I recently discovered Amanda Blake Soule’s book, The Creative Family, at my local library. It was a timely find as I really appreciated Amanda’s section on Giving Handmade in the lead up to Mother’s Day.
Immy and I worked together to adapt the Joy Jar concept to make Grandma’s Happy Jar for my Mum.
Immy decorated a small jar with large and small butterfly stickers as my Mum loves butterflies.
Then I asked Immy a series of questions about Mum and things we have done together and I wrote her responses on some pretty recycled card, which Immy again decorated with butterfly stickers. The idea is that you can choose a card from the special jar whenever you need a little extra happiness to make the day brighter. We made about 15 cards altogether.
For a card, more butterflies were called for…
… this time a simple crayon resist with bright coloured food colouring. Immy enjoyed it so much that she asked me to cut out two more butterflies which she painted, one for her great-grandmother and the other for her aunt.
We had a lovely time on Mother’s Day, sharing afternoon tea and giving our gifts. Of course, we had to read Immy’s happy messages out loud which gave us all a good laugh.
I really appreciated the process of choosing handmade for Mother’s Day as it acted to remove the sense of commercialism which so often surrounds holidays and celebrations nowadays. And the wonderful thing about making a joy jar or happy jar and the special notes contained within, is the process of actually slowing down and reflecting upon the person you are giving it to – memories you’ve shared and the individual traits that make that one person unique.
What are your thoughts on giving homemade? Do you have any special projects you have made with your child to give as gifts?
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Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.
But I'm wary about who I give them to, some people just don't appreciate hand made gifts which means my time and thought has gone to waste. In that case I'd rather purchase them something they would appreciate - the gift is after all about the recipient.
Thanks for sharing this.