Book Themed Gift Ideas for Mothers Day 2024
Most years, the top 3 gifts for Mother’s Day are the same. Flowers, chocolates and gift cards. Sometimes, it’s because that’s all the stores have, but other times, it’s because of a lack of time to put into either making something, or taking time out to do things together.
Before splashing cash on anything, remember the purpose of this holiday is to celebrate the one person in your life who will have done the most for you. Your mother. The intent was for Moms to be celebrated and appreciated by their kids. Not to have exuberant amounts of money spent on disposable gifts that don’t bring people closer together. As Anna Jarvis would put it, Mother’s Day was never about being a Hallmark Holiday - it just kind of became one.
Book Themed Mother’s Day Gift Ideas
1. A bath caddy
The best bath caddies for bookworms are those with adjustable racks. Rather than just a ledge that leaves readers having to angle their neck awkwardly to read the pages, caddies with adjustable shelves can have the racks set at different angles. That way, the reading position isn’t being dictated by the device, but instead, it’s tailored to the individual’s preference. A bath caddy that can’t be have the racks for books adjusted aren’t going to be appreciated long after their first use. What’s more than likely to happen is your Mom would love the idea, then go looking for a better one - with adjustable racks! Make it a worthwhile purchase from the get-go by buying a quality caddy that’s had some thought put into the design process.
2. Handwritten letters
If you only wrote with pen and paper the same words you’d type in a text message, Moms would still appreciate it more. It’s personal, it’s authentic, and you would have hand selected more than the words. You could write a message on luxury paper, fold it perfectly and close it with a wax seal. As for the things to write to your Mom about on Mother’s Day, that’s everything you would love for them to know that you haven’t taken to the time to tell them. That you love their spaghetti bolognese as much as your Brother loves his Mama’s pizza. That’s your favorite dish. Remind them of the most cherished memory you have of them this past year. Was it a holiday together, a duet together on a karaoke? Whatever the memory, let them know you remember it and value it as a shared memory and state that you look forward t0 many more memory making moments in the coming months and years. With love, forever yours, hand-signed, by you.
3. Book mark charms
By Elisa | CC BY-NC 2.0
Charms are favored for making friendship bracelets and nomination charm bracelets - a theme that originated from Italy where a bracelet consists of up to 18 charms. Most charms are indeed used for customizing bracelets. Chances are, for Moms who love to read, they’d use a bookmark more than they’d wear a bracelet with multiple charms. A single charm tied to a ribbon, a strip of fabric, or leather is all you need to make a book mark charm. Once they start using it, the charm hangs to the outside of the book so everytime they pick up whatever book they’re reading, they’ll see your charm from Mother’s Day and think of you.
4. Corner book mark
For a less intrusive gift that’s much cheaper, consider a corner book mark. Y0u can buy these from marketplaces like Etsy, or you could, (cough-cough) make one. DIY origami book corners are easy to make. If you want to try it, make a template from paper, get some fabric or leather material and sew a thicker corner book mark together that can slot over the pages. If you’re going the sewing route, you may want to consider embroidering initials onto the corner bookmark t0 make it that bit more personal.
5. Scratch off posters
Various gift companies have personalized gifts covering things like “Top 100 books to read”, Top 100 places to visit” etc. The idea is that once a book is read, a place visited or whatever the theme of the poster is, the tile gets scratched of to reveal the picture of whatever the title states it is. Like a picture of the cover art of The Great Gatsby.
You can make the posters be 24” by 36” to contain enough items of 2” x 2” photos. Once the poster is printed, laminate it, then add scratch-off stickers over the pictures. You could make the poster about books for Moms, or you could create a poster with a bucket list of activities to do together on Mother’s day. As an example, a poster of "25 Things to Do on Mother’s Day" would be a gift idea for the next 25 years.
6. DIY Book Nook Kits
DIY book nook kits are a relaxing, and contemplative hobby that involves using miniatures to assemble a scene that sits inside a case the size of a book. Some kits contain LED lights, and all of them are designed to be the size of a standard book so they can slot in between books on a bookshelf, giving the illusion of a world within it. For hobbyists, these can be built from scratch, for those with limited time, kits bring all the pieces together letting the book nook be assembled in an afternoon. As a gift for Mother’s Day, it could be an activity you both do together, making memorabilia that’ll be cherished for years.
7. Seeds, or personalized seed harvesting envelopes
By David Silver | CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
For those with parents who do any type of gardening, lend them a creative hand by making them some seed harvesting envelopes. Instead of just the plain white type most people would use, write items on the envelopes for them to fill in so they don’t get back to them next season and not know a vital piece of information. Fields to leave space for on a seed harvesting envelope are:
- Date collected: _________
- Seed type: Fruit, vegetable, flower, other?
- The name: ______
- Notes (leave a few lines in case it’s a case it’s a seed to experiment in a hanging basket with similar types of flowers).
- The type: Perennial, biennial, or annual.
8. Birth Flower Gifts
By Gardenia.net
For fans of Victorian fiction, take things back an era and give a gift that speaks the language of floriography. Flowers could convey special messages long before florists used the same concept of floriography to conceptualize the birth flower - where each month has a flower named for it.
Those are:
- January, the Carnation,
- February, Violet,
- March, Daffodil,
- April, Daisy,
- May, Lily of the Valley,
- June, Rose,
- July, Larkspur,
- August, Gladiolus,
- September, Aster,
- October, Marigold,
- November, Chrysanthemum,
- and in December, the birth flower is the Narcissus, better known as the Paperwhite.
If you insist on buying a bouqet of flowers as a Mother’s Day gift, personalize it by making it the flower of the month you were born.