Why is it so hard to find gifts for Mother’s Day? Maybe it is because our moms never ask for much and have almost everything they need. I know I am always caught in the last minute scramble and there isn’t much that I hate more than giving a gift without meaning or thought. Thankfully, inspiration struck just in time.
I always eye the artificial flowers in the dollar store but some don’t particularly look great, not a surprise being that they are $1. On this trip, they had some really good ones and I immediately envisioned them filling a letter shaped box. I didn’t have much time for shopping and in a quick detour to Target, I found a hexagon shaped box and the letter “G” for grandma. My vision had to be reworked a bit, but I knew it would still be pretty and personal.
You will need:
- Artificial flowers
- Wood box in the shape you choose
- Floral foam
- Styrofoam
- Wood letter to fit inside the box
- Paint
- Glue gun/E600 glue
Fill your wood box with the floral foam, cutting them into pieces and filling all available areas. To secure the pieces together, use a hot glue gun to fill in the cracks like a caulking gun.
For the wood letter, I let my daughter do the painting. She has a tendency to mix all colors together until they turn to brown, like all four year old kids do. 🙂
TIP: If you are having your young child help with the painting, pick out a palette of colors ahead of time and have them paint in layers so all of the colors will show through.
We started with ivory, added silver, gold and then pink. I asked her to add a little more pink but when I came back to the room it was all pink! Luckily she was a good sport and was willing to add a few more gold and silver layers on there!
I love my glue gun, but it can dry super fast.
TIP: If I have to cover a large area with glue but still want the hot glue hold, use E6000 glue. It takes a little while longer to dry and I had more time and flexibility to place the letter.
After gluing to the foam, I used the glue gun like a caulking gun again and filled in the edges with hot glue.
Now it was time to add the flowers. I cut all of the flowers with just a little bit of stem, enough to push into the foam.
TIP: For this type of floral arranging, start with the largest ones first and stick to the rule of three’s. Similar to actual gardening!
After getting three different types of flowers in, I started to question my project. Something didn’t look right and the letter looked lost in the flowers. I ripped it all up and glued in some styrofoam to lift the letter up a bit.
TIP: Do not be afraid to start over if you are not satisfied with your project.
If you are anything like me, it would have driven me crazy to see it that way knowing that I could have made it better.
Ahhhh, much better!!! After making a complete mess, I continued adding flowers and making sure my pops of color were even spread out. It was difficult to push some of them into the foam with the letter raised higher, but some needle nose pliers helped.
We celebrated Mother’s Day a little early, so this post will not ruin the surprise! It is sitting proudly on top of the buffet in her dining room right now! She loved it but I think it made it even more special to know that her daughter and granddaughter both put time and love into it. That is probably the most important thing to remember when looking for a gift idea for your mom!
