Our DIY Mother's Day gifts

Hopefully our mothers listened when we told them not to read today's post because I wanted to share with you the gifts we made them...

As I mentioned here,  Josh has recently been learning the art of concrete making, concentrating mainly on items like table tops, bowls and planters (which I also want to post about soon). One of the gifts Josh made both of them are concrete bowls made with recycled wine bottle glass (that he crushed himself!). They look so awesome and are perfect for patio, sunroom or kitchen (third pic). He made an additional one for his mom with a lighter mixture to go inside on her coffee table (last pic).

The other two pics are of my mom's completed tealight holder that has a little bit of a story behind it. My parents had a small section of a very old olive tree that had been chopped up and discarded at a vineyard in Napa Valley. They wanted to make something of the beautiful wood as a bit of a keepsake of their trip but never found the time. My mom eventually brought the piece of wood to us and said that we could make something for ourselves since she knew Josh loves woodworking. I could sense that she was a little disheartened though as she handed over the dirty little log, so Josh and I came up with a plan to make something she would enjoy and got to work on it's transformation.

As Josh stripped and buffed away the bark were shocked at how amazingly beautiful the wood was underneath. We got our carpenter friend Nate Chesnutt ( bf of designer Jennifer Berndt) to cut craft the piece of wood into a modern tea light holder for my mom. It turned out way better than we could have ever envisioned and I can't hardly wait to see her face when she realizes where it came from.

Happy Mother's Day to all hardworking moms of the world. We appreciate you so much!