Mother's Day - (More) Gifts

This should round out my 2013 Mother's Day Posts. As I said last week, I wanted to have something for all the mom's coming for brunch. They are all a big part of my life, and JJ's too. I pinned a bunch of stuff a couple months ago, and decided to throw a couple of the ideas together. First up was this cute hand soap favor from a Mother's Day Lunch submitted to Catch My Party.

Source: Amanda's Parties To Go via Catch My Party

I loved the pretty label attached to each. Amanda actually offers a ton of coordinating printables for free, but I wanted to make my own. I scooped up a bunch of pretty smelling soaps from Bath and Body Works when they were on sale and I had a coupon, but realized I was short and had to order a couple more online two weeks before Mother's Day - typical. I didn't think the soap was quite enough, so I decided to add in this adorable idea as well:

Source: Kinzie's Kreations

Cute, right? Kinzie also offered the printable for free on her site. I knew it wouldn't really match the labels I was designing, but I figured I could just get a cute container for the M&M's and put it inside. If you follow us on Instagram (username PinsterSisters) - you might have seen me post this pic a couple weeks ago:

I found a bunch of these pretty little tins on sale at (where else?) Michaels and thought they would be perfect for holding some M&M's. You might have also seen this pic while I was in the middle of designing the labels:

I decided to use a sort of Moroccan tile pattern and also incorporate some pastel plaid that matched the paper goods I bought (from Party City). After a lot of computer time, printing, and cutting, it was finally time to assemble (the Friday night before Mother's Day).

The supplies (candy, soaps, tins, and bags) and the labels (thank you once again Creative Memories Circle Cutters circa 2001!)

Instead of just giving a little bag of M&M's, I bought a bunch of big bags and separated them out - giving everyone a little bit more than they would have gotten in a single serve bag. To keep them fresh (and because I wasn't sure the tins were food safe), I put them in clear plastic bag - the kind you would put cookies in - and attached the "moms are the sweetest" label to the top.

They were a bit snug in the tin, so the label wasn't as straight as I would have liked, but it was good enough.

I added a "Sweets for your Sweet Tooth" label to the tin and tied on a "For Your Helpful Hands" label to the soap.

It was probably about 11:30 pm by the time I got to this point so please forgive the dark photos.

I put one of each item into a larger clear plastic bag and tied on a "Happy Mother's Day" label. Because you know how much I love a rhyme - I added the following to the back:

A great mom like you

deserves a special treat,

So allow me to share with you

some of my favorite sweets.

The soap is included just in

case things go south.

Like the candy melting in your hand,

instead of in your mouth!

Love, JJ

Corny, I know, but I thought it was fun. And M&M's are a favorite of JJ's when I let him have some. Here they are all assembled (in the daylight) and ready to be handed out:

This one is pretty crappy cell phone pic, but its apparently the only one I have of one finished package.

I randomly put the soaps and tins together, but I think they came out really pretty and all the colors and patterns in the labels, tins, and soap went together nicely. It was a pretty chaotic flurry of gift exchanging when everyone arrived and I was also manning the kitchen so I didn't get any immediate reactions, but I hope everyone enjoyed them. Although time consuming, I really liked making the labels and hopefully I can use the patterns for other future projects. 

This (finally) wraps up my Mother's Day related posts. Overall it was a great day - I got to spend it with not only my own mom and the little guy who made me a mom, but with all the other great moms in our family. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures, but here is one of JJ and me at the end of the day. We were both exhausted, but still smiling!