This year, Mother’s Day is on Sunday, May 14th. Mother’s Day celebrates motherhood and is a time to celebrate our mothers and mother figures. For some people, it’s hard to think of what to give, or do for, our moms/mother figures because they deserve the world for everything that they do. These are some of the things I was able to come up with, and I hope they’ll help you when picking out something for your mom.

Breakfast in bed

This will always make anyone feel special and is easy and affordable. Figure out their favorite breakfast foods, and what they like to drink (coffee, smoothie, tea, etc.) and make it! You can add a flower to make it look prettier. Here are a few easy recipes if you’re stuck on what to make: http://www.foodnetwork.com/holidays-and-parties/packages/mothers-day/photos/mothers-day-breakfast-and-brunch-recipes

Makeup/Makeovers

Who doesn’t love receiving makeup? Or better yet, getting a makeover! Sephora comes out with gift sets specifically for Mother’s Day. You can also just buy your mom’s favorites (you can add brushes too) and put it in a box and decorate it. Sephora also does makeovers in store, but most hair salons also do makeovers. Or, you can give your mom her makeover yourself!

Bath/shower

If you’ve been on social media you would see that bath and shower products are the new hype. Brands like Lush come out with special products for Mother’s Day, which you can buy individually or buy in a set. Other brands also come out with luxury soaps.

Flowers

Flowers are always the easy go to gift. But you don’t have to get the typical red roses. There are so many other beautiful flowers besides roses! I personally love sunflowers, and I know my mom loves daffodils. They’re easy to find at any store, or you can order them online and have them delivered. You can always add flowers to any other gift you give.

Customized anything

Whether you DIY a picture frame and put a photo you know is special, or have your mom’s name engraved onto a nice piece of jewelry, she’ll love it. Customized gifts are nice, and can also vary in prices, so it can fit any budget.

Mother’s Day is right around the corner, so start looking!

This years prom will be on Friday, May 5th. Some people are very excited and are planning on going, while others aren’t. If you are not planning on going, but still want to do something fun with your friends or alone here are some ideas:

Mani-pedi 

Getting a manicure and pedicure done is always fun and relaxing. You can sit back, read a book, watch videos on your phone, or catch up with whoever you went with. Tams Nails (Woodbury) is one of my favorites.

Movie night

By yourself or with family and friends, binging on movies you love is always a good time. Some of my recommendations are Grease and The Breakfast Club. But if you’d rather go to the theater these are some of the movies that are currently playing, The Fate of the Furious, The Boss Baby, Beauty and the Beast and Smurfs: The Lost Village.

Bake!

Bake something new. If you’re into baking, you can find a new recipe online and try out! This is extra fun if you do it with friends or siblings. But if you prefer the easier route, you can head to a grocery store and buy your favorite cake mix. Whatever you make will be great to eat as you watch movies!

Have a photoshoot!

Dress up in your favorite outfit and go to a park or to your friends house and take pictures! You don’t need any kind of fancy camera; your phone will do just fine! Be creative and have fun! You can buy props from places like Urban Outfitters or a dollar store.

Go to a party/teen event

Prom isn’t the only place where you can dress up and dance the night away. If you’d rather go to a more casual event/dance than prom, start looking now for events. Myth Nightclub (Maplewood) sometimes hosts events for teens ages 16-21. There are also more venues in Minneapolis that do events for teens so start looking!

There are many more things you can do if you choose to not go to prom. These are just some of my ideas. Whatever you choose to do be smart and safe.

For even more ideas, go to: https://www.buzzfeed.com/meganbeese/19-things-to-do-instead-of-prom-15s00?utm_term=.xoBlqGdrY#.imgxdoGDr

If you’re out of ideas on what to decorate your room with, or even if you’re bored and you just want to create some crafty things for your room, here is an idea you can try. It’s really pretty simple, fun to make, and it looks really cool too.

The craft project is a “Stain Glass Votive Holder.” This is a really easy and simple decoration you can do. The materials you’ll need are:

• tissue paper in any color you want
• Mod Podge (matte finish) – in a pinch you can also use school glue
• a paintbrush
• scissors
• a glass votive holder to fit your candle(s) – it could be wine tumblers or thrifted vases
• paper punches in many different shapes
• q-tips, which are optional.

