Your mother! That’s not an epithet, it’s a reminder. Mother’s Day is on May 12th, friends. Whether the mother in your life bounces her kids on her knee or chats over a cuppa jo with them, here are some great Mother’s Day ideas for photo gifts and cards that PicMonkey can help you make in a snap.
1. Love’s labours found
The ole coupon book usually yields a smile and a chuckle; who cares if she never gets around to cashing them in! Coupons can focus on heave-ho work like taking out the garbage and washing the dishes. Or they can offer simple moments such as foot rubs and breakfast in bed. Or togetherness activities like picnics, bike rides and — heck yeah — laser rock shows!
PicMonkey tip: Create your coupon book in Collage, and each cell can be a page in your booklet. Use the Square Deal layout, unlock the dimensions (padlock icon in the white bar under your layout) and set it to 1700 x 2200 pixels; that’ll print out on 8½ x 11 inch paper nicely. Fill the cells with background colors from the Swatches tab. Increase the spacing in the Backgrounds tab, if you need fatter margins for your printer. Save your collage, and open it in the Editor to add text and graphics. Print it and cut individual pages along the cell lines.
2. Ring in the affection
The Creative Place designed this ringbook full of prose appreciating a fine lady.
PicMonkey tip: use Collage to create all your pages in one layout (see tips above), and drop in some sweet images of mom. Maybe ya wanna fancy it up with some nice ribbon when you’re done.
3. Canned laughter
This cool project was created by Our Best Bites. We love the colorful design of the can labels, and the clever hack for presenting a seemingly unopened pull tab can. You can go big, too. Hardware stores and paint stores sell silver empty paint cans for about three bucks. Make a “Time Out for Mom” kit for the harried mother who just needs a break in the middle of a crazy day. Toss in a votive candle and matches, a tuft of dried flowers wrapped in raffia, a tiny book of poems or proverbs, and some luscious chocolate.
PicMonkey tip: Use PicMonkey to make a “Back in 10 Minutes” sign to hang from the door knob of her time-out/escape room. Make your label in Collage, if you like, with some of the cute patterns in the Swatches tab.
4. Pillow talk
Yellow Brick Home reminds us that so many mothers we know are pet moms! You can make a photo pillow with Yellow Brick’s instructions, or check out alternate materials and methods below:
Pillow mob will make the entire pillow from a photo you send online
A Beautiful Mess shows how to use gel medium to transfer photos
Infarrantly Creative has a recipe for a DIY transfer medium made of alum and washing soda
5. Serve up the heritage
Isn’t this adorbs?! Heritage photos “framed” by vintage serving dishes: so genius. Better Homes and Gardens instructs you to adhere photos to the dishes with double stick archival tape. But we wonder if a little Modge Podge might be in order, slathered across the top as a transparent seal.
PicMonkey tip: After you scan the original vintage photo, open it in PicMonkey to clean up old scratches (with Clone) and adjust the exposure. Old sepia tone photos have a variety of tints, so if you’re putting together a series, it’s good to make them consistent. Use the Daguerreotype effect, and select one of the three tones (Brady, Shiro, or Plumbe) for all your photos.
6. Mama likes to brag
Randi, from Swoon designed this sweet, minimalist lil’ brag book that’s great for mothers and grandmothers too.
PicMonkey tip: This project puts beautiful photos front and center, and you can show off your photo editing prowess with some great effect choices. The black and white photo effect is a surefire classic, and a Daguerreotype is very flattering for portrait subjects. Consider effects that convey a mood or emotion: one-click effects like Orton, Dusk, or Tranquil vibe it up.
7. Profiles in Cuteness
Another oldie-but-goodie from The SITS Girls. It’s all about the details: we love the way the designer captured the little sprig of hair in the back of this boy’s head!
PicMonkey tip: You can go digital with this one, by executing the entire project in PicMonkey. Click Draw (near the bottom of the Effects menu) and paint white over the background with a fat brush. Use a medium-sized brush to outline the profile of the child in black, and then zoom in (the percent number in the lower right corner) to perfect your silhouette lines with a very small black brush.
8. Simple and classic
“Oh, you pretty things, don’t you know you’re driving your mamas and papas insane?” Insane with love! David Bowie had it right, and a nice framed photo of mom’s (or grandma’s) beautiful darlings will surely bring it home.
PicMonkey tip: We used Daguerreotype/Shiro on this baby and big sib photo.
