Mother’s Day ideas for any mom

It’s that time of year again! Mother’s Day is just days away and you might be struggling for gift ideas. Never fear—I’ve got you covered. I’ve been saving up ideas and I even crowd-sourced and gathered a few more. So without further ado, here are Mother’s Day gift inspiration for every kind of mom:

For gardening moms
If you have a mom who likes to grow things, check out the rootcup. It’s a special cup designed to help propagate plant cuttings which means she can stop using old vases or drinking glasses (you know, those water-deposited ones that look rather icky that she has designated for this purpose). The rootcup comes in different sizes and it can be cleaned in the dishwasher or boiling water. Now that spring is here, this would be a timely gift!

For reading moms
Why not give her (or upgrade her) to a Kindle Paperwhite? It’s the best ebook reader out there so far. It’s easy to hold, lasts for weeks on a single charge, fits great in a purse, and even has edge lighting so she can read in less-than-ideal lighting conditions. It’s $119 for one with “special offers” (translation: ads that display when she’s not reading) or $139 for one that’s ad-free.

For fit moms (or moms who want to be fit)
I know many, many moms who would love to get a FitBit. They’re looking for ways to get or stay motivated to keep in shape or get in more steps in a day. I have a FitBit One and highly recommend it, but I know other moms who have the Flex who also love theirs. Warning: only purchase this if you know she wants one, otherwise you could get the evil eye (or worse) for implying she needs to get in shape ;-).

For moms who love to cook
How about digitizing all their favorite recipes onto their tablet and then get an under-the-cabinet holder to go with? It’s the perfect combo of old school and new. I can recommend the Paprika recipe app, and we have this mount for our mini Galaxy. Our mount doesn’t get great reviews on Amazon for some reason, but we liked it because it folds up and barely shows when we’re not using it. This one, gets much better reviews though.

Another friend suggested giving a Vitamix blender so she could make healthy smoothies (and yet another said the Ninja works well too), so that’s another idea for the health-conscious mom who likes to cook.

For the mom who can’t find the right iPhone case
Logitech’s new Case+ case has every kind of functionality possible, so it’s hard to imagine it won’t do what she needs it to. This is a new iPhone “system” that has a single basic case and a variety of attachments including a kickstand, mobile battery extender, car mount, and wallet. It looks pretty sexy, for an iPhone case, if you’ve got the $200 to buy the set (and no, the pieces are not sold separately, unfortunately).

For the mom who has an iPad Air
If she got a new iPad Air for the holidays, she might be looking for a good case (or perhaps you’re giving her an Air for Mother’s Day?). I bought myself the Devicewear Slim iPad Case and love it! It doesn’t add much weight, protects the back, offers multiple viewing angles, and still uses the magnetic on feature. What I like most is that the area that touches the screen always stays clean so I never have to worry about my screen getting scratched.

For the mom with a naked computer or phone
No mom should have a naked phone or computer—it just isn’t seemly! ;-). Seriously though, a skin or decal with an image of her favorite piece of art, cartoon character, or just something funny that will make her smile, is a thoughtful and fun gift (assuming that you will also be putting it on for her, of course). My computer (in the photo on the right) was recently upgraded, thanks to my husband, and I absolutely adore it! You can find lots of decals on Etsy, so maybe start there first.

For the mom who has a bunch of her grandmother’s china (or other collectables)
If your mom has some old plates or collectables lying around, she might enjoy being able to display them easily. Help her create a plate wall (this blog has lots of inspiration) by giving her some invisible disk plate hangers and hanging them for her (by the way, I purchased some of these recently and they are the bomb! Love them). Another china-related gift idea would be to select something from this store which upcycles discarded china into jewelry. A friend of mine has ordered pieces for some of the ladies in her family this Mother’s Day.

For the techy mom that has everything
How about an egg minder? It’s an app-enabled egg tray that will tell her iPhone how many eggs are left and will even indicate which one is the oldest. Really. For $50, it could be both a funny and practical gift—I know I’d use it if someone gave it to me! Because eggs.

For the crafty mom
And by crafty, I don’t mean devious (although she could be crafty AND crafty). For the mom that loves to sew, consider getting her a gift card to your local fabric store and this tailor’s marking set (a crafty mom/blogger friend highly recommends it and says it’s the very best one). Or, how about getting her a subscription to Whimseybox? I got this as a gift and it’s pretty fun. Every month she’ll get a box with instructions and supplies to make a project (they say, “stop pinning and start making”). It’s the gift that will keep on giving!

For the ComicCon mom
If your mom is a super fan of Dr.Who, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Star Trek, Big Bang Theory—pretty much any show that would have a panel at ComicCon— you should head to Think Geek and/or Etsy. For example, as a Buffy fan, I’ve had my eye on this print for a while. Is she into Harry Potter? Check out the Deathly Hollows jewelry options. Does she have a Pandora-type bracelet? Then she NEEDS a Weeping Angel charm. If your mom geeks out about any movie or show, there’s something out there, so take a look around.

For the tech-challenged mom
If your mom struggles with technology, help her out by giving her the gift of tech support or Internet security. You might be able to do the tech support yourself (which would be lovely and thoughtful and I’d recommend wrapping up some kind of homemade “voucher” for free tech support), but if you live in a TDS area,you could also outsource it with Remote PC Support. With Remote PC Support she’ll get unlimited access to online tech support to help her fix her computer problems, install new devices, and more. With Internet Security, her computer will have always-up-to-date anti-virus protection which means her computer will run right (and you won’t get the tech support calls!). I know many Apple Stores offer tech classes, so maybe sign her up for one (or better yet, go with her) if you live close.

For a mom with old VHS movies or slides
Why not take the old family movies sitting on VHS tapes, and have them transferred to DVD? Or get those slide carousels turned into photo books? Many photo shops offer services to turn old media (even reel-to-reel tapes) into new. Just imagine the look on her face when she realizes she can pop in a DVD and see the old movies again, or she can pull out an album with prints of all those old slides from her childhood. She’ll cry from happiness, your thoughtfulness, and just because she’s a mom.

For any mom
When I asked my mom friends what they’d like for Mother’s Day there was one theme that went through all the answers—a break from the duties involved with being a mom. If she’s the regular house cleaner, do that job for her. If she’s the one who always cooks, make her a meal (or two or three). If she has a hobby she never gets time to pursue, make sure she has a few hours to work on her project. If she does it all, give her a gift card for a spa day so she can get pampered (and escape her normal routine).

Other gifts to pencil in for later

I have two other ideas that are great, but aren’t available right now. I thought I’d share them anyway so you can file them away for another time.

For grammar-loving moms
Moms generally like good grammar and spelling, but today’s virtual phone keyboards make it easy to make mistakes. Enter the Typo Keyboard case—a physical keyboard for your iPhone. Alas, the company was just sued by Blackberry for ripping off their design so, as of last month, you can’t find it on the store shelves any longer. Hopefully it’ll be back on the market sometime soon, and when it does, you should get one.

For moms with cluttered purses
Harvey’s Seatbelt Bags, a US company that makes purses and accessories out of seatbelt webbing, recently introduced a new tech wallet to their product line-up. It has a slot for a smart phone on one side, and wallet slots on the other—plus a handy wrist strap (and it’s available in lots of fun colors). This wallet has been so popular, it’s been out of stock for a while. As such, unless you give her an IOU, you might want to save this idea for later. Note: I’m a big fan of Harveys Seatbelt Bags (I may actually need to enter a 12-step program soon, truth be told) and can vouch for the quality on their products.