A Heart Felt Gift: Mother’s Day DIY

When children are small, it is often hard for them to create gifts independently that don’t look, well—bad. Of course, as mothers we graciously, and with dramatic adoration, accept any handmade present from our children.  However, today I want to share with you a project that is not only easy for them to make but also turns out beautifully! They could make this gift for any special person in their lives, but with Mother’s Day coming up, it would be a perfect way to make mom or grandmother feel cherished.

The materials are simple:

• Modeling clay (found at any craft store, pick 3 or 4 of the recipient’s favorite colors)
• Small heart-shaped cookie or fondant cutters (I found mine in the baking section at Michael’s)
• Child-safe knife
• Rolling pin
• Baking sheet lined with waxed paper

Preheat your oven to the temperature described on the back of the modeling clay’s packaging. (1) Remove the clay and begin kneading it until it is soft enough for your child to manipulate independently. This was the trickiest part for my children, because they wanted to get started right away but soon realized that modeling clay is like a brick compared to play dough until it is warmed up.

(2) Next, you will want to combine your modeling clay. We combined them by making four “snakes” of colors, then rolling them together into one big sausage, twisting it and cutting off “cookies” of multi-colored clay that we then used to roll out and cut the hearts. (3) When rolling it out, try to remind your child to get it pretty thin (about 1/4” thick) and even. (4) When cutting the hearts you may want to show your child how to press it down hard and wiggle the cutter slightly to release the shape from the rest of the clay. (5) Place the cutouts on the lined baking sheet and bake according to the directions on the package. Mine took at least twice the suggested baking time, so just keep checking them until they are hardened to your satisfaction. (6) Cool completely. We made about 60 hearts and still had some clay left over.

Now you have beautiful hearts to share with someone special, and this is where it gets really fun! You could put them all in a jar or other container and tie ribbons to decorate it. But my children chose to hide the hearts all over their grandmother’s house so that she could find them one at a time. They put them in her shoes, in her purse, on her pillow, and even in her coat pocket! [quote]She was finding them weeks after the special event and said that every time she found another one it was like their little voices whispering, “I love you” all over again![/quote] She now displays her collection in a jar sitting in a prominent place in her home. Enjoy spreading the love with this “heart-felt” gift!