Here are the 7 steps to do it:

1. Choose which colors you want, and then choose a paper punch that you would like, and punch out little, small shapes of them, and set them aside.
2. Then, take a bit of Mod Podge with your paintbrush and water,  and mix them. It should just be a thin layer. 
3. Now, start attaching the punched-out paper shapes to the glass votive using your paintbrush. You could also put the Mod Podge onto the glass first, and then stick the paper shapes on.
4. Then, brush over the shapes afterward to fully fill them with the Mod Podge. Wet tissue paper can rip easily, so don’t get too rough with it.
5. Brush gently and take your time. Then, keep attaching more and more shapes onto the glass votive. You could overlap them if you want to.
6. Once your glass votive is fully covered, set it aside to dry. When it’s dry, you’ll see the Mod Podge that isn’t covered with tissue paper. If this bothers you, you could get a q-tip and wipe it off.
7. When everything is dry, just have a candle to put into the glass votive and you’re all set!

The original project can be found at:

How-To: “Stained Glass” Votive Holders

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and everyone may want to decorate their homes with things or not. There are many things to decorate your homes with and it could be done with just the things that you have around in your home. Yarn, construction paper, envelops, etc. are all things that you can basically craft with.

Valentine’s Day has many different things related to it: hearts, cupids, etc. You can easily craft things from hand, and you can get little kids, or your younger siblings, to come and do it with you too. All the things that you’ll need to make these decorations are: colored paper/construction paper, scissors, a pencil, tape or double stick tape, and a ruler for measurements.

The first decoration you can make is the “Paper Heart Garland.” I’ve made this decoration before, and it’s really simple to make.

First, you’ll need to cut some colored paper into 3/4″ strips and fold them in half, but if you want to make some hearts twice as big, then cut two strips of paper and put them together at the bottom of each heart with double stick tape.

Once you’ve done this, get a pencil and curl the loose ends and get a piece of double stick tape and tape the curled part together.

Lastly, you can string the heart garland together from the bottom up with any string you choose. Push your threaded needle up through the bottom fold of each heart, and then use the double stick tape to sandwich the thread between the two halves of the curled tops.

Now, you’re all done! You can place your garland anywhere you like around your house. This decoration is easy to craft and use to decorate around your house. 

Another decoration you can also do is the “Paper Flower.” This is also really simple and easy to make.

First, you’ll have to cut a 4×4″ square sheet of paper and draw a spiral, an actual spiral so you can cut it out, to get a spiral afterwards.

Then, cut out the drawn spiral and begin rolling the spiral from the outside end, and then you can keep rolling until there aren’t anymore rolls to roll, and then you’re done!

You can stick these onto branches, if you have a vase of branches hanging around your home, or they could be scattered on the table too. Another idea you can do with these are, you can also make a bouquet with them.

There are many kinds of decorations you can make, to decorate you home with, and these are just a few examples.

Links to both the decorations and the original page:

http://cutediyprojects.com/home-decor/diy-home-decor-ideas-valentines-day/ http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2010/01/paper-heart-garland.html http://dozidesign.blogspot.sk/2008/05/paper-flower-tutorial.html

Valentine’s Day is filled with love and happiness, but if you’re a last minute shopper, it’ll be a day of stress for you trying to find the perfect gift for anyone special in your life. Here’s a list of a couple of ideas for everyone.

If you and your partner struggle to decide what to do on date night, give them a mason jar full of date ideas so when date night rolls around you two are set! This link is a DIY on how to make this gift, http://www.bigdiyideas.com/diy-date-night-jar-for-100-great-dates/

You can never go wrong with giving chocolate and/or candy as a gift! Thankfully, many candy companies come out with heart shaped boxes full of their candy. You can get them at places like Walmart, Target, Walgreen’s and many other stores. Prices go from $1 and up. 

Stuffed animals are also a super easy choice. Again, you can find them in almost any store. Since prices are $5.99 and up, you’ll be able to find something that fits your budget.

If you and your significant other have been together for a while, or you just want to get them something more sentimental you can get them a personalized keychain. Gift.com has this, and many more items, you can customize to give to your significant other. 

Another easy option is to put all of the person’s favorite candies, snacks, and anything else they might like, or need, into a gift basket. You can buy Valentine’s Day themed candies and decorate the box with pink red and white decorations. You can also buy them from various websites. This gift basket is from fromyouflowers.com.

For anyone that enjoys food, chocolate covered strawberries are a must! You can DIY (do it yourself) it and make as many as you’d like, or you can buy them and have them delivered to whoever you’d like. Prices depends on where you buy them, but it will be cheaper if you do them on your own.

If you are really out of time, you can always get a cute, funny, cheesy card, and just write down your feelings for the person you will be gifting this to. Add in a gift card to their favorite store or restaurant and they’ll love it and you!