Already did some shopping for the upcoming Mother’s Day? If your answer is yes, well… Good job! If not, don’t stress, we’ve got the perfect plan B here for you – a petit h inspired gift. It will take no more than some of your old leather scraps, some hot glue, a pair of scissors and of course… some love!

For those of you who have yet to hear about the workshop that inspired this DIY, follow us through the brief history of petit h.

In a nutshell, petit h is the little sister of Hermès (with the capital H) – a brainchild of Pascale Mussard, the great-great-great-granddaughter of the founder of Hermès – and what we like to call a labo-atelier (laboratory + atelier). From toy boats and miniature planes to colorful scarf-jackets and life size animal statues, anything you can name!

petit h – the ultimate magical land for off-the-wall ideas and experimentations, where artisans are free to explore their wildest callings. Neither are there seasonal deadlines nor are there restrictions of concrete concepts – talk about the ultimate dream job. Only one golden rule to follow: all objects created have to be 100% “Made in Discarded-Materials Land”.

Fancy one of these unique cuties? Make your way to Rue de Sevres, Hermès’s flagship boutique in Paris (a.k.a the only place in the world to hold petit h collections permanently). Or bet your luck on finding them in other boutiques around the globe ‘cuz it’s only for sale twice every year!

Storytime over, are you now drooling over these eco-friendly products of wonder? For those who can’t afford to break their bank, but would still want to dedicate an equally meaningful (and almost equally skillful) gift to your beloved mothers, we here at Animour challenge each and everyone of you to get creative! Roll up your sleeves and prepare to get your hot glue gun dirty, the moment has come to channel your utmost artistic talent and hand crafting skills.

RULES:

Step Numéro 1:

Scavenger hunt for some discarded leather: it is time to dig deep through the leftovers from your high school arts and crafts class! Having trouble deciding the colors? Picture the color wheel. Choose your base color and trace diagonally, you will find its match. Colorblind? You know what, don’t limit yourself, just go with what you have!

Step Numéro 2:

Cut out the pattern. Crop a 7cm x 5cm rectangle out of your leather piece, then prepare a long, thin leather strip of a different color. Vertically cut the leather into strips 0.5cm apart of each other – be careful, don’t cut completely from end-to-end but leave the top 1cm untouched.

Step Numéro 3:

Make a hoop to hook on whatever you want your charm to grasp. Cut 5cm off the thin strip of leather you prepared earlier and stick it on the top uncut part of the main piece with the two ends 3cm apart.

Step Numéro 4:

The part we enjoy the most – roll the tassled-leather, as tight as possible. Of course, don’t forget to put glue on the upper part (around 2cm long) before rolling, so it stays secure.

Step Numéro 5:

Save the world by making your tassel POP! Make use of the rest of the thin leather strip and wrap it around the tip of the tassel.

Step Numéro 6:

Place it in a nice dust-bag, and into a fancy box. Put on some orange paint and get ready for your mother’s “oh my baby, you really don’t have to… this must break you”. Ahem… a kind reminder – we are not here to encourage any forms of counterfeiting.

A thoughtful gift is more than anything, inspired by petit h.

Last one, Step Numéro 7 (very important):

Share your exquisite creation with us: snap a pic of your chef d’oeuvre (and your mum’s reaction to her 10/10 gift) and post it on the ‘gram with #Animourpetithchallenge.

We would love to celebrate this incredible moment where you bond with your mother over the practices of upcycling and “upstyling”. We hope that this one-time DIY challenge will blossom into a lifetime commitment – a commitment of having more fun and putting more thought into making this planet a better place to live in for every creature, not just human beings.