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Honestly. This. It’s this. What I’m about to show you is SO COOL and SO MUCH fun! I wouldn’t let you down!

I think you probably know by now about my awesome mom. My mom has been an artist/art teacher for about 40 years now. She expresses her thoughts, opinions, experiences and DREAMS through art. I used to be her art assistant and I’ve taken note of the projects the kids really took to the most, and I use them with my own kids. It amazes me how imaginative they are.

Mother’s Day is sort of my jam. And I loved it long before I became a mom, but I’ll never forget that first Mother’s Day when I was pregnant with Scarlet. Cassidy gave me a surprise box! He decorated the outside of a beautiful box and filled the inside with ultrasound and maternity pictures. I was already about eight months along at that point, and had accumulated quite a bit of baby “souvenirs.” I loved his meaningful way of presenting them to me, and he also gave me a gorgeous card.

We will definitely circle back to that a few times!

Also, you know that I’m a greeting card girl. I love to peruse the Hallmark Signature cards to pick out the PERFECT cards for any occasions – and sometimes it’s just to say, “I’m thinking about you!” Aren’t random greeting cards the best?? This isn’t random, though. My grandmother lived to age 100, and we’d send her a card and a plant every year. This year I nod my head to every wonderful mother I know – but mainly my sisters, sister-in-law, mom, and two mothers-in-law. My mom has always loved surprise boxes – big or little boxes filled with individually wrapped gifts. You never know what you’re going to get!

She was visiting over the weekend and even though this is a gift for her, I used her amazing diligence and art direction. You’ll see her hands in some of the photos! Those are incredible hands – they have been making art for many decades. She helped me with the overall construction of the project – a surprise photo album disguised as a pretty paper box – but she didn’t see the final touches! The kids and I worked hard to pick out prints, cut them, glue them, and apply stickers, writing, and washi tape. They also helped to pick out Hallmark Signature Mother’s Day cards from Walmart. There’s an incredible selection:

So what do you make for the special mother in your life? How about an “exploding” photo album? It will be a big surprise to her, and she’ll be able to show off awesome photos of her family with this neat, pretty box. It’s portable and full of surprises!

I suggest a small gift on the inside, along with the photo album, and then a Hallmark Signature card on the outside!

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What You Need:

4-6 pretty pieces of 12″ x 12″ thick cardstock (two for extra, just in case)
Pencil, Ruler, Scissors, glue stick, X-ACTO blade or something similar
A bunch of your favorite photo prints – go crazy for the mom in your life
Patience, diligence, creativity, and help. Help is always good for DIY projects

What You Do:

1 – Start with the outermost layer, and use a pretty paper! We used flowers for ours! Mark your paper with your ruler every 4″ along the border. Then connect your marks with straight lines. The ruler is important for this part! It will look like a checkerboard when it’s done. This might have been the most time-consuming part of the project. I had help!

2 – Now, make your “walls” of your box. Cut off the four corners of your “checkerboard” so that you’re left with this:

3 – Fold your paper to create four walls, and make sure the pretty side is showing as the outside.

4 – Now you’re making the inner layers. Layers! That’s what this is all about – to get that “exploding” part of the box. The layers will hold all your gorgeous photos. You’re going to make middle layers that are identical to the first one, but the measurements will get smaller each time. Get it? They all have to fit in each other! So trim your middle layer cardstock to 10.5″ x 10.5″. Then, mark your paper at ever 3.5″ all around the border to create a checkerboard like the 4″ one, but smaller!

5 – Cut the corner and fold it into the first one! For the third inner layer, trim your paper to 9″ x 9″, and create your checkerboard with 3″ marks. Cut your corners again and fold up your walls. You should now have three layers.

6 – Lastly, make your lid. Trim your final piece of cardstock/paper to about 6″ x 6″. Create a 1″ border around all four sides of the stock. Start at the bottom right corner of your cardstock and cut a vertical line up the horizontal line to make a “flap.”

Do this to every corner. There should be four, obviously.

7 – Fold the cardstock along the inner border to create the sides of your box lid. You’ll have to glue your flaps to the sides. A final step would be to glue the bottoms of the layers together so the layers all fit nicely together and aren’t loose.

8 – Here’s the fun part. Glue decorations. Cut up prints. Glue on prints. Make your photo album!

9 – Make it so uniquely YOU! Stickers, ribbons, bows, expressive photos!

10 – Don’t forget to pick out a special Hallmark Signature card to accompany this photo album. Mother’s Day = Covered. There is nothing like sending a paper card and your loved one gets to hold it in her hands and know you picked it out just for her! You wrote in it just for her! Hallmark offers a wide range of gorgeous cards at Walmart. From Seasonal to Special Occasions, there’s a card for everything and everyone. The countdown is on! We have 16 days until Mother’s Day! That’s it!

Once again, Walmart is featuring a collection of NEW Hallmark Signature cards for Mother’s Day. This line of premium, handcrafted greeting cards will make you happy. I had a lot of fun picking out three special ones for moms in my life:

Lastly, Des demonstrates how to “surprise” the Mom in your life with an exploding photo album:

Want additional digital coupon offers and Mother’s Day inspiration? Then click here for savings!

And are you looking for that special card to speak to your heart? Be dazzled here.

Happy Photo Album Making!