How To Create A Beautiful Personalized Mothers Day Gift

Mother’s day is officially around the corner and I think we all being mothers get a bit nostalgic about our own mothers, and how they have influenced our lives. My mother is no longer with me, and for the last 25 years, Mother’s day have not had any real meaning in my life; it has been something I have celebrated silently in my heart every year, mostly colored by the joy of all she gave me, but also shadowed by always missing her.

This year it will be different, though. It’s my first year as a mother myself and that has brought back many beautiful memories. I have been looking at old pictures of my mother and me together, and they make me feel so grateful for being her daughter. Since I became a mother, they have also added to my reflections and wishes for my own little babygirl’s future.
I have always been fond of pictures, but I have learned the hard way, how important it is to exist in those pictures….and then remember to print them out as well, to be able to fully enjoy them.

All pictures I have from my childhood are hard copies, but the ones I have of my adult life are stored on cd’s, hard drives or floating around in the Cloud not being appreciated. And I don’t think I’m alone doing this. The thing is; when you have an old picture in your hand or you are flipping through a childhood photo album, it creates a feeling of belonging and it makes us appreciate where we come from.

…..where we come from. (I am pondering those words)

Those words would mean considerably more than just our childhood, right? I would like to believe that we come from all the joy we have experienced throughout the years, all the obstacles we have made it through, all the babies we have pushed out, all the ups and downs we have dealt with and all the people we have crossed paths with.

I think that most of us have pictures of these periods in our life, in some way or another….but they are most likely stored in a date marked folder, and probably only accidently being looked at.Remember that saying “Out of sight, out of mind”? When I see my childhood photos, it often makes me think of myself as that little girl, who lost her mom when the fact is; I’m so much more than that. I have lived a longer life without my mom, than with her and I like to believe that, that greater part of my life stands for more. I like to remind myself of all things I have endured to become who I am today and printed photos help me do that.

A printed photo will make you remember how you felt in that moment and what your dreams were. They will reveal if you went through a rough patch or if you were at the top of your game, but ultimately they will reveal all the love and effort you have put into your life. When you appreciate all these bits and pieces of your life, it means you appreciate yourself and everyone deserves to do that.

So in celebration of Mother’s day, let’s appreciate where you come from and print some photos of yourself together with your mother. Or as in my case, print photos of yourself with your kids.

Below I have created a fun and simple tutorial on how to create a personalized Mother’s day gift, where you can use your printed photos. It’s a kid-friendly project and it will teach them how to value and incorporate pictures into their own artworks.
PROJECT INFO:

This is such an easy “cut paper and glue together” project and that is also why it’s the perfect craft project to do with your kids. There are many ways to personalize your artwork; you can get your kids to write their own words, names or sayings, type and print some of your own, or use the one provided below. For the background I used wallpaper, but there are so many ways to add color or patterns. Your kids could color their own backgrounds and draw frames around the photos and make it a really colorful and fun project.

If you are in a hurry and just need a quick background for your photos, I’ve got you covered. At the bottom of this post, you will find some beautiful printables. Simply print them, add your photos & frame it and you are good to go 🙂

Now let’s move on to create a beautiful personalized Mother’s day gift.MATERIALS & TOOLS:

Wallpaper or paper with pattern/motifs for background (I buy out of stock wallpaper books and use them for several fun craft projects)
One A4 or Letter sized frame (This size frame will nicely hold 2 4 x 6 images)
Two 4×6 printed photos (I printed mine in b&w, but you could do color as well. Make it match your background)
Scissors, glue, ruler + pencil.
Hand-lettered words (download and print below)

HAND-LETTERED SAYINGS A4 SIZE
– portrait
– landscape

HAND-LETTERED SAYINGS LETTER SIZE
– portrait
– landscape

INSTRUCTIONS:
(below you’ll find illustrative images to go with the instructions)

1) CUT MATERIALS TO SIZE
Start by cutting out a piece of wallpaper(or other paper) to fit the backing of your frame. Next cut out the hand-lettered words provided in the download. Use either the horizontal or vertical printout, whichever that will fit the width of your layout. If you feel your printed 4×6 photos are too big for the layout, just trim the edges a bit. Mine was trimmed about 0,5 cm on each side, which makes the pattern around the photos stand out a bit more.

2) GLUE TOGETHER
Use a ruler to measure out where to place your photos and the word strip, and glue everything onto the wallpaper.

3) MAKE & ADD FRAMES (optional)
Cut a few strips of contrasting wallpaper/paper. Make two simple frames from the strips and glue them onto the edge of the photos.

4) FRAME YOUR ARTWORK
Frame your artwork and finish your Mothers day gift off with a beautiful bow or some gorgeous wrapping paper.

PRINTABLES

As I mentioned before, if you are in a hurry, you can use the printables below and still make a beautiful personalized Mother’s day gift.

MOM turned upside down is WOW
– Letter Size
– A4 size
You are the best mom ever
– Letter Size
– A4 size

I hope this project made you have a fun time creating a beautiful personalized Mother’s Day gift. If you created this with your kids you might have ended up with several colorful photo artworks that need framing, but that just means your kids had an awesome time playing with photos.

Hopefully, you also feel inspired to print your photos more often. I believe there’s an important lesson in enjoying our life’s process and appreciating where we come from. I think it’s valuable to teach our kids that too and printed photos are one way to do that.

My baby girl is not old enough to physically create a Mother’s Day gift for me yet. For now, she showers me with snuggles, big smiles and the wonderful fact that I get to be her mother and that keeps my heart more than full. I created these photo artworks for myself to celebrate and appreciate our process together, and to pay tribute to my new role in life. One day my baby girl will be old enough to understand, and I will be able to more actively teach her about where she comes from, how every day adds to her life, shaping her and making her into a wonderful unique human being.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you wonderful mothers out there.

/Annika

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Annika Olsson

Annika is the owner of ByAnnika, a design studio, that creates hand lettered inspirational art for the nursery and kids room. She has a love for vintage typography, retro patterns, and pastel colors. On her blog she shares her creative projects, that are influenced by her home and life in the country.