Five Essential Books for Mother's Day

Check out these Essential Books for Mother's Day...

This post contains affiliate links. I also received "Once There Was A Mom", so I could review the book. All opinions are 100% my own. See the full disclosure.

Over the years I have received some great books, these are some of my favorites. They are the kind of books that warm your heart and bring a tear to your eye! Each would make a fabulous gift for Mother's Day!

"Once There was a Mom"

This book recently released by Deseret Book, written by Emily Watts and illustrated by Destin Cox, is one that will touch your heart.

The illustrations are beautiful and any mom who reads this will be able to relate to the words that are written.

I have to admit, there is a moment in the book that every time I read it I get choked up and emotional! If you've read the book can you guess where that is? Even if you or your mom is not a "reader", she will enjoy this book!

This book can be purchased from Deseret Book or Deseret Bookshelf Plus (sign up & receive a free 30 day trial)

"The Remarkable Soul of a Woman"

If you are like me and love to soak up President Uchtdorf's words every time he speaks, then you'll love this book (or your mom will).

This book is an inspiration to all women, focusing on our individual worth and God's love.

This book can be purchase from Deseret Book or on Deseret Bookshelf Plus (sign up & receive a free 30 day trial)

"The Runaway Mother"

Written by Carol Lynn Person

Let's face it, we've each slightly contemplated or even threatened that we were going to runaway. Even if that running away was just to a bathroom or a closet.

Being a mom can be some tough business! Find what lessons this mom learned from running away.

This book can be purchased from Amazon: The Runaway Mother

"I am a Mother"

Written by Jane Clayson Johnson

A beautiful book that incorporates her experience as a mother as well as those of her friends and those who she came in contact with through her career in broadcasting.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is, "You Matter... a mother's work is God's work". (Jane Clayson Johnson)

This book can be purchased from Deseret Book or Deseret Bookshelf Plus (sign up & receive a free 30 day trial)

or Amazon (I Am a Mother)

"Love You Forever"

Written by Robert Munsch.

Illustrated by Sheila McGraw

This is one of my favorites! Yes, it's a kid book, but it's a mom's book too!! Just FYI, have a tissue box handy!!

This book can be purchased from Amazon: Love You Forever

Have a mom that LOVES reading??? Sign her up for Deseret Bookshelf Plus!

Gift Ideas for Mom for Mother's Day

This post may contain affiliate links. Thank you for your support! See the full disclosure. 

We have many influences of amazing women in our lives. For a lot of us the first influence is that of our mom. At the age of 19, a year after she and my dad were married, I entered this world and made my mom a mom.  To say she has had an influence on me would be an understatement. This lady right here is the most selfless person you'll meet. We were so blessed to have her stay home with us, she coached our teams, helped at our schools, taught us the importance of the gospel both through word and action, she cheered us on in all aspects of our lives and gave us her unconditional love. What is great about Mother's Day is it is an opportunity to share with the women in our lives the gratitude we have for the influences they have had on us.

A Family Home Evening all about Mothers!! Are Women Not All Mothers?

For tonight's Family Home Evening the topic in which I have chosen is: 

All About MOTHERS!

Preparation: I hope and pray that you can use these ideas as a guideline and adjust them to the needs of your own specific family.  Our prophet President Monson says, "We cannot afford to neglect this heaven-inspired program. It can bring spiritual growth to each member of the family, helping him or her to withstand the temptations which are everywhere. The lessons learned in the home are those that last the longest."  On Lds.org there are resources available in helping to make your Family Home Evenings successful, here is a link to that site on Family Home Evenings.

Invite a member of the family member say the prayer

Discuss any family business

Listen to or Sing: " I Often Go Walking" Children's Songbook

Follow-up with last weeks FHE.

Family Home Evening Instruction: 

Before FHE hard boil enough eggs for each member of your family. To begin Family Home Evening explain to your family that you have something that is very precious to you that you love very much. Show your family the eggs.  Explain that you would like to give each member of the family one of these precious eggs. That you would like them to take care of them, nurture and protect them.

"POP" Cake, great for Father's Day, Birthdays, or any gift really!

For Father's Day I try to always do something that is fun and something that the dad's enjoy.  These "POP" cakes could also be used for, birthdays, graduation, teacher appreciation, etc.

Last Minute Mother's Day Ideas

***Attention***  Mother's Day is this Sunday!!!  Scrambling to find a last minute idea??? Don't worry I've got ya covered :)  Here are some quick, easy ideas:

Happy Mother's Day to All Women!!

(This is one of my favorite pictures of me and my oldest son when he was just little)

I just wanted to take a moment to wish every woman a Happy Mother's Day today!! Each woman has a motherly influence over those around them.  As women we are given the precious gifts to love and nurture. We can use these gifts to bless all people, our children, our husbands, neighbors, friends, nieces, nephews, etc.  I have been blessed with a wonderful mother, grandmothers, mother-in-law, aunts and other women who have showed their love and have had a profound influence in my life.  I have had the most amazing examples!  My mom completely amazes me!  I remember her making pancakes in the morning, having the house completely organized all before it was time to go to school.  She always had fun activities for us to do. And probably the best example she was to me growing up was the example of a faithful woman.  I never doubted the importance of the gospel in my mom's life.  She faithfully served in her callings and always has given her calling 150 plus percent.  She is creative, caring and loving.  I also never doubted her love for me and my brothers. Now that I am a mom myself, I appreciate her so much more!

