Great Mother's Day Gift Ideas

As I just realize Mother's Day is just around the corner, and begin to scramble to figure out what to get my mother and mother-in-law, I realize I'm not the only one in this predicament.  Of course, My first suggestion to my faithful ones out there would be to buy your mother something from Dayna Lane Gifts!  :)  However, I do like to branch out, and let you know of other artisians out there that we meet on on travels (ie local craft fairs that give us nothing better to do that chit chat with those around us).  The most recent ones we met were a couple based out of Gainesville too.  They have two separate companies, which works perfect for them since one could sell you a gift for a Mother of a human child, and the other a gift for a Mother of an "ine" child (as in feline, canine, etc).

First is The Two Beans, (Amy) who makes these beautiful hand stamped pieces.  She has all different shaped charms, and will stamp them with whatever saying or name you wish, and will even add Swarovski crystal accents (perfect to represent the kids birthdays, anniversarys, etc.)

Next, is BowWow Couture (Anne) which makes handstiched collars for your pets.  My favorite are the ones with the detachable flower.  They had their little Min-pin/Chihuahua mix "Mouse" there rocking one of these, and we fell in love (of course, Mouse's personality may have contributed just a smidge).




So if you are too cramped for time to make something yourself this year (and I will be posting some ideas this week for that as well), check us all out.  Remember, if you can't make it yourself, still try to keep it personal and handmade by using a local artisian or one found on Etsy.  These one of a kind gifts are more heartfelt and unique than any garbage you'll find at a box store....I promise!

Homemade Chia Pet

Ok, after being gone for a few weeks on a business trip with the hubby, I'm back and ready to give you some more great craft ideas.  This one is in honor of Earth Day, and is a homemade chia pet (or as my son lovingly named his, "Robot Cup").

What you need:
Plastic cup (hopefully recycled)
Cupful of dirt (go dig up some from the yard)
2 googly eyes
pom poms
pipe cleaner
feather, sequins, whatever you would like/have lying around to embellish)
grass seeds (or if you have a cat and REALLY want to make it happy, get catnip seeds)



What to do:
1) Glue on googly eyes, a pom pom for a nose, and the pipe cleaner for the mouth.
2) Decorate and embellish to you hearts content until your cup looks just like the Chia Pet you child always wanted.  :)
3) Fill cup with dirt to almost 3/4 of the way.
4) Pour in a generous amount of grass seeds
5) Pat seeds down gently and then top off cup to almost full with remaining dirt
6) Water your Chia Pet cup, place in window and watch it grow!

*My son Connor loves going out to visit "Robot Cup" every morning to water him and talk to him, and give him haircuts.  Just make sure if you go out of town for a bit, have someone water your cup, otherwise you'll get home and he'll look like he used a bottle of conditioner on his hair!

Sock Bunny

Well, everyone I know loves sock monkeys (how can you not?), so we decided to post a really cute Easter version of a sock monkey...a sock bunny!  It's an easy and fun no sewing involved craft you can do with your kids, and you can alter and make this your own however you want.

So here's what you'll need:
-1 knee high kids sock (pink, white, blue, or whatever color you want your bunny to be)
-2 googly eyes
-2 rubber bands
-stuffing (polyfill, beans, cotton balls, whatever you'd like)
-white pom pom
-1 ft ribbon
-red and black marker
-glue
-scissors

And here's what you do:
1) Stuff sock with filling enough to create a body (about 3" tall) and then wrap 1 rubber band around until it is tied off.
2) Continue stuffing sock with filling to create a head (about 1 1/2" tall) and then wrap the other rubber band around until it is tied off as well.
3) Take the ribbon and tie it around the neck of the bunny into a bow. 
4) Glue the white pom pom onto the back of the bunny's body for a tail
5) Glue the googly eyes onto the bunny's head.
6) Draw a mouth, nose and whiskers for the bunny's face
7) Take the remaining part of the sock and cut it in half until you are almost to the top rubber band to make the ears.
8) Add any other embellishments you'd like to make the bunny your own
9) Commence cuddling!