A Thoughtful Mother's Day Project for less than $10

When Karianne from Thistlewood Farms asked if I wanted to join her and Melaine from My Sweet Savannah and do a project for Mother's Day I jumped at the chance. I wanted to do a project that would be thoughtful but that would also be inexpensive and something a child could manage. I can't take credit for this concept though. A couple of years ago my dad asked us for Father's Day if instead of giving him a gift could we all write memories on index cards for him - one for each day of the year. So, my siblings and I split the cards up and on Father's Day gave him 365 index cards each with a memory written on it and each morning he and my mom read a new one. Most were funny, some were sentimental and a few were random (ahem - Jason...) It was such a hit that the next year my mom asked for the same idea for Mother's Day (and technically I still owe her a few...) When we are all home we get quite the kick out of reading them. You can generally guess from across the room whose it is - Jamie's are novels and Jason are often one line while Dana's and mine tend to be in the middle.

Anyway, for this Mother's Day project I decided to take that concept and make it a little bit prettier! Instead of index cards I decided to use cardstock and photos and put them in a little box from Michael's that I mod podged a photo onto. 

So here is what you need:

1 box (I used a 7 1/2" by 7 1/2" one that I got for $3.49

1 pack of cardstock (I used precut 6" by 6" squares that were $2.99)

1 large photo (I had mine printed on regular 11" by 17" paper at Staples for $.98)

photos (as many as you would like to do)

double stick tape

mod podge

scissors

brush

First, take your photos and using double stick tape just tape them to the square piece of cardstock. Then simply write a memory or note or whatever you feel like writing in the blank space.

Now make as many of those as you would like.

Now it's time to make your little photo box to put them in. Simply cover the top with mod podge:

Then place your printed photo (mine is just printed on regular weight paper) on top:

Now flip it over and cut the corner areas to look like this. That skinny little flap should be cut to be the same side as the lid (I cut mine about a 1/4 too short):

Now use your double stick tape and fold it up like this (although it doesn't really matter how long it is seeing how you just need it to cover the corner I should have made mine about a quarter inch thicker). Then fold up the other sides and fold them into the lid and make sure to tape it securely and then trim off the excess.

Now mod podge the whole thing:

Then place your cards inside and there you have it!

Be sure to check out Karianne's beautiful stamped necklace that she made from a  vintage silverplate SPOON! I can't wait to try this!

and Melaine's mini photo book that she made from paint chips from the hardware store and a few scrapbooking supplies. It's a fun project to get the kids involved with too. 

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!