 I am grateful for the opportunity to be a mother to three energetic, amazing children.  It is the most stressful, crazy, exciting, fun, and awarding job that I could ever have.  At times I feel completely inadequate and it is definitely a learning process, it is a good thing that children are so loving and forgiving!  The most awarding moments are when one of my children come up, give me a hug and tell me that they love me.  I love to just look at their innocent faces, that are so filled with energy and love.  It is such an amazing and sometimes overwhelming responsibility to be responsible in teaching a child, in helping them to recognize their divine potential. It is a good thing that we don't have to do it alone!  I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who has given me other women in my life to be examples and to lend their support, as I try to raise my children.  I am also so grateful that I know that he is always there for me.  I look at motherhood as a special calling that I have been given.  With this calling I am able to receive personal revelation as to what my children need at certain moments in their life.  I rely on my Heavenly Father, because I know that there is no way that I can do it by myself. After all, they are his spirit children and I want to be able to raise them in a way that is pleasing to him.

Some More Mother's Day Printables

I love having all kinds of options, that is why I am adding some more printable pages for Mother's Day!

Printing Tips: Click on image and save it to your computer. You can then print the image from your saved file.

The sheet above is a color page. It would be great alone, or you could print it on card stock and then print one of the below printable pages onto the other side:

The two above printable pages were first posted on my Marvelous Mother's Day Guide Post, click HERE to be directed to that page for more ideas.  Any of the above could be printed front and back to each other.

This printable could be printed out onto card stock and then mod podged onto a 2x4 block that has been cut to 8 inches. Printable measurement is 3 1/2 x 8 inches. I think it would look great mod podged onto a block that has been painted brown or stained a dark color. Spray whole thing with a clear coat.

We cannot Forget about GRANDMA!!!  Here are some printable the kids could fill out and color for one of their FAVORITE people! These could also be printed front and back.

The Marvelous Mother's Day Guide

Mother's Day is such a great holiday to show love and appreciation for all of the MOM's in our lives!! This post includes everything you need to make Mother's Day special, for the women who do so much. Most of the images below you should be able to just click on, save to your computer and print out from your computer as an image. There are some links you can click on. Some of the images you will need to click on the link to the download (it will say so by it if you need to do this).  So browse around and have some fun, making this Mother's day a special one!

Since this post, I have written a new one. So for more ideas click here: Last Minute Mother's Day Ideas

Cards for Mom/Grandma:

Mother's Day Card to be Colored:

Front and back of card
(Have kids' Color)

 Inside of Card

(In the blank area they can draw or write something nice about their moms)

Have kids color the planter and then trace three of their fingers coming out of the planter, for the stems of the flower.  If you don't want to do this they can just draw stems or use green pipe cleaner or green yarn as stems.  Then either draw flowers on, or you could use flower stickers or you could do the flowers I did above. Which are easy:  From paper tear out a circle shape out one one paper and a small circle shape out of another. Do this for all three flowers.  Now wrinkle up the circles, un-wrinkle them. Glue the larger circle to the top of the stem, then glue the smaller circle on top. Do this for each flower.  Then use a hole punch and punch out some coordinating paper for the center of the flower. I have a heart hole punch so I used that, but a normal hole punch would work just great, use a tooth pick to put the glue on it and place it in the center of the flower.  Let the kids draw pictures and write a nice note to their mom or grandma inside of the card.

Front & Back of Card

Here is another option:

Craft Ideas to be made by the kids:

Page one of Bee Craft 

(This would be fun for a kid to color, cut and glue together. In the heart they could write something they love about their mom)

Page 2 of Bee Craft

Bee Color Page 

(Child could color, paint or glue pieces of yellow tissue paper onto the bee. Then write something they love about their mom inside of the heart)

Super easy and fun for the kids to do. Trace their hands on paper, then trace around the lines with a marker. Tape or glue hands onto a long strip of paper (I cut a 14 inch long paper into strips and taped them together to make a long strip of paper) Then write the wording "Mom, I love you this much!" onto the long strip of paper, then decorate away!

So fun and easy to do. Trace hand print onto heavier paper like card stock. I just used white. Then I erased the pencil markings and went around the outer edges with a yellow marker. Wrap the thumb around to the pinky, leaving a small hole at the bottom for the pipe cleaner to go through. Then tape together. Using a pencil curl the fingers down. Cut an orange pipe cleaner into thirds and twist them around the green pipe cleaner. Fold over each of their tips just a little bit. Insert the pipe cleaner into the hole of the flower. Hot glue into place. Using green paper, cut out two leaf shapes and hot glue them to the pipe cleaner.  I used an old syrup container for the vase and filled it with brown rice. Tied some twine around it and their you go a present for mom!



You can pick these little bird houses at the store for cheap. Give a child some paint and let them create away. Then they will have a personalized gift to give their mom.

