There are a lot of Mother’s Day gifts out there that mothers will enjoy. Options include gift cards to their favorite stores, chocolates, their favorite food, something so they can be pampered, a trip to a spa, or even a day without chores or task. Flowers are often accompanied with many of these spectacular choices, and this is where the family comes in.

Sure, you can purchase some fantastic smelling arrangements from a flower shop. These are beautiful and will really make each mom feel special. However, for those looking to do something crafty with a little DIY, everyone in the family can make mom a flower! Using the instructions below, each child…and adult.. can create their own pipe cleaner flower masterpiece with just a few simple items.

What is a pipe cleaner? My family calls them fuzzy wires. A pipe cleaner used to be (and probably still is) used to clean a pipe. However, I I think it is now more common to see them used for crafts. They often come in all colors of the rainbow. Basically, it is a piece of wire covered in soft fluff, usually about 11-12 inches long. They bend to form different shapes making them a fun craft object.

For this DIY flower project, every person in the family, who is wanting to make a flower, will need 4 pipe cleaners: 3 of one color and one in green. This color choice is not a rule of law. The petals can be in multiple colors if so desired, and the stem doesn’t have to be green. This is all about having fun and creating something unique. Craft steps are always a suggestion and can certainly be channeled into something amazingly different. However, for the ease of this craft, the instructions will be listing basic colors

Items needed to make pipe cleaner flowers:

• 3 Pink Pipe Cleaners for the petals, (you can choose any color to make your flower petals)
• 1 Green Pipe Cleaner for the stem
• 1 resin ladybug (optional)
• Glue Gun (optional, only if you wish to attach the ladybug)

Directions

Please note: all glue gun and cutting should be done by an adult.

1. Take all 4 pipe cleaners and fold them in half. Pinch the ends to add the crease. They will look like a “V”

2. Take one end of the green stem and slide with through the “V” of the pink pipe cleaners. Twist the green pipe cleaner twice to lock the 3 pink pipe cleaners in place. You should now have 6 pink pipe cleaner arms pointing up and two green arms pointing down

3. Roll each of the 6 pink arms into a spiral to form petals. Start at the tip and continue to roll to the end by the green twist.

4. Take the spiral petals and shape the flower by creating a ladder effect with the petals, each layered on top of each other

5. Take one arm of the green pipe cleaner and wrap it around the base of the flower, starting wide and spiraling it down to the stem to form a cone.

6. Take a resin ladybug and glue it to one of the petals using a hot glue gun (NOTE: this should be done by adults)

Your Pipe Cleaner flower is now done!

Make as many as you need to form a bouquet to give to mom for Mother’s Day!

The movie Arthur the King is now available to watch! It is a family-friendly movie about the bond between a man and a dog during a huge 435-mile race. This movie is inspirational and based on a true story. However, while Arthur is helping and bonding with Michael Light, my mom’s puppy almost has a sinister side. Before I share this DIY Pawprint Keepsake craft , here is what happened to my mom and me today.

Word of warning, don’t let this innocent face fool you:

So picture this. It’s a cloudy day, the hummingbirds are enjoying the delicious handmade syrup, the pups are playing in their pen, and my mom and I are enjoying the cool air. We decide to bring the puppies in to dry off and relax. Bo comes in first, happy to be inside. We shut the door so he doesn’t run out as we get Buddy, unaware of a nefarious plan.

As I reach to get Buddy, my mom and I hear “clack”

I slowly stand up and turn towards the door like a horror story puppet. Peering down in disbelief, eyes wide, I stare at the sliding glass door.

Through the glass, I see Bo. He almost looked smug. Right there, sitting in front of his little face was the bar that locks our sliding glass door. He had pushed this bar down, locking both my mom and I outside. Yup, he has finally shown his true colors as he barked with excitement. Almost as if he was stating a challenge.

That little turd.

I looked to my mom and simply stated, “Bo locked us out.”

All my mom could utter was, “noooo,” and I simply nodded my head

How we were going to get in was a process of elimination.

First, we tried to slide the door. Stupid, I know, but maybe the bar would become incorporeal, and we could slide the door through its ghostly body. No luck.

We then tried to remove the door from the slide. But if it was that easy, people would break into houses a lot.

When that failed, we began looking at all the windows. My mom is notorious for locking EVERYTHING. So I had little hope this would produce an entry. However, as luck would have it, while doing dishes, a spider was chilling on the window, and I refused to reach up and lock it a couple of days ago. We had our entry point thanks to an eight legged menace!

My mom proceeded to remove the screen and slide the window open. Upset with our sudden success, Bo began barking at us, almost as if he couldn’t believe we were this smart. Freaking Bo.

Once the window was opened, I gave my mom a knee for her to stand on, and she slithered through the window. Well, more like monkey-ed through the window. With Tarzan like skill, she was able to jump through the window and stand on the sink. She then carefully jumped to the floor. Bo looked befuddled. We beat his evil-inator this time.

While this nefarious plot was a crazy situation testing our wits, we still love Bo and will probably.. maybe…make this adorable pawprint keepsake.

To make this craft you will need

• 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 Cup Table Salt
• 1/3 Cup Water, plus 1 Tablespoon
• Food Coloring or paint
• 1 Straw
• Nonstick Baking Spray
• Parchment Paper
• Ribbon, Twine, or String

To get the instructions, slick the image below and download the PDF. Then print and create.