Homemade Birthday Gift Ideas For Mom

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What are some homemade birthday gift ideas for mom if you are on a budget or have more time than money? How about:   

1. A homemade card.  A card you've made will probably mean more to her than a store bought card. You can personalize it especially for her and decorate it with papers, ribbons and other items found around your home.
 
2. Her favorite dessert. What does she enjoy eating? Cherry pie, chocolate chip cookies, angel food cake with strawberries on top? Find a good recipe and make sure you have the right ingredients before you start this project.

3. Framed photo or art. Do you have a nice picture of the family or an art design you've created. How about putting it in a nice frame and giving it to her.


4. Coupons for chores. Create and print off a sheet of coupons for various chores you'll do for her. Things like weeding her flower garden, cleaning her car or the kitchen cupboards.

5. Gift basket. Fill a basket or other container with items such as - her favorite scented candle, hand lotion, candy, slippers for around the house.

6. Plan and cook a meal that includes all her favorite foods.  After the meal, insist that she stay out of the kitchen while you clean up.

7. Write a poem for her. It doesn't have to rhyme. Just be real and write those things that you appreciate or admire about her. You can read it to her at the breakfast table or print it out on a computer and put it in a nice photo frame before giving it to her.

8. Clean her house. While she's out, surprise her by cleaning the house from top to bottom. Make a list of all the chores you did and put a check mark beside them. Put the list in a  birthday card and write something like "Mom, for your birthday- I cleaned the house so you could have some free time. Enjoy!" 
 

7 Father to be Father's Day Cards

Here are some Father's day cards for the father to be.

10 Homemade Housewarming Gift Ideas

If you are looking for ideas on housewarming gifts, one thing you could do is give a homemade gift basket. You don't have to use a basket, just pick a suitable container that holds all your items. Some suggestions:

 1. Rubber gloves, cleaning supplies, trash bags etc. put in a bucket.

2. A nice glass or plastic container filled with delicious cookies or other treats.

3. Fresh flowers (from your garden or back yard) in a nice vase.

4. Kitchen utensils in a ceramic crock or other suitable container.

5. Cake or cookie mix in a jar. Wrap a nice ribbon around it and attach the recipe.

6. Rolled hand towels, wash rags and a bottle of hand soap in a basket.

7. Some nice big bath towels rolled up and put in a (bathroom) waste basket.

8. Pantry foods- flour, sugar, cake or brownie mixes etc. arranged in a mixing bowl. 

9. Laundry detergent, stain spray, bleach, fabric softener etc. put in a laundry basket.

10. Paper or plastic goods- toilet paper, paper towels, paper plates, plastic ware etc. put in a  wastebasket.

  


   

Free Printable Baby Shower Gift Tags-Mother Elephant and Her Baby

Free Printable Baby Shower Gift Tags- two cute designs, one in pink and one in blue- a mother elephant and her little one.

How to Get Ideas of Gifts to Buy For Your Boss

While it may not be possible to always get the perfect gift for your boss, you can aim for that lofty goal by simply being observant when you are around her (or him).

What does she (or he) like to drink? If she enjoys tea, you might get her a gourmet tea basket.  Does she have scented candles setting around? How about buying her a good quality scented candle?  If you've ever gone out to eat with her, what did she order? Steak? Maybe a gift certificate to a nice steakhouse would be good.

What type of decor is her office decorated in? Modern, you say. How about a motivational, contemporary art print or desk accessory. Does she have a lot of framed art or photos in her office? Take note of the style and colors she prefers and shop around for a quality, stylish frame. 

Listen to her when she talks.   Did she mention that she loves eating at "so and so" restaurant or that she simply had to stop at the mall last night to buy her favorite fudge, or that she enjoys watching old comedies.  


While these observations may not give you any definitive answers, they can help clue you in as to what your boss likes.

21 Funny Birthday Quotes

Are you looking for a humorous birthday quote to write in a card or on your friend's facebook wall? Here are a few of the ones I found on the Internet.
 
1. Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself. - Tom Wilson

2. Just remember, once you’re over the hill you begin to pick up speed. – Charles Schulz, cartoonist

3. A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip. - unknown

4. To me, old age is always 20 years older than I am. -unknown

5. Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest. - Father Larry Lorenzoni

6. A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age.- Robert Frost

7. When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it happened or not.- Mark Twain

8. A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life. -Muhammad Ali

9. Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life. - Kitty Collins

10. Old age is not for sissies.- Malcolm Forbes

11. And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.- Abraham Lincoln

12. Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that people who have the most live the longest.- Larry Lorenzoni

13.Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.- unknown

14. When I turned two I was really anxious, because I'd doubled my age in a year. I thought, if this keeps up, by the time I'm five I'll be 64. - unknown

15. Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty - they merely move it from their faces into their hearts. - Martin Buxbaum

16. Thanks to modern medical advances such as antibiotics, nasal spray, and Diet Coke, it has become routine for people in the civilized world to pass the age of 40, sometimes more than once.- Dave Barry

17.You're not 40, you're eighteen with 22 years’ experience. -unknown

18. You always have such fun birthdays; you should have one every year. -unknown

19. There is still no cure for the common birthday. - John Glenn

20. You will soon start a new phase of life! But that can wait until you are older. Enjoy another year of being young. Happy Birthday.- unknown 

21. Forget about the past, you can’t change it,
      Forget about the future, you can’t predict it,
      Forget about the present, I didn’t get you one! -unknown

Mother's Day at Church: 12 Gift Ideas

In women's ministry, one of the challenges for leaders is to acknowledge the Mothers in the congregation on Mother's Day. There are many different ways to celebrate Mother's Day in the church, here are some ideas:

1. Chocolate. There are all kind of options with this one, depending on your budget. You could present the mothers in your church with a chocolate rose or truffle(s) or other gourmet chocolaty treats.

