5 inexpensive Mother's Day gifts for moms of all ages

Every May children and young people wonder what to get their mother for her special day. Mom does so much for us, and yet we often have no idea what gift that we can afford would make her smile. For those with limited financial resources, here are some great ideas that don’t cost an arm and a leg, and are sure to bring a small measure of happiness to the most special person in our lives, our mother.

1. A magazine subscription that she can read during her quiet moments: it might be about gardening, arts and crafts, horses…you know your mother’s interests. Most magazines have insert cards to set up a subscription. Mail it off or use the Internet to order the magazine and create a one-of-a-kind coupon to let your mom know her magazine subscription is on its way. If your mom is a career woman, sign her up for free magazines about her profession. Cost: free.
2. A bouquet of tissue paper carnations that you make yourself will show that you care enough to spend time making something for her. Take three sheets of tissue paper and cut the layers into four-inch wide strips. Keeping the layers together, take one of the sections and fan-fold them back and forth in 1/3 to ½ inch folds. Take one end of a green pipe cleaner and secure it around the middle of the fan folded layers to create the stem. Now carefully separate the layers until you have your flower. For a more decorative look, use pinking shears (the scissors with zig zag edges) and trim the tips of the flowers. Use what ever colors you like to create the bouquet. Use green tissue paper to present the bouquet to mom on her day with a card that you made yourself. She will definitely be touched by your efforts. Cost: around $5.00 for tissue paper and pipe cleaners.
3. Burn photos onto a CD or DVD of your mom and yourself doing all the things you have done up to this point in your life: your first Halloween, the first cake you baked together, a pony ride at the fair, your first Communion, graduation photos…you get the idea. You can create a wonderful slide show very easily using MS PowerPoint – it even lets you add music. This is great for 5^th grade and up because all you need are the photos, a scanner, a blank disk, and the PowerPoint software on your PC. Who knows? Older brothers and sisters might even want to help with this one. You can add all kinds of special effects to the photos to make them pop right off the screen. Mom will love the creativity you put into it. This works great for older people looking for a gift to give a mom that seems to have ‘everything’ or moms that lost precious photos in floods, fires, tornadoes, or even bad divorces. Cost: about $3.50 for a blank disk and a colorful case.
4. If your mom loves gardening, buy her perennial (they come back every year) flowers or shrubs and give her a card stating that you will help her pick out a spot to plant them, and then help her dig the hole(s) and do the planting. Be sure to include a bag of potting soil to get them started. Most state tourism offices and gardening centers can tell you which ones thrive in your part of the country. Planting native flora and fauna help keep perpetuation costs down and also help the environment. Cost: for example, you can usually get 3 rose bushes for under $20.; it really depends on the variety of the flowers or plant you pick – make sure they are her favorite and plant them somewhere she will see them every day to remind her that you cared enough to work on the this project with her.
5. If your mom likes to take walks after dinner, buy her an MP3 player that straps to her belt or arm and record her favorite music onto it. Show her how it works the day she opens the gift, and volunteer to help her choose more music to download. You can easily download free music from many places on the Internet. Cost: $10 to $50.

Whatever you decide to give mom, when she sees how much thought went into it, she will love it – no matter how much or how little money is involved. Remember the old adage, “it’s the thought that counts” and you can’t go wrong.