Capturing a Memory

Moms everywhere know the truth about Mother’s Day. It’s not the perfectly arranged floral bouquet or the velvet lined box holding expensive jewelry or even the breakfast delivered in bed on a fancy tray that we hold closest to our hearts.

It’s those priceless hand-made, covered in glitter, framed by popsicle sticks, dripping in glue gifts from our children which are the truest treasures.

And, let’s be honest, while more often they not they wind up all dried out at the bottom of your purse or in the pocket of your jacket or the cup holder of your car, any flowers handed to you by your children are still the sweetest of all the treasures. Maybe it’s because they seem to capture a moment of spontaneous love. And we moms know that we will take all of the spontaneous moments of love we can get!

So, the next time you are handed a blossom, instead of stuffing it into your purse or your pocket or your cup holder, why not turn it into a treasure?

How to Make a Framed Dried Flower Necklace

Step 1: After your 11 year old son gives you a cherry blossom and says, “I’ll always bring you flowers Mom” and after your heart melts and you fight back tears, guard that blossom with your life and put it in the refrigerator to keep it fresh until you are ready to start the drying process.

Step 2: Place flower in newspaper or other thick paper. We like to use the paper that they give you at TJ Maxx to wrap breakable items. And we shop at TJ Maxx a lot so we have tons of it! Fold the paper over the flower and then place between heavy books for 3-4 days.

 Step 3: Gather your supplies. You will need one ‘frame’ style glass pendant which can be found at any craft store that sells jewelry making products, the scrapbook paper of your choice, craft glue and your dried flower.

 Step 4: Pop open the frame and separate the two panes of glass.

 Step 5: Trace around one pane onto the scrapbook paper and cut it out.

Step 6: Place a tiny dab of craft glue on the back of the dried flower and affix to scrapbook paper.

 Step 7: Place between the two panes of glass and reassemble the frame. Attach the pendant to a simple chain and enjoy!

You know, there has been nothing in my life which has sent me to our knees in prayer more than being a mother. These precious creations are given to us and we are then called to give them back to the Lord day after day after day after day (and sometimes minute by minute!) and entrust them to Him. That’s easier said than done, right?

They say that being a mom is like having your heart walking around outside of your body and we definitely agree. But the older we get, the more we realize that having our hearts walking around outside of our bodies means that we get this amazing opportunity to see them in a unique way. We get to see our hearts reflected back to us….the good…the bad…and the downright ugly. Because, of course, we all have had those moments when we think “Yikes! They’re doing/saying that because I do/say that!”

But, then there are those moments when they spontaneously say ‘I love you Mom’ or they do a chore without being asked or they simply bring you a cherry blossom. And it’s in those moments, those beautiful moments, when you realize that having your heart outside your body might not be such a bad thing after all!