I usually get fresh flowers for Mother’s Day.  My oldest is 20, so I’ve been receiving them for a long time!  Flowers give a home a feeling of freshness, life, and beauty.  What could be more fun than incorporating a Mother’s Day craft and fresh flowers together?

Some of my earliest memories are of picking flowers with my Mom in her garden.  As a child, I would pick them too close to the bud there was hardly a  stem to hold on to, but she never minded.  She would find the smallest glass she could and display my short stemmed treasures on the window sill.  To this day I can’t see an orange day lily or black-eyed susan without thinking of her.

We have enough stress in our lives as Moms, and in these tough economic times, flowers are an easy and affordable way to brighten up a household, bring a smile to your face, and we can all use a smile!  I know as a Mother, I smile every time I see fresh flowers in the home.  Adding something fresh and cheery can cheer me up even the cloudiest of days.

And so my kids  try to make sure there are fresh flowers for me on Mother’s Day.  I love the tradition!  Even the Big Guy (he’s 18) has been “assigned” the task now that he drives!  Colombia, Land of Flowers has sponsored a Mother’s Day promotion and I was given the task to create a gerber daisy topiary and personalize it to show what Mother’s Day flowers mean to me.

I love including my kids in my crafts.  Having teens, I know I can count on the girls for help, and the Big Guy will roll his eyes a little, but I still like to make seasonal crafts reflect our family.  I decided to add touches of the kids through the years to make this bouquet something that would be a treasure of memories that would bring a smile or a chuckle everytime we walk by.  Using scraps of ribbon, fabric, beads from past projects, I transformed a basic topiary into a memory filled decoration.

The Recipe!!!

Ingredients:

• 10 long stemmed gerber daisies, cutting off the bottom inch
• 1 container filled with floral foam soaked for 30 minutes with water and..
• floral preservative
• rubber band
• accessories for decoration

Secure your daisies with a rubber band at the top of the stems, at the ball area.  With a firm grip on the stalk, push the stalks into the foam.  Topiary will stand on it’s own.

Tie a ribbon around the top to hide the rubber band.

Cover the foam with moss, beads or stones

For personalized florettes, gather pieces of scrap fabric, ribbon, beads…anything that triggers memories.  Secure them on a wire or pipe cleaner with a short stem.  Place the accessory in between the flowers for pop and accent or in the floral foam to decorate your container.  Enjoy the memories!

I hope you try this!

What do flowers on Mother’s Day mean to you?  What are you special Mother’s Day experiences?  We would love to know!

Happy Mother’s Day to all and thank you Colombia, Land of Flowers for the fun craft experience!