Mother’s Day Gift Guide
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
If your mother is anything like mine, all she’ll want on Mother’s Day is a card. (Or a phone call!)
But alas, here I am sharing some material things that have caught my eye these past few months. And while it’s hard to encourage spending for a Hallmark holiday given the state of the world, I hope the ideas listed below, many of which relate to small, family-owned businesses, mostly provide inspiration.
In addition to the items below, here are a few more thoughts:
- Gift certificate to a local restaurant. (Celadon!)
- Donation to a local business you love. (Studio 4 Hot Yoga!)
- Care package assembled by a local shop. If you are local, The Vischer Ferry General Store will assemble a package for you (see below for an example). Call the store to customize. Blue Bird Home Decor, another local shop, will do the same and will ship as well.
As always, my perennial favorites can be found in the shop.
Dates + almond butter is always a winner as is Margaret Roach’s A Way to Garden.
Here are a few more ideas:
1. Pigeon Toe Spoon Rest. My mother sent me this spoon rest a few months ago, and I use it every day — how have I spent so many years cooking without one? It comes in a variety of colors, all of which are beautiful. If you don’t think the mother in your life is in need of a spoon rest, check out Pigeon Toe’s entire shop … it’s all so beautiful. I love this mini creamer.
2. Dot and Army bowl cover + bread bag. This would be such a lovely way to gift a loaf of bread:
3. I discovered Dot and Army via their cloth bowl covers, which are my favorite, but I have since become a fan of all Dot and Army things, namely their selection of less-waste goods. I love these reusable produce bags. Now more than ever it’s as important to arrive to the market not only with your reusable shopping bags but also with your produce bags.
4. House of Shan sweatshirt. My friend, Shannon Buth, designed this sweatshirt (and a whole line of other fun wares), and I’ve been living in it — it’s so soft and cozy. The blue is so pretty. Love the grey, too.
5. A box of tea + a jar of honey or maple syrup. Raise your hand if you’ve been drinking tea all day long! I love this peppermint tea. I actually prefer sweetening it with a teaspoon of maple syrup, but honey is a good match, too.
6. Breadtopia dried sourdough starter. EVERYBODY is baking bread. If you think the mother in your life is curious about dipping her toe into sourdough, a dry sourdough starter, which she can activate when she’s ready, would be such a nice gift. I’ve had great results with both Breadtopia’s dry and live sourdough starters.
7. With sourdough in mind, a beautiful Dot & Army flour sack towel would be a lovely gift. (Note: The below pictured towels are a slightly different (but very similar overall) size than the ones linked to.)
8. A cookie bouquet. My friend Kelly Trimarchi makes the most beautiful (and tasty!) cookies. Right now, too, she’s selling nurse appreciation kits and a whole bunch of other cute sets. (**Local pick-up only!**)
9. Burlap and Barrel Spices. One of you (thanks Hillary!) introduced me to Burlap and Barrel Spices earlier this year. B&B partners directly with smallholder farmers to source spices that have never been available in the US before and, in doing so, helps improve the livelihoods of their partner farmers. I have been using the new harvest turmeric and the royal cinnamon to make turmeric lattes (more on this soon!).
10. Nespresso Aeroccino. To make those turmeric lattes, I’ve been steaming cashew, almond, or oat milk with my Nespresso Aeroccino, and it’s such a treat to curl up to a warm, spiced, frothy milk-filled mug. (Note: You have to use full-fat milks to get a good froth; don’t buy this if you are looking to steam low-fat milks…you’ll be disappointed. I’ve been loving Elmhurst sweetened cashew and almond milks and Oatly oat milk.)
11. A new cookbook. These are two I’ve been loving: Susan Spungen’s Open Kitchen and Lukas Volger’s Start Simple. Find Susan’s recipe for grilled Romaine Caesar Salad (delicious!) here and Lukas’s recipe for roasted mushroom polenta bake (heaven!) here.
12. Or a new cooking memoir. I just ordered this: Phyllis Grant’s Everything is Under Control. Seems timely 😂😂😂
13. A Peasant Bread Kit, Mother’s Day Edition 💕💕💕 This set includes two 1-qt Pyrex bowls, a pink Dot and Army cloth bowl cover, a GIR spatula, a digital scale, a signed copy of Bread Toast Crumbs, and a Julia Child quotation notecard: “I think every woman should have a blowtorch.”
14. Neapolitan Pizza, delivered! How fun? I just ordered the starter pack. My neighbor did, too. A Zoom pizza party is in our future 🍕🍕🍕🍕
15. Organic Extra-Virgin Olive Oil. My friend Jen Angelopoulos recently founded The Furies, an organic extra-virgin olive oil company. The olives are harvested by hand from olive trees in the Achaia region of Greece. The oil is never blended, and The Furies is committed to sustainability at all levels of production. Read more about the olive oil here. It is delicious.
16. Opinel Knives. I don’t own an Opinel knife I don’t love. From the kitchen knives to the classic folding knives to the table knives, each is beautifully crafted. This spreading knife “sparks joy” every time I use it. They also have a line of gardening tools, which I have yet to explore, but which look lovely.
17. A NYTimes Cooking subscription. I recently made Samantha Seneviratne’s double chocolate cookies, and oh my goodness, wow. You need a NYTimes Cooking subscription to access the recipe. For $40/year, you gain access to all of the recipes. (It might be worth it for the cookie recipe alone 🍪🍪🍪)
18. Chickpeas or other dried beans. Doesn’t the Nuts.com packaging just make you smile? When I could not find dried chickpeas in any of my stores last month, I checked nuts.com and sure enough, they were in stock. I ordered some cranberry beans and lupini beans while I was at it.
