Living a Better Life® (from the editor's desk)
by Michelle Jones
Mother's Day is one of my most favorite holidays, and not just because I am a MOM, but because I love my Mother... and my Step-Mom, my Mother-in-Law, my Grandmothers, my Sisters-in-Law, my friends, and even our neighbors and teachers and the cashiers at the store who are mothers. Maybe it's some kind of mom-bonding thing, I'm not sure, but I just love wishing moms everywhere a Happy Mother's Day because I know what a special day it is. And what better way to celebrate than to give our readers some great gift ideas!
1. Flowers
Flowers are always a lovely gift, especially for Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, but they don't have to be expensive! Many grocery stores and discount warehouse stores carry a large surplus of beautiful holiday flowers. You can often find a dozen nice quality roses for under $15.00. Then wrap them with a beautiful red or pink ribbon (check the craft/sewing department if you don't have any on hand) or even better, place them in a pretty vase. Need cheaper flowers? Clip them from your own garden. Not your neighbor's garden, like our kids did one year when they were in elementary school. Oh my!
2. Flowering Plants
Consider buying flowering plants; annuals or perennials in place of a bouquet of cut flowers, and plant them for your mom for Mother's Day. This is my absolute favorite Mother's Day gift! Over the years I've learned to get a head start on this in April so my husband and children can just choose a few extra special flowers that we can add to the garden in May so it won't take an entire day to plant them, like it would have if we started with nothing but dirt. This way we can still enjoy the day together doing other fun stuff, like having a practically free picnic at the park or cookout at home. The pleasant memories of Mother's Day will bloom all summer long.
3. Personal Cards
Hallmark has always been one of my favorite stores (all those pretty cards, gifts, and sparkly things), however, I still love to make homemade cards and our children do too. Handwritten letters and cards have become a lost art. Simply taking the time to personally write your sentiments down on paper with a little artwork (or cut out flower/nature pictures from magazines or recycled cards) could turn out to be one of mom's favorite gifts of all.
Here's a few homemade card ideas you could write for Mother's Day, but please feel free to create your own!
* How much I love you...
* Why I love you...
* What a difference you've made in my life...
* Special Memories we've shared...
* Thanks for being there...
* Thanks for your love/support...
* Worlds Greatest Mom...
* World's Greatest Super-Mom...
* Thanks for all that you do...
4. Children's Artwork
When children are young their personal artwork makes a great gift for Mother's Day (for Grandmothers too). And when our children are older we still love having something designed personally by them. You could have the artwork framed or purchase an inexpensive frame from a discount store and decorate it with dried flowers or other nature items like seashells, if you live near a beach. I grew up in Florida so we always had plenty of seashells to make crafts with.
5. Family Photo Treasures
Family photos always make great gifts that will last for years and years to come. In fact, a hundred years from now families will still be passing them down. Family photos are treasures, no doubt about it. You can hire a professional if it's within your budget or take your own. Consider taking some snapshots of the kids at home and simply tying a stack of them together with a pretty ribbon, or making a collage of photos from the year. You can find special frames at photo shops and discount stores, or just cut and paste photos (or copies of the photos to preserve the original), onto a small poster board and then decorated the edges.
6. Memory Album or Memory Box
If your mom saves everything (like I do) you'll have quite a resource for this great gift idea. Give her a pretty memory album or keepsake box to put her photos and scrapbook type items from the year's past events, and then spend a day or evening with her going through them and helping her get them organized. I guarantee you'll get as much out of this Mother's Day gift as she does, if not more!
7. Personalized Gifts
Use family photos to make personalized gifts like t-shirts, calendars, posters, coffee cups, throw blankets, and tote bags at your favorite online digital photo website. What a great gift idea for parents and grandparents. Especially those whom live out of town.
8. Personalized Collage
Several years ago, when I was recovering from surgery, my oldest daughter made me a gift I still treasure to this day. It was a project idea she had gotten from school but she made one for me, a personal collage out of clipped magazine pictures and words that are all about me. My collage has things like flowers, babies, computers (and chocolate of course!), it's one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me so I know it would make a great gift for all moms.
9. Candy Roses
Make our Hershey's Kiss Roses but instead of making just one, make a full dozen and place them in a pretty vase. Mom may love this special gift of 'roses' so much she won't even eat the candy!
10. Homemade Cookies
Homemade cookies are always a favorite on my list. Who doesn't love cookies?
Younger children will need supervised baking assistance with this gift project, or they could pick some up from the bakery. Cookies are an inexpensive gift to make for any special holiday and one that just about everyone will enjoy... if mom decides to share. Check out our Cookie Club for free cookie recipes.
11. Home Cleaning
If you can afford to give a gift of professional housecleaning service just about ANY mom would appreciate that. Offering to do the cleaning yourself might be even better... and would definitely cost a lot less!
12. Fix it Up
If there are things around your mom's house that need to be repaired or updated, like painting, decorating, gardening, or landscaping, offer to give mom a hand and save her a bundle of cash. Plus, this is a gift that she will enjoy for many years to come.
13. Laundry
For many moms, laundry is an everyday chore. Having someone else take over for a day (or for that matter, an entire WEEK) would make a great gift. I don't remember every receiving this gift, but it would have been wonderful.
14. Free Car Wash
If it's been awhile since mom has had time to get her car washed and vacuumed out, what a lovely gift this would make. Add a Yankee Candle Charming Scents air freshener for a special touch and she will love it! And be sure to get all those handprints from the inside windows.
15. Handprint Original Artwork
Speaking of handprints, one year we made one of the nicest Mother's day gifts for our moms ever. We made a picture by painting our children's palms with different colors of washable paint and then let them 'stamp' their handprints in each corner. When the paint was dry we wrote the words Happy Mother's Day in the center with a black sharpie pen and put each child's name next to their handprint. Children's handprints, original artwork, priceless.
16. Grocery Shopping & Meal Planning
Same as above; any help you can lend a mom is truly appreciated and well deserved. Better yet, order her a week of prepared meal service like Home Chef or Blue Apron.
17. Make Dinner or Plan a Picnic
Have a picnic at a local park or an outdoor cookout at home so no one has to do the dishes. Mom will be thrilled. Remember to take those photo treasures.
18. Keep in Touch
If mom or grandmom live out-of-state or even just down the road, and you won't be able to visit with them on Mother's Day, give them a call. Yes, a real actual PHONE call. Not an email, not a text, not even a voice mail. That's what moms really enjoy the most.
TIME WITH YOU!
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Copyright © 2005, 2018 by Michelle Jones. All rights reserved.
