Mothers Day Gift Ideas

My daughter and I have made plates and mugs with handprints and footprints (infants can't usually do handprints) at the painted pottery places. You would have just enough time to get it back fired and glazed if you did one now. It's little more permanent then plaster of paris (unfortunately, also a bit more expensive). On the back/bottom we write messages of love and the date. We got the idea from a friends husband who made a beautiful plate with their daughter's handprints and his with a boldly written "We love you!" emblazened across the front with a heart. I've always wanted to do this with my nephews and my daughter on one plate for grandma.

Other ideas my mom has loved are certificates etc. for things she doesn't like to do. She hates to garden, but my SIL and I enjoy it -- so we bought her some beautiful perenials and planted them for her. We've actually done this a few times -- she has a wonderful garden now which she enjoyes even more because she didn't have to do any of the digging! Hanging baskets for outside are a nice alternative -- they will brighten an outdoor corner all summer.

Hello,
I always do a gift certficate for the local greenhouse for both moms. They both love to plant for summertime. Buying flowers are expensive and they appreciate the gift certificate.
Good Luck!
M.

For my mother and my mother in law I created a small brag book with pictures of the kids. Grandma's love getting pictures and love to show the photos off to other people. I used a Mini Picfolio album and just cut the photos down to 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 size. I've also used the larger size called the Minutes Picfolio. You can simply slide the pictures in and it also hooks together on the back so you can display it on a desk or table. Check out my website for the idea www.mycmsite.com/bethsarnstrom

You can also create hard cover digital books which are great keepsakes. You can download the software for free from the website called Storybook Creator. These books are so great and the quality is fabulous. The binding is stitched not glued and the pages are acid free and lignin free so in 50-75 years it will have not faded or yellowed. Don't forget about Father's day!

Hope that helps. My contact info is on my website if I can help you in anyway. Have fun with whatever gift you chose to make for Mother's Day.

My mom and mother-in-law both became first time grandma's with my daughter 3 years ago. We bought them both charm bracelets with a little girl charm with my daughter's birth stone in it. My mother-in-law now has a grandson and will add a charm for him, and we are having a baby in November and after he/she is born we will get them both a charm for him. We also did t-shirts (for grandpa, but you could do grandma) They had an iron-on picture of our daughter on the front - Specific to each grandpa. My dad used to put Ky in his shirt and they looked like a two-headed monster so we did that for him, and my father-in-law has a farm, so we took a picture of Ky on one of his tractors and used that for him. On the back in various colors we had her foot prints all over. On the front around the picture I used iron-ons to say - My grandpa (or in this case grandma) lets me walk all over him (her).

I'm not sure how old your son is or if you want to make a "homemade" gift but this is what my girls did last year for grandma. I'm also having my daycare kids do it this year.

Supplies needed:
jar such as a spaghetti jar or something similar and remove the label.
tissue paper in small pieces of different colors
white coffee filters
markers
glue
pipe cleaners

First remove the label from the jar and wash it. Tear pieces of tissue paper in various colors and sizes. Apply glue to small areas of the jar at a time and put the tissue paper on the jar. You can have them overlap as much as they want.

Color the coffee filters with markers. Can color the entire thing or just in spots. THen mist them with water so the markers bleed. Let dry. Once dry twist the pipe cleaners on the filters for stems.

Add flowers to vase.

My mother loved this last year. She would rather get a gift like this that the girls make her any day over something that is from the store.

Th

I created a Thank you book for my Mom years ago...I took each year of my life and thanked her for things I could remember...or knew had happened in those years...now every year as my gift I write a thank you for that year. She treasures it...it made her cry when I gave it to her. And all you need is a pretty journal.

As far as your son...how about a picture with Grandma that she can treasure?

T.

It may be a little late to do this now, but for Christmas I gave my mom a Shutterfly hard cover photo book that I put together of pictures of all her grandchildren. It turned out absolutely beautiful!! I asked my brothers to email all of their favorite pictures of their kids from the past year and ordered the book. It took some time to do, was really fun to put together, and it turned out to be the best gift she ever got. She cried, and she's not a crier. I even took the book with me to Germany when I visited them and had the kids sign the first page for her. I'm already collecting pictures for a book for my mother-in-law and step-mom for next Christmas.
Shutterfly.com
Other online photo companies have them too, but that's the one I used.

