Unique Mother's Day Gifts- Think Outside the Flower Vase

Brooke Amidei
Apr 6
4 min read

Updated: May 12

Think outside the garden center (although let's get real, who doesn't love flowers or a new plant, even if you aren't a green thumb?). Here are some unique mother's day gift ideas that will surprise your mom when you treat her this Mother's Day.

Paint by Number

My sister found this site a few years ago and everyone in our family has had fun with it ever since. They make incredibly fun and unexpected gifts and they are super fun to complete (when is the last time you did a paint by number?). Her go-to company is PaintNumbers- custom paint number kits for adults. You just upload your photo and PaintNumbers will send you the paint by number canvas, all the correctly colored and labeled paints and a frame to secure it to when you are finished. Bonus points- do the paint by number together with your mom!

Flower Subscription Service

Spoiler Alert- this is not only what my mom and my mother-in-law are receiving from us this year, but it is also what I am getting from my husband (he takes instructions well). I learned about this concept last year and fell in love! The local florist from Flower Smith Gardens informed me about it and shared all the details on Babble here: Why Locally Sourced Flowers Matter and Why You Need a Flower Subscription Service.

All the details are in the article, but here's the quick and dirty (gardening pun intended):

Get local flowers delivered multiple times a year (as a subscription service)
Every florist offers different options. Find a florist near you that offers a flower subscription at: Local Flowers, Growers Near Me.

I loved getting this as a gift last year and I LOVED giving it as well! I'm all sorts of excited for you to try this out. This really might be the best mother's day gifts we've ever given!

Family Photo Session

Keeping the unique ideas flowing... my girlfriend's family has the best Mother's Day tradition. For several years in a row they have scheduled a family photo session with all of the grandkids. The kind where you go in, have 20 minutes in the photo room and then you review and they print them right there! Their favorite family photo location was a mom and pop shop in their local community, but this same service can be found at JC Penny Portraits, or simply google "local photo studio near me" and you'll be surprised how many options come up.

Pro tip: My girlfriend said they order a large canvas print each year. Her mom has all of them hung up together. What a great gift!

Professional House Cleaning

Give your mom the gift we all really want: professional house cleaning. It really is the best thing ever. I know we all know about it, and hopefully have been lucky enough to have had it, but seriously...for someone to clean the grossness in the showers and the floorboards, we are forever grateful! Also, I don't think this concept was as prevalent or popular back in our mom's day, so treat that lady! It's just the right gift for all the special women in your life, so grab them each a gift card from the whole family (get your siblings involved to make it more affordable). It also a great idea for last-minute mother's day gifts. Get a gift card, print it out online and check "Rad Mother's Day Gift" off your to-do list.

Personalized Ceramics

The vase above was a thoughtful gift made for my mother-in-law. We had all of the great grandkids write, "I love you" in their own handwriting and my talented sister-in-law used a vinyl cutter to create this vase with a personal touch. The best part was we also got her a flower subscription (as described above) so it was the perfect way to present her flower subscription.

This got me thinking...what if you don't own a vinyl cutter and aren't quite as crafty, could you still pull something personalized like this off? The internet says, "Yes!" I found on the blog We Lived Happily Ever After how you can simply use a sharpie and bake it onto ceramics. Now that sounds like my kind of crafting!

I dove deeper into Pinterest researching this and I now want to bake sharpie onto all of the things, specifically mugs and plates. All sorts of ideas for Mother's Day on there, including making a special mug or travel mug for your mom from you/kiddos, and/or a special Grandma cookie plate, etc. Find all the idea here: Pinterest ideas for baking sharpie onto ceramics Happy crafting!

Keep It Simple & Give Your Time

This collection of creative Mother's Day gifts offers options for your mom, or any type of mom in you or your kids' life: new moms, mother-in-laws, grandmother, best friends, or any important women in your lives. But keep in mind, as almost any mother would say, nothing beats quality time with our kids. I didn't believe it until I was a mom myself, but it really is the simple things.

Babble Amazon Storefront

Your go-to gift resource all year round! We have curated lists of all of our most favorite items ready for free Prime shipping in under two days. Here are some heavy hitters for Mother's Day to inspire your gift:

If your mom is: