The path to Mom’s heart: a Mother’s Day surprise

Even though I was very young, I still remember the year my father created a treasure trail of paper footprints leading to my Mom’s gift on Mother’s Day. She was so touched, there were tears streaming down her face even before she opened the gift. So when I came across these stone footprints on Pinterest, I knew I wanted to re-create the concept using a nature-based approach.

Whether your gift for Mom is humble or precious, large or small, creating a mini journey of discovery for her to find her ‘treasure’ will make it even more special. Setting it up is easy.  Young children can get involved and going the extra “step” really shows Mom that she is special.

Start by collecting the stones in the right shapes and sizes to create the feet. I found it easiest to find the bigger stones for the “foot” first, and then look for smaller ones to create the toes. I found mine along the edge of the lake where our family cottage is, but you could also look in your own garden, flowerbed or along a riverbank. Kids will especially love this part of the process.

Once you have your stones, find a time when Mom isn’t looking and place them in a trail of footprints leading to where her gift is hidden. No glueing or taping is required. In fact, if you want to be really earth-friendly, take a walk with Mom, and together you can return the stones to where you found them.

The Pinterest image that inspired this project is the work of Scottish photographer Iain Blake. He has posted a whole series of similar photos on Flickr that are absolutely gorgeous.

Happy early Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.

Liette Tousignant
Co-Founder of Under The Roof Decorating