings.
To make: Create a stamp by cutting out a four-inch square of caning. Brush fabric paint on the front side of the caning, and press caning on an off-white linen napkin. Repeat, lining up the pattern as best you can, until one side of a napkin is fully covered.
Mossy Nest Wreath
Celebrate Mom with a sweet and sophisticated wreath she will love hanging on the front door or over the dining room buffet during the spring and summer months.
To make: Wrap a wire wreath form in ribbon and loop an additional piece around the top for hanging. Attach tart tins, moss, and faux quail eggs with hot-glue.
Cross-Stitch Window Box
Download one of our dozens of free cross-stitch patterns, such as this sweet window box pattern, and stitch up something special for Mom. She'll appreciate the effort you took to make something just for her.
Daisy Napkin Rings
She will think of you every time she sets the table with these sweet DIY napkin rings created from grosgrain ribbon and vintage or new buttons.
To make: For each napkin ring, cut 3/8-inch-wide white grosgrain ribbon into five 3-inch-long pieces; round ends. Glue one piece on top of the next, offsetting as you go to create a flower shape. Glue a yellow button in center and a length of green twine to the back for tying.
DIY Candy Dishes
Serve Mom's favorite candy and cookies on DIY pedestals.
To make: Set decorative plates or shallow bowls on overturned (or upright) footed dishes, candlesticks, or sugar bowls. Use museum wax to hold the pieces together.
Egg Carton Wreath
Made from the common paper egg carton, Mom will love hanging this wreath on a covered door or over the mantel.
To make: Cut individual egg cups from paper egg cartons. Notch and cut decorative edges with scissors. Dye or paint cups desired colors. Attach cups and craft paper leaves to a painted craft ring with hot-glue.
Papier-Mâché Planters
Make a custom papier-mâché planter to hold that beautiful bouquet you plan to gift mom this year.
To make: Blow up a large and a medium balloon. Cover each balloon in papier mâché using white craft paper, leaving bottom quarter to third uncovered and edges rough. Let dry. Pop balloons, and remove. Set a vase inside each, and fill with water and flowers.
Erin Cavoto is the Editorial Assistant at ThePioneerWoman.com, covering food, holidays, home decor, and more.
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