Coupon Books:

Coupon Booklet

Write down the things you would love to do for your Mom to make her Happy!

Fabulous DIY gift ideas:

Felt Flower Hair Clips Click here for Tutorial 

(these could also be used as a corsage, by putting a safety pin on the back instead of a hair clip)

2X4 Picture holder

4x6 Calendar 

You could put this in a plastic frame with a magnet on the back

(It is only 100 pixel/inch resolution, sorry it's not higher)

DIY Chalkboards are a pretty easy gift to do. They can be personalized, write a cute note to mom on one of these.  HERE is a link. If you need more detailed instructions let me know!

I made these Card Boxes a few years back for my mom and mother-in-law and made some cards and gift tags to go along with them. It's so nice to have somewhere with all of your card needs. Here is a link.

DIY Erasable Calendar HERE is the link.

Flowers!!! This us usually what my mom receives for Mother's day. I usually buy her plants and plant her planter that we made her. Here is a link to the post about this floral arrangement.

Mom's are busy!!  I am a list person. I am so much better at managing time and getting things done when I write them down on a list.  Here is the link to the post.

Make your mom a personalized note book. Here's the link and tutorial.

My Brother mad these for my mom and myself a couple years back.

I made this bee and the ladybug years and years ago, they have held up well! I have them on my porch every year!

My husband and I made these planters for our mom's a while back.  I wish we would have made one for me. This is the planter that I plant flowers in for my mom each year.

You can get a clock for quite cheap, like $3. Open it up (the plastic front comes off easily) You can make a template out of the paper clock face that is already in there. Choose something to go with the decor and paint away! Put everything back in place.

Who doesn't love a nice Wall Hanging?

Personalize an apron for mom or grandma. Trace hand prints on paper and then cut them out of fabric. Stitch onto the apron either by hand or with a sewing machine.  I also did wording. You can use some fusible web to hold it in place before sewing.

Decorate a container and fill it with pictures and happy thoughts, memories and word to give to MOM! See Poem, in the poem section, that could be attached to it.

I love these! They are so nice to stick in a bag or in the car. If you'd like a tutorial leave me a comment below.

This is just a mug from the dollar store. Paint a design on the front and then spray it with clear coat.  If can be filled with your mom's favorite treat!

Tissue Flowers!  I used to make these when I was a kid.  So a few years back I made them for my mom. I found this awesome planter and bought some greenery from the dollar store. The cute wood flowers were added later.

This was another combined effort by my hubby and I. He built this planter and I did the floral arrangement. It was another gift for my mom.

These wreaths are so easy, a little time consuming, but easy!  Leave a comment if you would like a tutorial.

Free Printables from some friends:

This cute print is from Tami at A Pocket full of LDS prints. Click HERE for the link to the download.

This is another cute print from Tami at A Pocket full of LDS prints. Click HERE for the link to the download.

Mommy Questionnaires:

These two printables could be printed front and back.  The top one is a questionnaire. The kids can draw a portrait of their mom and answer the questions. The bottom is where they can write next to each letter something about mom that starts with that letter.

Here's a link to my latest post with more Mother's day printables, including some for Grandma. Click HERE.

Mother's Day Humor:

This funny little Resume is done by SC Life as a Wife. Click HERE for the link to her post.

Mother's Day Treats:

These Cupcakes are so easy to do!  Bake cake box cupcakes as directed on package. Allow to cool. Put some candy melts into a plastic baggy and warm up in the microwave for 30 seconds. Mash together in bag, continue warming up in 15 sec increments until melted. Cut the corner off of the plastic baggy and draw a flower onto some wax paper. Fill in the flower with the melted candy melts.  Allow to cool and set up (you may want to place it in the fridge for a few minutes) Then with yellow candy melts draw a circle for the center. Allow to cool.  Put butter cream frosting in a piping bag with a decorative tip and pipe frosting on.  Peel the candy flower off of the wax paper and place it on top of the cupcake.

Here are some other cupcake decorating options.  Simply pike a flower on with frosting and add a candy center, or use sprinkles, gummy bears and candies to form flowers.

I made these flowers out of Starburst candies for a birthday cake a few years back.  It would be great for a cake or cupcake topper for mom.  They are pretty easy to make, just like making roses out of play dough. If you are interested in a tutorial, leave me a comment below. (Sorry for the poor quality photo!)

Poems about and/or for Moms:

A Mother's Love by Kim Chase

 This poem is to be attached to the note pad.

This poem is to be attached to some flowers.

LDS.ORG (Articles and such about MOM):

* "Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God" - Elder Jeffery R. Holland shares a tribute to Mothers

* "Are We Not All Mothers?" -SHERI L. DEW

* "A “Mother Heart”"-JULIE B. BECK, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency

* Mother’s Day Activities May 2012 Friend

* Touching Mother's Day Message from Mormon Messages

* Flowers for Mother’s Day May 1989 Friend Magazine

* There are many and many more!  Go to lds.org and type in Motherhood or Mother's Day in the search engine and you will get a list of all kinds of amazing articles and such!!

Link to my Pinterest page that has a whole bunch of other fun ideas and links: Mother's Day Ideas.