2. A stylish tote bag. This is another practical gift- great for trips to the library, or the beach, or going to soccer games.

3. A beautiful flower. This can be a rose, a carnation, a peony, a lily etc. Different colors and flowers convey different meanings so you may want to ask your florist which flowers are best for the occasion.

4. Wall art such as a framed Bible verse or picture. If you have some images that you like, you could get them printed professionally and frame them yourself.

5. Girls Day Out. Celebrate Mother's day as a group. Make plans to do manicures, pedicures, watch a movie, eat desserts or anything else the women would enjoy doing as a group.

6. A beautiful picture frame. She can use it to display the latest photograph of her children or Johnny's latest artwork or even a treasured card from a dear friend.

7. A quality (but pretty) pen. This is a handy gift, as she can use it to write shopping lists, make out checks, mark dates on the calendar etc. There are many styles available. How about choosing one with an inspiring message.

8. A beautiful notebook, journal or magnetic notepad and coordinating pen.

9. Mug or cup. How about filling it with a few gourmet tea bags, hot cocoa mix, chocolates or other candies. Wrap it with cellophane and a pretty ribbon and you are all set.

10. A gift certificate for a free drink and dessert for two, at a local coffee shop. Make a note suggesting that she invite a friend to go out with her.

11. A gift certificate or discount to the church bookstore or another bookstore in the area.

12. Perfumed hand or body lotion- if it’s a small bottle, you could put it in a tulle bag with a few chocolates and tie it with a pretty ribbon. 

13. A chef’s apron. This is a practical gift that will be appreciated by the busy mothers who spend a lot of time in their kitchen doing any kind of messy food preparation (frying chicken, baking cupcakes etc).

7 Fathers Day Poems From Kids

In looking for Fathers day poems for kids, I ran across these poems by Nicholas Gordon. These could be printed on the front of a card, framed with a nice border or written inside of a card.
 

Daddy, I love you
For all that you do.
I'll kiss you and hug you
'Cause you love me, too. You feed me and need me
To teach you to play,
So smile 'cause I love you
On this Father's Day.
                    by Nicholas Gordon

You've been everything to me: a father,
Teacher, playmate, model, conscience, friend.
Sometimes I'm not certain why you bother,
If your feelings on my words depend.
I know I haven't been the child I should:
Far from it, and I really can't say why.
I know exactly what I'd label good,
But in the real world something goes awry.
Underneath my actions there is love,
Gratitude, respect, and admiration.
Sometimes I don't know what I'm thinking of,
But I thank God you're in for the duration.
I'm sorry, sorry for the things I do,
But please believe I cherish Mom and you.
                                       by Nicholas Gordon


A father and a dad are not the same:
One can be a dad and not a father,
Or one can be a father and not bother
To earn through love the more endearing name.
Some find fatherhood a bit too tame,
Leaving all the details to the mother,
Or dumping the sweet burden on another
Man with just a passing twinge of shame.
You have been our dad so many years
That you've become the landscape that is home,
The mountain that we look to from afar.
No matter where we go we're not alone,
For you remain within to still our fears
And be the word that tells us who we are.
                                by Nicholas Gordon


Children need a Daddy
For many, many things:
Like holding them high off the ground
Where the sunlight sings!

Like being the deep music
That tells them all is right
When they awaken frantic with
The terrors of the night.

Like being the great mountain
That rises in their hearts
And shows them how they might get home
When all else falls apart.

Like giving them the love
That is their sea and air,
So diving deep or soaring high
They'll always find him there.
                                       by Nicholas Gordon


To my dad on his day,
Of whom I am a living will:
May your happiness fulfill
Your goodness, as is just and right.
Deeds are seeds upon the night
As wind and wonder have their way,
Delivering the destined light.
                       by Nicholas Gordon

Happy Father's Day to my dear Dad!
As you have loved me, so have I loved you,
Pleased to tell you, now that words are due,
Pleased to have this chance to make you glad.
Your years of love and sacrifice have had
For me the force that you would wish them to,
A wind that takes me home to harbors new,
The inner voice in clothes familiar clad.
How might I be myself, except I see
Each gesture in the mirror of your grace,
Remembered as it was when long ago,
'Ere I knew why, I looked to you for love?
So am I of you inextricably,
Defined by trends not difficult to trace
As I grow into someone that I know,
Yet myself in ways that time will prove.

                                            by Nicholas Gordon  


 Happy Father's Day to one whose love
Asks nothing more than that it more might give!
Praised be those whose self-love selfless proves;
Praised be those who by such pleasure live.
Years of longing find no better plight,
For everything that is, is ever here.
A love that gives, gives unalloyed delight,
Taking in more breath than it can bear.
How lovely, then, to give this day to you,
Embracing who would rather us embrace,
Rejoicing in the ballet old anew,
'Twixt give and give a shy and awkward grace!
So may you ever be on Father's Day,
Despite yourself, the hero of the play,
Accepting from your loved ones what you would
Yet give yourself to them, if you but could.
                                    by Nicholas Gordon  


These poems are the property of Nicholas Gorden and can be found at Father's Day Poems