Homemade Mother's Day Present:
All Cracked Up!

by Mary from www.craftingtales.com
(Palm Coast FL USA)

I wanted to make a special memo board for my daughter-in-law and with 4 children, they sure needed a place to write notes to one another but I also wanted it to be a fun center that made them smile. This is what I came up with...


What materials did you use?

~ Cardboard egg carton
~ Items from a dollar store such as magnets, wood letters, key hook and wood flower frame
~ 12" by 12" wood frame (Wal Mart $2.97)
~ Paint and markers
~ Mini wood clothespins

How did you make your Mother's day present?

These kind of egg cartons are fun material to craft with. The cardboard cuts easily and it takes to paint well. Just use some good pointed scissors in this project and you won't have any problems.

Since I needed 6 family members, I used a 6 count of eggs and kept each row of 3 egg cups intact. Just cut them across as evenly as possible so they can lay flat when glued. Check out the rest of the cardboard. There are nice curves and corners which will make great spots to cut small noses from. On the bottom of each egg cup (which becomes the face area), you will see two raised rims. Use the longer, skinny one for the top and this will be where you glue the sunglasses on. The fatter shorter rim will be used as the mouth. Use a strong glue, such as E6000 to adhere things with. Cut out different shape and style noses. Test fit each to their cup to see if you like it. Snip here and there until you get the look you desire. Glue to face and allow to dry well. Then paint all a flesh color. Once dry, give a second coat.

Now have fun and cut out sunglasses. Use pieces left from carton and cut different shaped sunglasses. Test fit on cups and snip here and there to trim. Are you giggling yet? They sure are cute, aren't they? Once you have your glasses all cut, grab some markers. Metallic ones work good for lenses and frames. Color each differently. When finished, lay them aside for now.

It's time to give each some hair. Try to immitate their actual looks. If one has long hair for instance, make your yarn longer. Use yellow yarn for blonds, brown for brunettes and so on. Do any of your guys have mustaches or beards? Add those too! For girls hair, cut strands at least 6" long. It's easier to work with and once glue is dry, you can trim after. Lay several strands in a bunch and wrap thread around the middle. This will hold the bunch securely together and also give the hair a parted look. You can braid each side, make ponytails, leave it loose and long or short, glue bangs on, etc. When working with mens or boys hair, snip a bunch of short pieces from yarn. Put glue on cup where you want hair and apply each piece of yarn. When dry you can trim them shorter and even seperate the strands from eachother for more of a fuller look. For mustaches and beards, do the same. Apply one strand of yarn at a time until you achieve the fullness that you want.Glue hair down wherever you want it to stay. Tie little pieces of ribbon on for young girls.

Glue on sunglasses to face, right above each nose. You can coat each face with clear nail polish for some sheen. Allow to dry.

I didn't want just a plain corkboard so I purchased little things and constructed my own memo board. I purchased a 12" by 12" plain wood frame from Wal Mart ($2.97) and the rest of the things came from dollar stores. I used the colors from the plastic hook (on bottom left corner) to choose my color scheme. I wanted it funky and bright! I covered the metal clips with cardstock paper and they come with those small flower magnets. The letters are wood and come 26 in a pack in bright colors. I painted mini clothespins and wrote each name on them. I glued each under the family member and they can use the pins to clip notes for each other. The wood flower was a picture frame but I painted the center with blackboard paint so it can be used to write notes on with chalk. I cut thick cardboard and covered it in cardstock paper for the center of the frame which acts as a corkboard. I made push pins from flowers.

Have fun constructing your own memo center. I guarantee that you'll be "cracking up" through the process! (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun!)


Anything else you'd like to share about your homemade Mother's day present idea?

As an avid crafter, this was one of the most fun projects I have made! I had many laughing moments and each cup took on humorous looks of the individuals, much like a caricature does.


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Check out more of Mary's fun craft ideas on her website www.craftingtales.com.
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