Mother’s Day is around the corner – 12th March – and now is the time to show your mom just how special she is to you. While a box of chocolates and flowers is easy, this does not really show any effort and will not earn you the extra ‘brownie’ points we so desire.

So what do you buy your mom on this special day? The trick to give a thoughtful gift is to give one close to your heart and something that she will love. Here are five crafty gifts to give your mom this Mother’s Day:

Homemade Candles

Instead of worrying about how to make a candle, buy a plain one and jazz the candle up a bit. Add decorative flowers, animals or candle paint to give your gift a unique look. Remember, the point is not to look like the hundreds of sample candles in the stores, but to create something that is unique to your mom.

If you are looking to create a candle from scratch, ensure that you incorporate all the things your mom loves the most – fragrance, size, shape and colour – into the design.

Food Basket

No women – or person for that matter – can say no to chocolate. Make your mom a unique gift food basket filled with all of her favourite homemade items. This gift basket can include: rusks, chocolates, brownies, shortbread and all the other yummy things she will enjoy nibbling on. Remember, to complete the basket, add a bunch of her favourite flowers and write a homemade card.

Bath Salts

Does your mom ensure a nice hot bath? Why not make her homemade bath salts and soups. Making homemade bath salt is easy, all you need to do is follow this step-by-step guide and again incorporate all the smells and colours that your mom loves.

Bead Necklace

Why not make your mom a nice beaded necklace. This is a fun and crafty activity that will keep you busy for hours and something nice for your mom to wear. Determine the style and size your mom would like and visit a local beading craft store. These beading stores have hundreds of different beads, pearls and other fun creations to add to your necklace. Remember to speak to the shop worker to find the right string and clasp, as the last thing you want is to have the necklace break.

Picture Frame

Make your mom a photo frame to put up in the living area. If you are not very good with tools, simply buy a plain photo frame and add your own touches to the frame. If you are making the photo frame, remember to measure the wood precisely, otherwise your end product will not line up. Once you have finished creating your photo frame, simply add a nice photo of the two of you and ensure that the backing is fastened to prevent the photo from slipping out of place.

Here are five unique can creative ways to spoil your mom this mother’s day. Remember, the important thing is to make something that she will like and cherish.

I am Greg Jones and I love my mother. I decided to make both my mom and wife –my kids are still too young to understand the significance of the date – plain frosted candles, each with their own unique design and fragrance.

Have you thought about what you are getting Mom for Mother’s day yet? Whether you have a bouquet of flowers lined up or a jewelry box waiting for her after she gets home from a day at the spa, why not start the day off right for her? The last thing she wants to do is wake up early to make breakfast like she does every other morning. Why not wake Mom up with homemade breakfast in bed? If you have little fingers, these breakfast in bed recipes are extra kid friendly, and super easy for you to make as well. Even if you aren’t much of a cook, and your kids are extra teeny, these three recipes can be made really quickly and painlessly!

Pancakes and bacon

My stepmom likes to whip up pancakes from scratch. More power to her, I could never do this. I am more along the lines of buying the pancake box and and adding in a bit of milk and butter and stirring it together for some insta-pancake goodness. Those instant pancake boxes are made for Mother’s Day breakfast in bed scenarios. All you have to do is add the ingredients and let your kiddos stir up the mixture. Then, place it on a griddle or even in a frying pan and let it sit for a few minute before flipping it over. While this is cooking, you can shove the bacon in the microwave for a few minutes and voila! Breakfast is served.

Berries, yogurt, and a hot cup of coffee

This one is so easy for your kids to help you with! All you have to do is grab some fruit, cut it up, and let your kiddos arrange it on a plate for Mom. If they are feeling extra helpful, you can let them spoon some yogurt into a small bowl on the side of her plate, too. To spice up your yogurt, sprinkle a few granola pieces on top. Now for the hard part: coffee. I know Mom usually makes the coffee, but you’re going to have to take the reigns on this one. Pour in a little cream and sugar. If you are extra thoughtful, you will already have Mom’s favorite cream in the fridge for this particular moment.

