Modish: the blog

Try This at Home with Maddy: LAST MINUTE FIX- Crafty Mother's Day Ideas on a Tight Timeline

So you totally blew it, again. Mother's Day snuck up on you like the littlest kid in the playground, and you want to do something that has a personal handmade touch with, oh, three days or so. Impossible? I think not. Here are some great ideas to add personal touches with fabulous crafty flair that show a lot of effort in little time.

MAKE BRUNCH FOR MOM AND ACCENT THE TABLE WITH "FLOWERS". Thanks to Michael's, Martha Stewart Crafts is all over the place and you can probably find this great tissue paper flower kit with ease in a drivable distance from your house. Why not throw a few kits together and get the griddle going? The won't die like real flowers, and your mom will have a memento of all of your hard work putting together a great meal so she could relax and enjoy the family time. Even better - stick a bunch of the flowers on a tray and serve her breakfast in bed!

AWAKEN HER INNER FLOWER CHILD. Grab a set of seeds from your local garden store and put them in personalized seed packets with our dieline here. Grab a gift basket (and, if you wish, cellophane) from your local garden store and deck it out in ribbon. Want to really go all out? Substitute a tissue or crinkle paper base with fake moss (available at most craft stores - if they carry silk florals, they'll probably have it) and set your seed packets among the moss and gardening tools to boost the overall "wow" effect.

SHOW HER HOW SWEET SHE IS. If you're mom's got a sweet tooth, bake her cupcakes! Cupcake Bakeshop has a wide variety of recipes that can suit any palate - from fruity to spicy to good old traditional choco-licious. Run to your local crafts center and pick up a bunch of stock paper in any color or tone group you wish. Bring them home, cut them into strips, and fold the strips in half so they are doubled over lengthwise, cutting the original width in two. Insert a toothpick into the center of the fold - the top of the toothpick should be just under the top edge of the paper. Glue the paper together ensuring the toothpick stays put, and you've got yourself a basic decoration! Write on each flag one reason you appreciate your mom (awwwwwww), and insert the flag into each cupcake after it's been iced. Feel free to decorate as you wish - try layering papers or using decorative punches!

GIVE HER THE GIFT OF TIME - IN A BOOK. A lot of families these days are moving at the speed of light, and it's hard to find time together, so find a moment to reflect on what you all have done together. Go to a craft store or somewhere that carries scrapbooking supplies and buy yourself one, or a couple books. Make sure to purchase tools: buy a LOT of adhesive (even more than you think you'll need because you'll run out fast!), paper and embellishments. Wrap them all up in a box and then let her unwrap it on Mother's Day. Take the afternoon to go through family photos with her and any other family members who want to join in, then spend the afternoon creating scrapbook pages so you all contribute to the book. At the end of the day, she'll have a keepsake that not only reflects on memories, but created one as well!

Maddy Susser is a graphic designer and artist that has a soft spot for all things paper and English period pieces (in other words, men in tights and funny vests). Armed with a number of years in marketing for retail on a small business and corporate scope she collects tidbits of information learned along the way and puts it into easy terms to share, formerly on her blog Try This at Home, and now on Modish. She's currently working on a line of paper goods.

For the Mums: Gardening goodies

This last Mother's Day gift idea post is inspired by my own mama, an avid gardener and bird lover who would surely enjoy any of the gifts below- in fact, I bought her the bird feeder for Christmas last year!  For your own flower pickin' mamas, hopefully some of these suggestions will hit home:

1. Egg bird feeder by Jim Schatz (beautiful! My mom loves hers!)- $135
2. Birdhouse stakes made from salvaged house parts, by Dryads Dancing- $42/set of 3
3. English garden rose dream (made from polymer clay! wow!) at Petal by Petal- $80
4. Flowers for mom vase by Beth Mueller at Uncommon Goods- $32
5. Campy planters by Perch Design- $72
6. Garden organizer by Milk Pail- $27
7. Purple tit print by Bird Nerd- $20
8. "Suprise Mi!" deluxe spa set (for after a long day of gardening!) by mi SPA- $125

For the Mums: In the kitchen

For the mom who likes to cook and entertain, relax with some tea, bake cookies or keep their kitchen looking snazzy, even if it's just used to dish out to-go food, here are some nifty gifty ideas, all handmade, all wonderful!