19. A Gift from me to you. You made it this far. Thank you, as always, for reading. Here are a selection of my favorite things. My friend Louise McManus, owner of the beautiful Vischer Ferry General Store, selected a number of goodies: V&A Garden Tool Set, Corkcicle Tumbler, Beekman 1802 Body Wash and Lotion, and a spring candle. And I’ve added a House of Shan sweatshirt (you pick size/color) and The Break Active rings (you pick size/color).
To enter the giveaway, leave a comment. Tell me this: what has been bringing you peace and happiness during these trying times? Or what are you missing most? Sending you all love 💗
Update: The giveaway is closed. The winner is Mary. I have emailed you.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
145 Comments on “Mother’s Day Gift Guide”
I am missing my Mom. She is in a nearby memory care facility. Every day she asks if I can visit and I have to tell her no. It’s hard.
I’m baking bread, listening to music and calling everyone in my contact list to stay focused on joy and calmer times.
I miss the beach. I miss hearing the children heading to school. I miss my local bakery.
I am finding peace in learning how to cook with ingredients on hand. Realized I don’t have to shop as much as I think I do, and not having all the necessary ingredients can still produce amazing results.
I miss seeing my friends and giving a hug. Zoom meetings are nice – but nothing like sitting down with a friend and having a laugh TOGETHER 🙂
I have been baking, trying out new techniques. My neighbors are being gifted randomly with a loaf of bread or dinner rolls as I try new recipes. Since the stores are out, I figure this is what I can do to help. ♡
Finding happiness in baking bread!
I’ve been lucky enough to be able to go for daily walks with my Dog and Husband. Just being able to breathe the air outdoors, helps calm my mind.
I miss sitting on the playground after school with my parent friends watching our kiddos.
I am enjoying all the great ideas for gift giving you shared. I really enjoy your recipes. Thank you!
I love your gift guides! I have been treasuring the ability to have lunch or a cup of tea with my husband during the workday. It’s so nice to have him as a coworker since we usually spend long workdays apart.
Fiona has been giving me peace and joy. I believe that the feeling is mutual. She’s an almost ten year young Aussie girl and we have been spending more time together as I “gratefully” work from home.
I miss seeing my customers! I work as a barista in a grocery store and my customers bring me so much joy and happiness. I can’t wait to see them again
Oh Denise, I bet they miss you, too. It will be such an incredible reunion for everyone when things start opening back up again. I can’t wait.
I’ve been enjoying making recipes from your book Bread Toast Crumbs in these challenging times. Baking and cooking has been a happy place for me. I love seeing the smiles on my kids faces when I take fresh baked bread out of the oven.
So happy to hear this, Lauren 🙂 🙂 🙂
I am trying to view this time as an opportunity to do things I normally don’t take the time to. This time is precious. Lots of new recipes, too, and this one is a winner!
Baking has been my peace and happiness…leaving goodies on my neighbor’s doorstep and mailing treats to family and friends. 🙂
I miss being “carefree.” The irony is that pre COVID-19 I thought my life was chaotic and stressful. Sigh…..
I am taking baths every night. I miss going to the coffee shop alone on Saturday mornings. I miss walking my kids to and from school.
A bath sounds glorious. Love this.
Knowing my 3 grown kids are safe in their part of the world, Israel, Canada, Maine.
It’s been great finally having the push to start making bread at home, but I do miss going to the bookstore in person to browse!
Miss visiting with family….Love that I have more time to cook…
Loving Vischer Ferry General Store weekly menus for pickup or delivery!
VFGS is THE BEST.
Planting seeds and seeing them start to sprout!
Watching seeds sprout fills me with tremendous joy as well.
I see you make an effort to share ways to reduce waste in this gift list ideas, which is fabulous! But then you promote Nuts.com and comment on their cute packaging, which is single-use plastic waste! There is no municipal recycling system in the US that can recycle their bags so the end up in landfills taking several hundreds of years to break down meanwhile leaching toxins into the soil. I have communicated with the company for almost two years about switching to more sustainable packaging and they have made no changes. As consumers, and promoters/influencers like yourself, we need to reduce our dependence on plastics, especially single-use, and not support with our dollars their continued use.
Hi M, thank you for this. Good point.
Yoga and meditation have been bringing me peace, as well as constant reminders to myself that my family and friends are safe and healthy. Thank you for the great Mother’s Day gift suggestions!
Daily walks and movement has been bringing me peace, and cooking nourishing meals brings me happiness during these times. I miss being able to go out and socialize with friends and family, especially going to our local cinema!
Snuggles with my newborn have been bringing me peace. That, and all of the cookies and brownies I’ve been baking – mmm.
Baking bread of course! We made cheddar and parmesan bread, oatmeal-maple, tea bread, skillet pizza, until the stores ran out of yeast, that is…
Started a small container herb garden but it is not going particularly well. Any recommendations on like, a Gardening 101 book or website? They all look so intimidating for a beginner.
So nice to hear all of this, Louise 😍😍😍😍
YES: Margaret Roach’s website: A Way to Garden or her book: A Way to Garden.
I will miss this when it’s over. The shutdown has given me a chance to pause my hectic, stressful life as a teacher in a very poor and troubled school district in Rochester, NY. I like slowing down, not going to meetings, hardly using the car, eating lunch at my kitchen table with real plates and savoring each bite of food and moment with my partner Michael.
My gratitude practice and spending so many special moments with my son are what are bringing me peace and joy!
I’ve been enjoying the slowness of life lately. Lots of family meals, game nights, movie nights etc.
I miss the interactions with people 😔