Waffles with a side of fruit

Waffles are so simple! That’s why they are the best invention ever. Take out the waffles in the freezer and just put them in the toaster. This is so easy, your kids can do it! The only hard part is making sure they don’t burn. Seriously. That’s the hardest part. Take them out of the toaster and put a thin layer of syrup on the top. And because Mom is probably a bit of health nut, or maybe she’s just on a health kick, cut up some fruit and place it either on the side of the dish or on top of the waffles. Blueberries, strawberries, and bananas are safe choices for this recipe. Put a little flower in a small vase and place it on a tray with her food. Now just bring the tray up to Mom!

About the author: Carly is a blogger for Smith Monitoring, a San Antonio home security company. She is always looking for easy recipes to make since the most cooking she does is opening a Chinese takeout menu.

I think it’s natural for us to get negative when things aren’t going the way we want them to. It’s been ingrained in us since birth. When you’re hungry, you cry so your mother will come feed you. (Granted, that’s more communication than complaining, but they go together sometimes.) Later, as a toddler, if you didn’t get the toy or food you wanted, you threw a tantrum.

We all grow out of these fits as we get older, but does that natural reaction to life  go away? Not easily. We just simply vent it in a different way than screaming at the top of our lungs. Well… most of us do. 😉

As I travel and interact with new people, it’s so interesting to see how everyone likes to complain. It’s almost as if that’s how we bond to other people while making idle chitchat. What is Facebook and Twitter if not an emotional dumping ground for others to see?

One example could be from when I was on my way to Florida last week. I had a layover in the Dallas airport. It was only supposed to be an hour and a half, but it turned out to be a lot longer. First, they kept changing the gate I was supposed to fly out of. If you’ve never been to the Dallas airport, it’s big; there’s a train to take you from A gate to B gate if that gives you any idea. So the other passengers and me were running from one end of the airport to the other, hoping we didn’t miss the flight. That concern was moot, however, because the flight was delayed. As I sat waiting with the other passengers, I learned many interesting details about their lives – all through their complaining about their day. One couple was trying to have a weekend getaway and wanted to get to Florida by the afternoon so they could get as much fun away from their kids as they could. (It was the first time in ten years that they left their kids, so they very much needed it!) But instead, they were waiting to get on my flight, which left much later in the night.

Another couple was trying to return home. They were older and traveled often as a pastime. It was the woman’s birthday that day and she didn’t relish spending it stuck at the airport.

Our flight was supposed to leave around 7 PM. Instead, we finally headed out after 11 PM. It was a long evening of waiting around and being shuffled onto a plane, only to learn that there was a malfunction and waiting even longer.

I’m not trying to tell this story to complain (which I know is what it sounds like, ironically). But I bring this up because it’s an experience I’m sure a lot of people can relate to. But my point is this: If it wasn’t for the delayed flight, I wouldn’t have had a chance to meet some wonderful people from all over the country. Was I happy to be stuck in Dallas for so long? No. But at least I enjoyed my time with people I would have normally never met. A few even took my business card so they could buy my book. Who would have thought that that situation would turn into a marketing opportunity.

And let’s not forget the wonderful convenience we have of traveling these days. We don’t have to make a car trip, or a trek on feet to go across the country. Instead, it takes less than a day. How amazing is that?

So the next time people at the fast-food restaurant are being slow with your food, try to think of things in a positive light instead of spend your evening complaining to people (or posting about it on Facebook). Perhaps someone didn’t show up for work and that particular restaurant is shorthanded. Or just be grateful that we have the convenience of others cooking delicious foods for us at a reasonable price.

Hopefully, the more you think this way, the happier and less stressed you’ll be in every day situations. 🙂

Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, and Shape-shifters; they live among us without our knowledge. Night World is their secret society, a secret society with very strict rules, and falling in love breaks all the laws of the Night World. A good comparison to Adrienne Monson’s vampire novel “Dissension” is L.J. Smith’s “Night World” published by Simon Pulse.

A young adult series that also features Vampires and other supernatural beings; the author also has a similar tone of voice to Monson’s. You might know L.J. Smith better for her bestselling series “The Vampire Diaries” – the books that inspired the popular TV show on CW.

