a gift for Nonna

January 20, 2010 at 11:56 pm (birthdays, craftiness n' colors)

“It isn’t the size of the gift that matters, but the size of the heart that gives it.”

– Eileen Elias Freeman

Nonna’s birthday was just around the corner, and there came a day when I had to go out with my sister to find her a gift. When I told her where we were going and why, Puff happily stayed behind to play with her dad, who put her to bed that evening. But she didn’t forget, and bright and early the next morning T asked me if she could “make a present” for her Non’s birthday.

Of COURSE she could!!!

I love it when she asks to do specific crafts, or – as in this case – crafts for specific people, and she was so sweet to want to make a birthday gift for her grandmother. So when the younger babies went down for their nap, we got to work. Since I had all the little ones that day, and had to work that night (repeat until Nonna’s birthday), whatever we did would have to be using materials already in the house.

Recently, Nonna re-did her kitchen in fire-engine red and white, and I had heard through the grapevine that she was looking for flowerpots, so we went rummaging around in the basement until we managed to dig up an old terra-cotta flowerpot. I dug out some red and white acrylic paint, and Puff was set. She did most of it with a sponge, which hid the inconsistencies both in the pot and in the paint-job very well. First we did a white base coat, then red on top. When that was dry, I cut a sponge into a large and a small heart shape, dipped it in paint, and held the pot while Puff very carefully pressed the heart-shaped sponges on. The finished pot was prettier then I could have hoped for! But it still looked incomplete. . .

So while the pot was drying, Puff made some felt flowers to put inside. I cut several white and red circles and daisy shapes, and pulled out some red and white foam hearts. Then I told T that we would play a game – red flower pieces needed something white to go on top, and the  white ones needed something red. (When you want a gift-able finished product that was honestly made by a 2-year-old, you have to be a little bit tricky) She did perfectly! We finished off with a touch of glitter and a shiny red ‘gemstone’ heart. She glued on pipe-cleaner stems (which I had to re-glue with the gun, cuz pipe cleaners don’t stick to felt easily). Her flowers turned out great!

Then I took over and hot-glued the stems into a bit of styrofoam, so they would stand upright, (but still be easily removable so Nonna could actually use the pot for plants) and T helped me stuff the pot with tissue-paper. After everything was dry, I hot-glued a checkered bow on the front (T decided which heart would be the front) and her gift was done!

It turned out a bit Valentine-y, but that’s what you get when you try to match a red-and-white kitchen – and anyway, like Puff says –

“Hearts mean LOVE!”

And she’s right!

the finished product

close up of inside – the little hearts go all the way around the rim

Happy birthday, Nonna!

We love you!