SILVER SPRING, Md, May 4, 2012 – While we should remember to do so more often, Mother’s day is the one day a year where we take the effort to say “thank you” to the women who raised us, nurtured us, and gave us life. Since we are often remiss in letting our mothers know who much we love and appreciate them, make sure the gift you give isn’t an afterthought or a blasé standby.  Put some thought into it to make it special, and to help you out, here are some suggestions that fit the bill nicely.

Name a star

It may sound cliché, but moms are stars in the eyes of their families. So for an extra special treat, name a star after the mom in your life.  Starting at just $54.99, International Star Registry offers the opportunity to name a star. The basic package comes with a registration certificate, with your name of choice, the registration date and the telescopic coordinates of the star.  You also receive a detailed chart that shows your star highlighted.

Mama Mia gift box from Lush

Better than perfume, Lush’s bath product soften and moisturize skin while leaving their fragrance on the skin. While all of Lush’s bath and beauty products are popular, they have taken the time to recognize mom by putting together a few specially tailored gift boxes.  The Mama Mia gift box is perfect for moms who want to have summer-ready skin.

Containing an olive oil based shower gel, an exfoliating body butter, a thick body conditioner, a bar of bergamot and olibanum-scented soap, and their wonderful lemon-scented cuticle cream, this gift box is sure to please.  Using ingredients like shea butter, cocoa butter, and Argan oil, Lush’s products are luxurious, and their thick moisturizers absorb into skin leaving pleasant fragrances from essential oils behind.  The fragrance also lasts longer than a traditional shower gel since it is absorbed into the skin with the moisturizers. Applied in the shower, these products remove the post-shower step of slathering on moisturizing creams.

Delivered in a beautifully wrapped package, Lush has gone one step further with its gift box.  They have included a special Mother’s Day thank you certificate good for a complimentary skincare consultation, in-store face treatment and customer sample set created just for the mom in your life.  So, really this box is a 2-in-1 gift sure to please.

Picture Puzzle

Turn your family photo into a fun keepsake.  Printer’s Studio allows you to convert your photo into a magnetic puzzle.  The pieces are big, so it’s not a chore to reassemble the image.  The large size of the individual pieces also means that they can be used as refrigerator magnets.

Another option is from Portrait Puzzles.  They allow you to create custom jigsaw puzzles up to 1008 pieces from your photos.  This is great for a puzzle lover. It’s also a fun family activity, as children can help their mom put the photo back together.

Gift certificate to Wayside Gardens

For the gardening mom, spending time outside with her hands in the soil enjoying the plants around her is a relaxing endeavor.  So, why send a bouquet of flowers that will wilt and wither within a few short days when you can give a floral gift that will last?

Wayside Gardens is a mail-order nursery established in 1920. The company offers everything from annuals to perennials, from trees to roses, and from fruit bearing plants to garden accessories. Wayside takes the care to ship plants only when it is the right time to plant in your specific growing zone, and  carefully packag your purchase to ensure all plants arrive as healthy as transport allows.

Giving a gift certificate to Wayside Gardens allows the gardening mom to choose plants beyond those found at your home improvement center and gives her the delight of enjoying the plant for years to come.

Wine of the Month Club membership

For the wine-loving mother, give her the gift of expertly selected wines every month.  This takes the guess work out of whether the wine you have chosen is quality. You can choose to have a bottle of both red and white wine delivered every month, or limit it to red only or white only. Each shipment comes with an information booklet about the wine, and recipes and serving suggestions. Most gift subscriptions start as low as a 4-month gift at $29 a month. Although, the more expensive cellar series, which ships 6 bottles every other month, allows you to choose as little as a 2-month gift. 

The Wine of the Month Club comes with guarantee. They say you will never pay for a wine you do not like. Simply contact them and they will send you a replacement bottle. Before buying this gift, check the recipient’s state, not all allow for alcohol to be delivered to your home through mail-order.

Gourmet chocolate covered strawberries

Rather than simply giving chocolates, try gourmet chocolate covered strawberries.  Shari’s Berries offers not just strawberries dipped in chocolate, but an assortment of options from the classic to variations like nut-rolled, white chocolate, as well as alternatives like chocolate-covered cherries, cake pops,  or chocolate-dipped cookies.  Shipped over-night, you don’t have to worry about freshness.

These chocolate dipped treats are decadent, and you can order them alone, part of an assorted gift package, or as a 2-day gift: flowers arrive on day one and chocolate covered berries on day 2. For a longer treat, consider the “3 months of berries.” Each month has a pre-determined theme and your mom will receive a half dozen of the hand-dipped temptation on the second Wednesday of the month for 3 months.

Personalized beach bag and towel

Summer is coming, and this is a great gift for the beach or pool loving mom.  Get her a personalized beach bag & towel set from personalizationmall.com. Available in either pink and orange, or blue with white daisies, this set can be personalized with either an initial or a full name (just remember Mom is a name too!) embroidered on the bag. These super-cute options will set her apart while lounging under the sun.

Roomba

Normally, I would never recommend buying a cleaning device for a mom as a gift, especially for Mother’s Day. You wouldn’t want mom to mistake your well-intended gift as a request that she clean more. However, the Roomba is worth the exception because rather than saying “I want you to clean more” it says, “I want you to clean less.”

The Roomba is a robot, well, it’s a vacuum too. The reason this makes the list is because it removes the task of vacuuming from mom’s to-do list. This little guy can be programmed to clean up to three rooms at a time. All you have to do is set the timer and empty the bin once a day and you have a vacuumed house.

Newer models are greatly improved over the originals.  It does great with pet-hair, it doesn’t get tangled in rug tassels or power chords. It slows down when it realizes it’s close to furniture so not to damage it, and it has edge finder’s so it won’t accidently fall down stairs or drops between rooms. It’s cordless and recharges it’s battery at a small docking station which it can locate by itself.

Available either from the manufacturer or from one of several national retailers, such as Best Buy or Bed, Bath and Beyond, the Roomba is great for the busy mom, or the one who hates to lug out the vacuum.

Family tree frame

Rather than doing a framed picture of the kids, why don’t you go one step further. The Antique Finish Heritage Tree from Things Remembered brings the family tree to life, allowing you to insert photos of family members into tiny frames for an attractive piece that keeps the family on display. 

This is especially good for mothers who are now grandmothers, as it allows for 10 photos to be displayed in its “leaves,” which is perfect for including multiple generations. There is also 1 leaf set aside for personalization, perfect for the family name, or a motto, or mom’s favorite saying.  This is a unique gift that you can truly make personal. 

Photo scanner

For the mom with years of memories on film, this is a great gift to help her preserve those memories by converting them to a digital format.  Film was the way we recorded those special moments for decades, but photos and negatives can degrade over time and with poor storage conditions.  Why not give mom a scanner so that she can convert all those photos.

While having a back-up copy of precious memories, like photos, is a must in this digital age, converting pictures from film is a way to ensure that memories are not lost as photos start to fade. Converting to digital also offers the option for retouching pictures with photo editing software and labeling and classifying photos in a more organized way.  Digitizing photos also makes it easier to share these memories with friends and family.

A good choice is the Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner.  At under $200, it’s an affordable piece of computer equipment.  It also comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements, allowing mom to get started with editing her photos.  There are built in negative and slide scanners, so you are not limited to only print photos.

Don’t go for the tried and true gifts that are given every Mother’s Day.  Show mom you thought about her by taking your gift up a notch with one of the gifts above. 

Follow Brighid on Twitter at @BrighidMoret and receive updates when new columns post on Facebook. Read more about first time parenting issues in Parenting the First Time Through at The Communities at The Washington Times.

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