Gifts for any mama on any budget

Tell all ya friends and neighbors!

I’ve done my best to compile a list of Mother’s Day gift ideas for the special mama in your life regardless of budget!

Imma be real for like 2.5 if I may, but don’t make it weird for me, k? In full disclosure, I toyed with the idea of even writing this because this is one of those holidays that might bring up some weird/hurtful emotions – hence the delay in this post. For me, my mother abandoned me at birth and I was raised by an emotionally abusive grandmother until I was placed in the foster care system at 16. So, needless to say, Mother’s Day was not celebrated and it was just any other day for me. Even after struggling through infertility before we had our daughter and even now in year two of struggling with secondary infertility, Mother’s Day is always kinda “meh” to me.

It’s weird now, isn’t it? Ugh. Okay. Well, here’s a gif of how I’m currently doing and feeling about all aforementioned things:

K, we good now? Cool. Let’s continue.

I’m assuming that if you are reading this it is because you’re searching for Mother’s Day gift ideas because 1) you are one or 2) you have one that you kinda love. My goal here is to just share ideas (not an exhaustive list) of things for any kinda mama whether you rolling in the pennies or throwing Benjamins at da club.

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas – “The DIY Mama”:

Some affiliate links may be used for your convenience. See full disclosure here.

A trip to the nail salon. Before you roll your eyes and close this webpage because #typical, hear me out. For a mama who works with her hands either by profession or for fun, there’s a chance her hands look a lot like mine sometimes. Broken nails, chipped nail polish and …. what is that? Is it caulk? Is it dried toothpaste? Old lunchmeat? Who may ever know? Regardless, sometimes it’s nice to look down (even for a day) and see nicely manicured nails. And if you’re a woman reading this, then go with your mama! It will be fun, quality time and you can get yours done too. I mean, really everyone wins with this one.

Tools. Not just for Father’s Day, folks! I’ve used a handful of tools in my own DIY career and not sure about you, but I want to flex just about every time after I’m done using them. I personally recommend the Ryobi One+ series of tools for a couple reasons. 1, they’re relatively affordable and on sale a LOT! I mean to get a nail gun for $99 without that loud compressor is awesome. 2, their batteries are interchangeable. If you start off with a bundle like this one you can get a drill, reciprocating saw, circular saw, a bag and TWO batteries for just $149! That’s a great deal!

Related: If you need a place to store your tools and don’t have a garage, check out how we turned a closet into functional tool storage.

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas – “The sentimental mama”:

A book of childhood artwork. This idea is actually exactly what I’m getting my mother in law for Mother’s Day this year. Don’t worry. She doesn’t have the internet and calls her iPad a “computer” so she doesn’t even know what a blog is, much less this one in particular. But she’s the most sentimental person I know. Every year for Christmas all she wants is a calendar with pictures of our daughter, Charlotte from the year. So, I also know she loves when Char brings home some art from preschool. There are real fancy, expensive ways to do it (like here or here), but I’m going the manual “labor of love” route and taking good photos of her art and just making a mini photo book on Shutterfly. Plus there’s always a sale or there’s a coupon code you can find somewhere.

A sentimental piece of jewelry. Etsy is a great place for this. I’m personally loving these bar necklaces that I’m seeing everywhere. I love the idea of this one from Etsy with all the kiddos names and birthstones.

“The Fit mama”:

*Hear me when I say this: These are NOT ideas to give to a woman who doesn’t love fitness things as a way to “lovingly suggest” that maybe she should love these things. This is for the woman who actually likes going to gym (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA IS THIS A REAL THING? HAHAHAHAHAHA) or who is already a relatively clean eater.*

A Fitbit or Apple Watch. I’m gonna be real. While I love all things Apple, Fitbit just came out with this new Versa watch, and I am IN LOVE WITH IT. Isn’t it gorgeous? I can’t stop staring. I already have the Blaze which I love and wear every day, but this one is just something special.

New running/workout shoes. Back when I did Crossfit on the reg (yep. I did. And loved it!) it tore my shoes UP. I’m simple when it comes to shoes and also don’t want to break the bank, so I found these guys at Dick’s Sporting Goods and kinda liked them!Of course, shoes are real important to some people so they may not like these particular ones and that’s find! Find what works for your mama!

“The outdoor or wannabe outdoor mama”:

A raised flower bed or garden. Jordan gave me something like this for my second Mother’s Day and I loved it! It was fun to get to take my daughter outside with me to water the flowers and explain to her little brain what was going on. If your mama has a black thumb or wants something low maintenance, something like a succulent or even a terrarium would be great! I found this real cute one on Etsy!

Sunglasses. Because of course tending to that garden is going to be tough if you’re squinting all day.

These are a great budget option from Overstock or if you wheelin’ and dealin’, these bad mother truckers from Tom Ford are LIT. (Can moms say “lit”? Hope so.)

Also from Overstock, but man they’re beauts.

“The chill mama”:

First of all do those exist? If so, may I suggest a gift of a little DOSE OF REALITY?! jkjkjk. For this mama, something simple like a staycation, a book, or even a cute little mug or candle. I’m not real sure what to suggest here guys. I think a lot of mamas are an anomaly, tbh, but praise God for ’em, am I right? Holding it down for the rest of us hot messes out here in these streets.

Some other simple ideas:

• Having a day off. I mean COMPLETELY off – no responsibilities with kids, no dinner, no chores, NADA. Let her do what she wants to do!
• Breakfast in bed. This can be a great option if you’re on a no spend budget!
• A journal and pen and write a note to her in the first page of what you’d like her to use it for.

There are all kinds of moms out there that I didn’t mention. New moms, seasoned moms, retired moms, moms to be, foster/adoptive moms, birth moms, biker moms – the list goes on!

Just whatever you do, don’t get her a vacuum. For the love of everything, don’t get her a vacuum.

In order for you not to buy her a vacuum, pin this to save it for later: