Mother's Day Gift from the Heart (and Lima Beans)

I love crafting! Craft, hardware and office supply stores are my favorite places to shop. When my children were young I always had plenty of supplies for them to draw, paint and glue to their hearts content. Crafting is a wonderful way for children to develop fine motor skills and to let their imagination run wild. Gifts that are handmade by children are to me the most precious that you can receive. The look in a child’s eyes and the pleasure they receive in making something for someone they love is priceless. My 91 year old mother still wears a necklace that one of her granddaughters made in fifth grade for a Mother’s Day gift. Even though my son is in his 30’s there is a spot on my kitchen counter with a treasured tulip he painted for me when he was 8 years old.

I can’t think of a better way to spend a beautiful spring afternoon than with an adorable 10 year old making a gift for his mother. I enlisted one of my favorite little boys to help craft a Mother’s Day present. Daniel Bogetti is in the fourth grade and a has a great imagination. He is the nephew of California Dry Bean Board member Stephen Perez.

It was such a beautiful day when we crafted that we sat outside and were joined by several of the families pets. Ruby the chicken interrupted us more than once by deciding she wanted to help by flying up and sitting on the table.

Daniel had several options for paint. I brought a few different types. He preferred the cheaper Prang watercolors that come with 8 colors. He also used Pearlescent metallic watercolor that come in 16 colors. He liked the brightness and ease of use with those paints. I bought the wooden bird and the flower at Michael’s. The two projects took us several hours.

-Marilyn

Supplies:

Wood flower

Wooden bird

Watercolors

Brushes

Glue

Assortment of dry beans and peas

large lima beans, split

black beans

blackeyes

and split peas