With Mother’s Day coming up, we know it can be hard to find a gift for the woman who gave you life and so much more. Lucky for you, moms always love handmade gifts from their kids (especially DIY photo gifts), no matter how old you get! Show her your love with a beautiful AND functional DIY mini zen garden. Just like the stress-reducing benefits of coloring books for adults, a mini zen garden promotes mindfulness and meditation. Because sometimes a stressed-out mama just wants a time-out for herself. A mini zen garden of pink sand and flamingos is the type of happy place where she can relax and unwind. Bonus: If you’re short on time, this project is really quick to pull together last minute!
Materials:
— decor sand, pink
— wood tray
— stones and pebbles
— basswood strips
— X-ACTO knife
— super glue
Instructions:
1. First, superglue any accessories that you want to use to your tray (like mini flamingos!).
2. Then pour pebbles into one corner of the tray around your flamingos.
3. Now you’ll add your pink sand to the tray! Then add rocks to the sand.
4. For a rake, we’ll cut pieces of basswood strips using an X-ACTO knife. You will need a long handle, a broom and four “prongs” for the rake. Glue the pieces together and set aside to dry.
First, we’ll superglue accessories to our tray to secure them. To accessorize your zen garden, you can find miniatures like flamingos and other lawn decorations in the dollhouse section of Michael’s or your local art store. We think mini flamingos make everything better!
Now we’ll pour pebbles into one corner of the tray around our flamingos to create a little rocky spot like you’d find in a real garden.
Add your pink sand to the tray! Pour it slowly and then gently shake the tray side to side to even out the sand. Add rocks on top of the sand and any other accessories to complete your tray.
Finally, to use the zen garden, we’ll need a rake. For this, cut pieces of basswood strips using an X-ACTO knife. You will need a long handle, a broom and four “prongs” for the rake. If you want to be exact, you can measure the pieces before cutting them — the handle is five inches long, the broom part is one and a half inches long and the prongs are each a half inch long. Then superglue all the pieces together and leave the rake to dry for a few minutes before using it.
Peace and love!
How will you show your love this Mother’s Day? Share with us on Instagram and use #iamcreative.