Snapfish.com
You can upload your pictures and add cute borders, create a bound book, a flip book, mugs, calendars, mousepads, even posters. I've used them many times and have always been really happy with the results. If you have any sort of photo editor program on your computer, you can also create a collage of pictures and use that for a gift. Its a really great way to change your pictures into something special.

I just heard on the radio yesterday that you can name a star after your mom. I think they said the websight was www.starregistry.com. I thought that was a neat idea. Your mom would receive the official registry papers in the mail and stuff. I thought about doing this for my mom. Happy Mothers Day! C.

I guess it depends if she has a flower garden or like bird watching. We take our kids to Drummers Garden Center in Mankato and let them pick out the flowers they want to give and then we take them to grandma and they help plant them. We have also done bird baths and bird feeders. I had my daughter plant a seed in a pot and I helped her write on there "watch me grow" and gave it as a gift. Good luck

I remember one year my brother sister and I sat down and put together a small scrapbook for our mother...in there we had pictures from our childhood all the way thru adult and wrote about all the memories that surrounded the pictures...she cried...she said that was the best gift she had ever received. my mom isn't really a "girly girl" she's more of a pickup truck driving harley lover, but that touched her heart and for approx 2 years she carried it with her in her purse showing everyone the wonderful gift her children gave her, Now it sits on the coffee table and she still looks at it on a weekly basis...we even included our adult lives and grandchildren...

Here are some ideas that I have had success with:

- Make your own t-shirt or sweatshirt. Customized t-shirt and sweatshirts can be done very inexpensively and are just great presents. For mother's day I gave my mom one with my son on it and she just loved it. (at Christmas I did one for my grandmother with all the great grand kids and she cried) You can also customized bags, mouse pads, practically anything cloth.

- A day at a spa or a massage. What mother couldnt use that?

- A paster of paris handprint with a picture. There are kits where you can do them and they display beautifully!

- Customized calendars. Use family pictures to create a customized calendar, you can even include birthdays and anniversaries.

- A charm bracelet with charms representative of family, hobbies, etc.

- Locket with pictures in it

- Of course there is always Tupperware (they have some awesome specials for May!) http://my.tupperware.com/tgr

Hope this helps!

With Empowering Regards,

T.

Hello!
Just wanted to say that I do Lia Sophia Jewelry and there are half off specials going on right now. You could pick out something for your mom if she is a jewelry person, or host a mothers day themed show for her and let her pick out the free pieces that she wants. Hope you find something!

Some of the things we've done...I've had my son hand-paint flower pots for his Grandmas and then put a pretty flower in there. Then last year, I got my mom & MIL a photo canvas bag from Discount Photo Gifts (http://www.discountphotogifts.com/) - they're great! I've used them many times (photo calendars at Christmas, photo aprons & mousepads)...my mom said that the photo bag was probably the best gift she'd ever gotten! (Which is great, but a tough act to follow!) :)

Anyway, they're reasonably priced and shipping is fast. Good luck!

We have always given our mother's the Hosta of the year for Mother's Day.

I've just started selling BeautiControl Products now and there are some great pampering type products available that I've thought would make great gifts for our mom's. Sort of the do it at home Spa stuff. The quality is great and something I know my mom would not splurge on herself. Pretty fun.

As for the kids, I've even done home made type accordian picture boards. Something Grandma can stick in her purse but does not cost an arm and a leg.

Last year I made stepping stones for the Grandma's (and Godmather) for Mother's Day. We put my son's footprints and some of those colorful pieces of tile. In the kit I bought (from Michaels) was also letter stamps so we put Austin's name and the year on them. They loved them.

Have you looked at shutterfly.com or winkflash.com? They have some really great ideas using photos - mugs, mousepad, bags, a cooling tray, coasters, and lots more.

A hanging basket flower for outside

Spa or Massage gift cert.