1. Spoons apron in steel by Skinny LaMinx- $25
2. Ginko tea towels set on eco-friendly hemp/cotton by Blossom Creations- $45
3. Bird measuring spoons by Beehive Kitchenware Co- $88
4. Dizzy Lizzy oven mitt by Collisionware- $15
5. Summer Peony tray with hand-painted tiles by Luna Studio Tile- $130
6. Sprouted mixing bowls set by Mud Stuffing- $110
7. Bird tea cosie by Bookhou- $44
8. Vines tablecloth by Margot Bianca- $35.

For the Mums: Ceramics

For the next few days I'll be bringing you handmade Mother's Day gift ideas, starting with beautiful ceramic pieces because well, moms are as precious as porcelain, awwww:

1. Porcelain bottles with platinum decals by Coe & Waito, at Peek Keep- $72
2. Pink Lollipop porcelain "wall pillow" by Stepanka Ceramics- $47
3. Illustrated bird vase by Little Flower Designs- $65
4. "Shhh" series cup and saucer set by Bailey Doesn't Bark- $21
5. Fern platter by Pat Pyott, at Zanisa- $62
6. Mocha flourish pendant by Sofia Masri- $67
7. "Fly" earthenware bowl by Paloma's Nest- $44

Try This at Home with Maddy: PROJECT- Mother's Day Classic Silhouettes

Continuing on with Mother's Day is a project that has a classic history but thanks to cyclical trends, is now thoroughly hip - the paper silhouette picture! The task seems totally daunting, especially if you're creative but photorealism isn't your forte but that's okay! There's an easy way to get that classic look while not freaking out about freehand. Gift silhouettes of yourself and your siblings (if applicable!) to your mom, or snap a few pics of the children of any other mommy in your life and start cutting! Remember that silhouettes don't have to just be cut out of black paper with a white background - make it more modern and unique by using hip color combination like chocolate brown with a blush pink backer paper!

CLASSIC SILHOUETTES

Archival Paper in Contrasting Colors
Surgical Scissors (you need a smaller blade scissor for the tiny details)
Glue Stick
Tape
Digital Portraits of your Subjects in Profile
Access to a Computer, Digital Editing Program, and Printer

Snap several shots of your subjects in profile, with white or light backgrounds preferred. Keep the backgrounds against a clean, flat wall to save yourself time in the editing phase. Load your shots into your camera and open them in Photoshop or a similar editing program. Convert your photos to black and white. If there is any tone or objects in the background, paint them out with the Paintbrush tool in white. Also using the Paintbrush tool, paint highlights and light tones on the subject carefully with black. You ultimately want to end up with a digital silhouette as a starting point, with the face in the direction of whichever way you wish it to sit when it's finished.

Save and print out your image. Take printed silhouette page and stack it on top of a single sheet (or double if you plan to make a duplicate) of archival paper in the color you wish your silhouette to be in. Tape the sheets together hinge style, with one piece on either end of the top sheet that folds over to the back sheet. With your surgical scissors, begin to cut the face side first. When you get to the hair, stop. This is where you will want to stylize your silhouette, because you clearly can't cut each individual hair if your subject has flyaways! For curly or wavy hair, follow the general shape of the hair and add in some graceful curly pieces to give a sense of the texture - it's okay to follow the hair in your printout, too, just remember to simplify! For straight hair, remember to cut slightly into the ends in thin, triangular slivers so the hair doesn't appear as a blocky mass.

When you've finished, use a glue stick to apply your silhouette onto your backer paper. Don't use liquid glue - it will add moisture to the paper and will cause it to buckle. For an even more personal touch, sign your creation with your name (and a note, if you wish) and set it in an antique-feeling frame prior to wrapping and gifting.

Maddy Susser is a graphic designer and artist that has a soft spot for all things paper and English period pieces (in other words, men in tights and funny vests). Armed with a number of years in marketing for retail on a small business and corporate scope she collects tidbits of information learned along the way and puts it into easy terms to share, formerly on her blog Try This at Home, and now on Modish. She's currently working on a line of paper goods.

