Mother's Day Gift Idea

Here is a simple and inexpensive, yet meaningful, Mother's Day gift for a mother to give to her mother.

It actually didn't cost me anything to make because I used scraps I had around the house, but if I had needed to buy everything, it bet it would have been about 5 dollars to make.  Woo hoo!!

I was inspired by this vinyl sticker I saw and by a MOPS craft I made a few weeks ago, and I thought, hey, I can make a sign for my mom!  I have one child, so I changed the wording to say child instead of children.

Things you'll need:
-a thin sturdy piece of wood cut to 3 3/4 inches by 12 inches.  I used mdf.
-a drill and a small drill bit
-a computer and a printer with color ink
-Microsoft Word
-white school glue
-a piece of 12 x 12 scrapbooking paper in a plain light color like cream
-a paper cutter
-An awl (hole borer)
-18 inches of twine, cord, or ribbon to hang it with.  I used dark brown hemp cord from Walmart.
-Ribbon scraps that coordinate with the sign color, about 16 inches of each


Directions:
1. Go to your local hardware store and pick up a thin but sturdy piece of wood, and have them cut it to size.  You might want to buy a bigger piece of wood and have them cut you a bunch of signs, because you can also make cute Laundry signs, a sign for your husband's mom, etc.

2. When you get home, drill holes in the top corners for hanging with a small drill bit.
3. In Microsoft word, create a new file.  Make the paper size 8.5 by 12 and the orientation horizontal.  Decide what colors you want to use.  My mom's favorite color is blue, so I used dark blue for most of the words and a lighter blue for the words Mom and Grandma.
4. Insert a Word Art, and in it type the main body of the message in a plain font (I used "Bookman Old Style" for the font) but leave three spaces at the beginning so you can make the first letter larger, and leave an empty space where the words Mom and Grandma are going. I used the first style of word art that popped up...it looks like white letters outlined in black.
5. Insert another Word Art and make a fancy first letter.  I used "Edwardian Script ITC" font for my letter T.  Drag it to the right spot.
6. Insert another Word Art and make the word Mom in a fancy script.  I used "Scriptina" for the font.  Drag it to the spot where Mom goes.
7. Insert another Word art and make the word Grandma in the same fancy script you used for Mom.  Drag it to the right spot.
8. Cut your scrapbooking paper so it's 12 by 8.5 so it will fit in your printer.
9. Print out your design. (You might want to print some practice ones first to make sure your design fits onto your board properly.)
10. Use your paper cutter to cut it so it fits onto the board properly.
11. Use white glue to glue the paper to the board.  Don't worry about covering up the holes.  Spread the glue around evenly before pressing the paper onto the glue to avoid bumps.  Flip upside down and press down to adhere the paper well.  DO NOT USE HOT GLUE...it will make ridges in the paper.  I know this because I tried that the first time, then had to rip it off and start over on the other side of the wood!  See that ugly glue and paper residue on the back?!
12.  To open up the hanging holes again, use the awl to poke a tiny hole through the back, then go to the front side and push the awl all the way through the hole.
13. Knot twine or cord and make the hanger the length desired.
14. Use small pieces of different colored ribbon to tie onto the hanging cord to decorate it.
15.Write a personalized message on the back side and be sure to include the year!

That's it!