Mother’s Day is such a beautiful excuse to slow down and really enjoy time with loved ones.
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Let the moms in your life know how special they are to you by doing more than just buying flowers and a card. Here are 10 unique ways to celebrate Mother’s day this year!
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Best Ways to Celebrate Mother’s Day
1. Host an Afternoon Tea Party
This is great for a mom that is a mother of little ones or to celebrate a mother whose children are grown.
For moms of littles, a sweet tea party with small treats they’ve made themselves (or that you’ve purchased at a store for them) and plastic cups are magical enough.
Even pretend food works here!
For a mom that has an empty nest and grown children, you can really go all out here.
Use a lacy table runner, serve herbal teas and scones, finger sandwiches, and cookies. This post has several great ideas plus a free printable invitation!
If you’d like to have a fancy tea party for a mom with littles, consider dressing the kids up as butlers and have them explain every offering on the menu!
2. Plan a Spa Day (At a Spa or DIY at Home!)
No mom I know spends enough time on her self-care. Every mom deserves a spa day, whether she goes to an actual spa or has a spa recreated for her at home!
You can obviously book a nice massage, facial, or even a manicure and pedicure for Mother’s day.
The only problem with this gift is she either has to be separated from her loved ones on Mother’s day, or more likely, will have to attend these appointments on a separate day. This involves planning and at least some level of stress to get the logistics right.
Especially if the gift recipient is a mama of young kids.
A better option, in our opinion, is to go with a DIY spa day!
Dim the lights, light nice candles or diffuse essential oils (lavender is known to be relaxing!) and have your little ones give their mama a manicure or a facial!
A great gift for this option is a basket prepared with a face mask, fuzzy socks, a new bathrobe or headband, or even a DIY coupon book for her to use later (think foot massages, shoulder rubs, or more manicures to be cashed in later.)
3. A Photoshoot (Again, with a Professional or the Budget-Friendly DIY Option)
Whether the mama you’re celebrating likes to have her own picture taken or would rather just have images of her kids to keep as keepsakes, every mom absolutely loves photos!
You can buy her a gift certificate for a local photographer so she can select how she’d like the pictures taken and choose the kids’ outfits, etc.
Or our favorite option is to do a DIY shoot yourself!
You can even do this on Mother’s Day before going to a brunch or elsewhere to celebrate.
Some tips for a DIY photoshoot:
- Choose a time of day with the best lighting. This minimizes having to edit the photos later. The best times to choose are either early morning or golden hour in the evening
- Use portrait mode on your phone if you’re taking close up pictures.
- Pick a simple background like a blank wall, or use a flower field or other pretty setting. Places that seem run down often make for the best pictures. Think an old barn, abandoned farm fencing, etc.
- If you’ll be in the pictures, use a tripod like this one, or prop your phone up and use the timer setting.
- Coordinate outfits. A classic option is white shirts and jeans!
- Don’t even tell your subjects you’re about to take the photo. Get everyone engaged in a conversation about how they’d like to do the pictures, have them look at an animal running nearby, etc. See how many you get. Tell everyone to practice their best, not-fake-looking smile. Take THOSE pictures to capture the best memories!
Gift one of these for Christmas as a framed picture!
4. Go on a Camping Adventure
This obviously depends on the mom you’re celebrating. I would LOVE a camping adventure as a gift. My sister in law would feel like we were punishing her.
Pitch a cheap tent in the woods (or even your own backyard!), gift her the fixings for smores, cheap sandwich makers and skewers… This can be done on a very tight budget!
Make core memories as a family roasting marshmallows, struggling to pitch a tent, and build a fire.
Some of my best memories with my own kids are ones we made while camping. Even if I thought the trip was a disaster at the time. Many of those days I wish I could relive involve a rustic camping trip.
If the mother you’re celebrating is definitely not the camping type, you can create a similar ambiance in the backyard with a fire pit, twinkle lights, and the same smore fixings. Or use a smore making kit like this one to bring this camping party inside. No outdoor sleeping required!
5. Fondue Date Night (Family Style or Romantic)
Fondue restaurants are among some of the priciest restaurants AND you often leave hungry.
You can melt some dipping options on the stovetop and keep them warm over sterno flames.
OR you can buy a fondue kit, still saving money versus going to an expensive restaurant!
A perfect fondue station would include:
Cheese fondue with bread cubes, roasted veggies, apples, and even soft pretzel bites.
Chocolate fondue with strawberries, marshmallows, more pretzels, and even apples.
If you’re feeling super adventurous and want to include a main dish, try this broth fondue!
6. Build a Buffet of Her Favorite Foods + a Movie Night
Skip the traditional dinner and make it all about her tastes. Does she love sushi, tacos, pasta, Swedish Fish and tiramisu? Great! Put them all on the table!
This day is supposed to be all about mom, so have a Mom’s Favorite Things Buffet. No rules. Just everything she loves, whether it goes together or not!
Set it up picnic style in the living room, grab fuzzy blankets and fluffy pillows, and put on her all-time favorite movie!
7. Plan a Mother’s Day Scavenger Hunt
We do this for each of our kids’ birthdays, but it can translate well for any celebration where just one or two people are being celebrated!
Hide little notes, treats, or handmade gifts all around the house or yard to lead her from clue to clue.
Include funny memories and some of your favorite things about her on each one.
End it with a big surprise, maybe a meal in bed, a trip to her favorite restaurant, or even just her favorite movie queued up on the TV.
8. Schedule a Sleep In Morning + Breakfast in Bed
This one might sound simple, but for most moms of young ones, a full, uninterrupted sleep followed by breakfast in bed sounds like a dream come true.
Especially if she doesn’t have to clean up after breakfast!
Everyone pile in bed and eat breakfast together while watching a cozy movie and sipping on coffee or orange juice – in sippy cups for the littlest party guests!
The whole family in their pajamas and spending a day in bed together relaxing is just what most moms need!
9. Make a Scrapbook Together
Pre-print some fun memories from vacations together, birthdays, etc.
Pick up some colorful paper and stickers from a local arts and crafts store.
On a budget?
You can pull this whole Mother’s Day celebration off with just one trip to Dollar Tree.
Have each kid make one page of their own favorite memory with their mom.
For the youngest kids, ask them questions like
- What’s your favorite thing about Mommy?
- What does Mommy always say?
- What does Mommy do that makes you laugh?
Then have them draw their own rendition of these things and decorate the page with stickers.
This is one you can always add to each Christmas, birthday, and Mother’s day!
10. Surprise Her with a Mommy & Me Interview Video
Interview each of your kids (and even her kids’ friends, kids she coaches, etc) and ask them questions on video like:
- What makes her special?
- What’s something she’s really good at?
- What’s your favorite thing to do with her?
- What is your favorite memory of her?
- What one thing about her to you want to keep doing with your own kids one day?
Then clip these videos together using Adobe or a free video editor like Capcut.
She’s sure to treasure this forever!
No matter which of these options you choose, the mother in your life is sure to feel truly celebrated. Create a day she will love and remember forever!
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