My Mom's Mother's Day Card

My Mom will surely quirk, "I'm your only mother."

This is the Mother's Day card I'm sending my Mamma. She does not like to receive fresh flowers, so I often send her cards decorated with pretty flowers so she doesn't miss out on the beauty of nature.

My Mom is an alien (or rather an overly practical German. Same thing!😄). Unfortunately, if she receives a vase of flowers, rather than focusing on how lovely and thoughtful real flowers are, she thinks about how much money will soon end up in the garbage. And ... how that money could have been spent on something more permanent.

Luckily, she approves, as well as, appreciates a pretty card and good wishes on a day that honors mothers. So I'm covered. I'm even allowed to buy a pretty card (but if crazy expensive, she would not approve). 

The last two years, I made her Mother's Day cards for fun, and they look fancy [free printable cards here]. Sometimes I throw in an unexpected nonperishable gift too. But it gets harder to select useful gifts as she grows older. As it is, a strong willed German prefers to select her own gifts. 

Certainly, the old saying applies, and flipping it: When Mamma is happy, everybody is happy!

Thank you, MOTHERS, for all your sacrifices. 

🌹Happy Mother's Day!🌹

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Happy Mother's Day Cards

Mother's Day crept up on me this year. (I thought it was next week.) Forget about sending flowers to my mother. She thinks flowers are a big waste of money and gets cross if you go that route. Weird, right? (Send her flowers to me!) So to make a long story short, I made her this free printable card, which she will like ... and that's all I care about!

In my pressed-for-time desperation, I discovered a website I believe is a cut above some others. It has a nice selection of pretty designs, and I especially like how the option [to print 2-sided (back and front)] produces a normal size greeting card. 

I printed on 2 sheets of paper: (1) A sturdy paper stock, plus (2) a regular weight sheet of printer paper (8.5 inch wide by 11 inch tall letter-size). I printed the design on the sturdy paper stock sheet, and the inside message on the 2nd regular sheet of printer paper. I folded each sheet in half, then glued the ligher weight sheet inside the sturdy sheet of paper to make a fancy card. With two layers of paper, the card has the weight to stand up. If my way seems too complicated, you can just follow the directions to print both design and messenge on a single sheet of paper.

This is the inside of the card. You can make edits. I changed the color to blue, but didn't add a wordy message. I wrote a message by hand. You can also leave the inside page blank if you like.

Trust me, I'm far from crafty, so if I can make a lovely card, anybody can. Printed on good paper, the card looks mightly fine! I also mailed the card in a fancy, good paper stock envelope.

What a great find for occasional personalized greeting cards! Mix it up with store bought ones.

Happy Mother's Day to Mothers everywhere, and to my mom, Glücklicher Tag des Mamma! 

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Great Gifts For Mom And Everyone Else

For natural beauty products I count on two stores, their names so similar that folks looking for one might make the mistake of walking into the other. The Body Shop and Bath & Body Works are two separate stores with much in common. Both offer skin, body and hair care items made from pure, ultra indulgent ingredients. Both sell pretty gift sets – ideal for birthdays, special occasions and days when you just need to pamper yourself. And both give terrific discounts on spa and glamour products that are already reasonably priced – usually just when you need gifts for special occasions like Mother's Day.

Recently I received a thoughtful gift – The Body Shop's "Love Your Body" card. It comes with exclusive member-only benefits. On Thursday, the card's 10% discount increased to a whopping 25% [for one day only], so I ran in to stock up on my favorite product in the store, their Mononi Miracle Oil. It's a great after-bath moisturizer and ends-of-hair treatment. I was given my membership card along with a gift certificate – the perfect combination to make someone feel like a VIP. The Body Shop also has top-notch makeup. Rich in pigments, colors last all day.

At Bath & Body Works the inventory is enormous! Whether you buy fragrances, skincare, or accessories, you'll get excellent quality and value. There are literally 1001 gifts to choose from - including their signature body sprays, lotions and shower gels, soft micro-terry loungewear, self-heating gloves, and booties, plus blends of aromatherapy oils, shea butter, and candles. Brand new this year is a lovely "garden in a pail.'' You can select a mix of snapdragon, petunia, and marigold, or bring home indoor sunflowers, or choose parsley, basil, and chives. You simply can't go wrong with either store to find the perfect gift. And while you look, be sure to pick up a tiny indulgence for yourself.