Make a Flowering Family Tree for Mother's Day

The best Mother's Day gifts are always hand-made, something your mother can cherish for years to come. A flowering family tree is an easy Mother's Day craft, which will wow her and become an instant keepsake. Celebrate your mother with this special home made gift this year.

The flowering family tree can be as large and involved or simple as you like. The finished product will resemble a small bonsai tree with blossoms for each member of the family. Your mother can place it on her desk at work, at home or keep it as a spring decoration. If you have a large family, use smaller blossoms. If you want to keep the family tree more intimate, just include your immediate family members. And, of course, feel free to include the family pets as part of your family tree too.

Chose a small vase as the base for your flowering family tree. You can use a plastic cup to save money, or make the Mother's Day gift special with a simple glass vase. Using a clear vase will make this Mother's Day gift a beautiful display piece instead of just another craft. Using a glass base, instead of plastic, will also make the base heavier and more stable. Check your local Goodwill or thrift store for a selection of vases or glassware, usually available under $1.

Fill the bottom half of your family tree base with modeling clay. If you are using a clear glass base, the clay will show through, so line the bottom and sides of the vase with decorative pebbles or colored marbles before filling it with clay.

Next, take brown and green pipe cleaners (also called craft chenille straws), and braid them together to form a trunk. The width and length of your trunk will vary depending on how large you want the overall Mother's Day gift to be. Use at least four pipe cleaners to make the trunk strong enough to support the branches and leaves on a small family tree.

Press the bottom of the finished trunk about two inches into the modeling clay in the base. Let the clay dry so the trunk will be supported before finished the Mother's Day gift.

When the clay has dried, and the trunk is sturdy, begin adding branches. You may use two or three pipe cleaners, woven together. Wrap the end around the trunk and spread each branch out in a different direction. If you have woven a few pipe cleaners together for the branch, unweave the ends of the branch so the individual pipe cleaners point in different directions. Make a branch for each member of the family and include a few extra branches.

Next, make leaves from various colors of green felt of craft paper. Craft paper comes in a variety of patterns, which looks really cool when you combine them on the tree. Choose small patterns in different shades of green and alternate them as you make leaves. The size of the leaves will depend on the size of family tree you are making. Vary the sizes for baby leaves and full-grown leaves.

Choose a bright color craft paper or cloth for the family tree blossoms. You could also choose a fruit, like apples or oranges, instead of flowers. Cut the shapes out, use a permanent marker or fabric paint to write the first name of each family member on each shape.

Attach one blossom or fruit shape to the end of each branch with craft glue. This is time consuming because you may have to hold the shape in place a few minutes as the craft glue sets. After you have filled in each family member on the Mother's Day tree, begin attaching leaves all over the gift. Use as many leaves as you like. The more leaves you use, the more texture and color your Mother's Day gift will have.