Try This at Home with Maddy: PROJECT- Mother's Day Spa Salts

Hello, everyone! Sorry I missed Tuesday's post, but I've been quite sick since coming back from San Francisco for work. It's quite a persistent cold! Anyway...

Mother's Day is coming up and I thought it would be great to start a series on gifts to give to all the mommies in your life! It's been a tradition since childhood that my mother generally receives some sort of handmade token from me on Mom's Day, and I love the fact that something you make is so much more meaningful because you took time out to create something. I'm starting out with a favorite of mine - bath salts - which becomes the gift that gives back if you "accidentally" make extra! If you're looking for some recommended sources for all of these materials, click on the links in the ingredients list for some companies I prefer.

TRIO OF BATH SALTS
Bath salts are a quick and easy way to make any bath more soothing. Including them in multiples allows the receiver to choose a fragrance that best suits their mood, or the mood they'd like to be in!

Large Coarse Salts or Bath Salt Base
Essential Oils or Fragrance Oils
Food Coloring (optional)
Bath Salt Containers (in your choice of size and material)
Wax Paper and a Large Surface to Dry Salts on
Disposable Spoon or Other Mixing Tool
Mixing Bowl or Container (Must Not Be Used for Food!)

With a kitchen scale or by eye, measure out the number of ounces of salts that your container will hold; add on an additional two to four ounces to compensate for any salt shrinkage that may occur as you add wet materials to them. Move measured salts into a mixing bowl or other large container that you will NOT use for food in the future - obviously, not a good idea to eat essential or fragrance oils, even if it smells like chocolate, or blueberry muffins, or whathaveyou.

Begin with your food coloring - if you choose not to color your salts, you can skip this step. Color choice is based on personal preference; if you have a color theme that your scent doesn't fit into, it's not a big deal. Because food coloring is a wet ingredient, it is important to add this in slowly and in small quantities at a time. Add it in drop by drop, mixing the salts as you go with a spoon or other tool that you can dispose of after the batch is complete. When you have achieved your desired color intensity, put the food coloring aside and continue to mix for five minutes or so as the salt dries and absorbs the last bits of dye. If after this the salt still appears wet, spread it out on wax paper over a large, flat surface to allow it to dry further before proceeding - it will not absorb the fragrance well while it is still too wet.

Once your bath salts are dry, you can begin to add fragrance. There is no exact formula to tell when you have exactly the right amount of fragrance added, but you can certainly under- or over-fragrance these salts. When you've added too much, the salts become incredibly wet and begin to shrink. There's no "in-the-process" way to really tell when you've added too little - you just have to wait until they're dry to test their aroma. If it's too weak, you can just add more fragrance and let them dry again. Since you need to air dry them, some of the fragrance will be lost in the process, so personally, scenting salts stronger is better for me.

After placing your salts back in the mixing bowl, begin adding your fragrance, blending it in as you add (as you did for the coloring). Eye droppers are extremely helpful during this process so you can have a greater "drop by drop" control of the fragrance - you don't want to add a lot at a time. It's good to take short breaks between adding batches of fragrance to ensure your salts are absorbing them by mixing without adding additional fragrance.

After adding the fragrance, the salts should look a little slick, but not sopping wet. There should not be excess fragrance in the bottom of the bowl after blending; if there is, drain it out of the bowl. Distribute salts evenly over a sheet of wax paper on a large, flat surface and let them dry for a couple of hours (or until dry to touch). The salts must be allowed to dry thoroughly before being placed in containers.

All that's left then is to pack them up and design the packaging! Your salts will be able to be used immediately, although I've personally noticed the fragrance pops a lot better when used after a week or two - so for best results, start planning early for Mom!

Enjoy!

Maddy Susser is a graphic designer and artist that has a soft spot for all things paper and English period pieces (in other words, men in tights and funny vests). Armed with a number of years in marketing for retail on a small business and corporate scope she collects tidbits of information learned along the way and puts it into easy terms to share, formerly on her blog Try This at Home, and now on Modish. She's currently working on a line of paper goods.