Night World is comprised of four volumes, each including three separate tales. At first, these stories seem to have nothing in common, other than the fact that a human(s) comes into contact with a member of the Night World, the encounter changing the course of their lives forever. However, each tale intertwines into a rich tapestry of death, magic, danger, mystery, ancient civilizations, blood, and forbidden love.

In Volume One of this Saga the three tales are: Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness, and Spellbinder.

Secret Vampire: fun-loving Poppy discovers two startling truths: first, she’s dying of terminal cancer. Second, her best friend, and secret crush, James, is actually a born Vampire (she explains this concept in the book; you’d have to read it to understand). James could save Poppy by making her immortal, but it’s against the Night World’s law to make new Vampires. The punishment for breaking this law is death.

Daughters of Darkness: When three Vampire sisters are on the run from The Night World, they hope to take refuge with their estranged aunt who lives in a small human town… only to find out that their aunt has been murdered. With the help of siblings, Mary-Lynnette and Mark (humans), they set out to solve this mystery, all the while trying not to get caught by their own kind.

Spellbinder: Thea and Blaise, high school seniors, have been expelled yet again. The two witch cousins find themselves starting a new school in the middle of the school year. If they get into any more trouble they’ll be sent to stay with Aunt Ursula at her place, nicknamed “The Convent.” Everything would have been fine if Thea hadn’t met her true love on the very first day of school. Blaise, who’s used to getting all the attention from the opposite sex, can’t stand that there’s a guy in school who is resistant to her charm. It’s dark magic verses white magic as the cousins battle over Eric. But neither realizes that far more is at risk than just a broken heart.

Night World Volume 1 is a great read. It’s fast-paced, yet descriptive, with interesting characters and plots that grab your attention from the first page and never loses it. L.J. Smith’s writing is so well done that even someone like me (who’s picky about YA books) could enjoy it. Over all, I would give this book four stars! It’s a great escape from our mundane human reality.

Now go forth and give it a read. Each book in the series is even better than the last. You won’t regret reading it.

R.J. Craddock is the author of The Forsaken,book one in an urban fantasy series.  www.rjcraddock.com

In light of the recent ups and downs, insides outs, and tummy-turning squelches in society these days (think: Boston bombing, Venezuelan riots, Texas explosions, a whole slew of mother nature revolutions and, dare I even mention Africa?) It was remarkably serendipitous to happen across one of the most up-lifting, real, humorous and human stories I have ever read. In fact, its name relates the exact sentiment I felt when I reluctantly flipped over the last page and slowly relished the final few words. I just didn’t want it to end—it was wonderful.

“Wonder” is the debut novel of former art director/graphic designer R.J. Palacio. It follows fifth grader Auggie Pullman as he enters the uncharted waters of middle-school for the first time. Although this is new grounds for most kids his age, Auggie’s situation is certainly nothing like most. Born with a cleft palate, no cheekbones, asymmetrical eyes, and other deformities that give his face a look akin to the “drippings on a candle”, he has spent his life going in and out of surgery (27 since the time he was born), beating the odds and surviving. He is smart, engaging, kind and brave but is also sheltered, young and frightened of human contact. It’s hard not to feel incredibly pulled into the worries and concerns that he perhaps is going “like a lamb to the slaughter”, yet at the same time widely cheer on his bravery and applaud his parent’s for giving him options and encouraging him to try the unthinkable. It’s the kind of story that made me sit on the couch and randomly reach out for my little ones and squeeze them so hard their poor little eyes begin to bulge. It made me burst into tears and laugh out loud. In fact, it made me want to purchase hundreds of copies, stand on a street corner and give them out to unsuspecting passerbys—I just think that a story as real and touching as this should be shared and re-shared over and over so we can all be reminded of the fragile vulnerability that humanity provides and how courage can turn that vulnerability into character and strength.

August’s story is told in first-person narrative also using the voices of family members and classmates. In so doing Palacio wisely expands the story beyond Auggie’s viewpoint and demonstrates that his arrival at school doesn’t test only him, it affects everyone in the community…and everyone grows as the story progresses leaving the reader with a firm resolve to be better.

Emily Moody is an avid reader who loves a wide range of literature  ranging from children’s picture books to adult epic fantasy and anything in between. She loves the outdoors and being active. Moody is a stay-at-home mother of three children.