(re)Purposeful: Mother's Day Edition!

It has been KILLING me not to share this re-vamp with the world but now that my mom is the proud owner of this "once-ugly-little-side-table" I can finally post this without ruining her Mother's Day surprise! WHEW!
So this darling (but slightly hideous) little side table has been in her family for years... in high school she allowed me to spray paint it to match my decor. I think now she realizes that was a mistake because it didn't turn out very good at all. I felt like I should redeem myself (and the ugly table) and use some of the skills I've learned to give her a truly lovely piece she can be proud to display.

I started by sanding it all down to a smooth surface. The spindles were the hardest but I used a flexible sanding sponge which made the work much easier! Then I used spray primer and gave it a thorough coating. I decided to paint the whole thing a semi-gloss black which looked very classy however, the top looked ever so plain... What a great excuse to drag out the Mod Podge!!! Here's the end result:

<----This is the table top

Isn't it sweet? I used a glass knob for the pull and I LOVE how it ties the whole piece together! I just used scrap-booking paper and layered many thin coats of Mod Podge over it to create a seal. (Let each layer dry before adding more!) We had a Mother's Day picnic at a local park tonight and I FINALLY gave it to her!

I love you Mom! Thank you for always supporting my artistic endeavors even when they aren't so stellar.... you're my favourite cheerleader! <3

~Mother's Day Special~

Mother's Day has always been a strange but wonderful holiday for me. I'm a grown-up adopted kid, that one day woke up in this amazing fairy tale where I find out I'm related to sisters I go to church camp with and I suddenly have 11 brothers and sisters of my own! A dream right?
Now that I have my own children the holiday's meaning has deepened incredibly for me. I'm constantly filled with awe for: the woman who didn't give birth to me but loved and raised me as her own...the other woman who tenderly carried me in her womb, knowing that soon she'd have to kiss me (maybe for the only and last time) and give me to a stranger.... the woman who never met me but welcomed me into her family and loved me because her husband/ my birth-dad wanted to be a part of my life when I found out about them 15 yrs ago. Now they all get to kiss, dote on, and spoil my kidlets, their grandchildren!
SO in honor of "My Three Moms" I want to share a couple of Mother's Day crafts that I thought were very sweet!

Hand Print Poem:
This cute idea was done by my friend Monica and posted on Facebook. I asked her permission to share it because it's so very sweet and the poem is just lovely! I think it would be so special to make one every year so you and your child could see how the hand prints grow!

It's a bit hard to read but the poem says:

Sometimes you get discouraged,

Because I am so small

And always leave my fingerprints

On furniture and walls

But everyday I'm growing

I'll be grown some day

And all those tiny fingerprints

Will surely fade away

So here's a little handprint

Just so you can recall

Exactly how my fingers looked

When I was very small

Hand Lilies For Mom:

This is the project myself and lovely assistant, Grace, made with our toddlers yesterday at Synagogue. The moms just LOVED them and it was very easy to make!

We traced their little hands on two different colors of paper and cut them out. I used a pencil to curl the "fingertips" backwards so they curled. Then we rolled the "hands" together and taped the bottoms, putting the lighter colored "hand" in the middle. We used pipe cleaners for the stems and the sprouts in the middle and threaded it through the lilies so they stayed together! It was really easy and they looked mah-velous!

I found this picture on the internet..we made our the same way only we double the flowers so the lilies looked fuller.
*UPDATE: My wonderful assistant Grace sent me the picture we took of our "hand lilies bouquet"! Here's how ours came out!

Happy Mother's Day to you all and especially to my three moms who I treasure and absolutely adore! <3
(Oh and stay tuned for the Mother's Day gift I made for my mom, I can't post it yet because it goes directly to her email and I don't want to spoil the surprise!!!)