One thing you should know about me is that my love language is “Gifts“. Not only do I love to receive gifts, I really love giving them. It’s the whole process, really — the hunt for something perfectly unique for the gift’s recipient, the anticipation leading up to the exchange and just the sheer joy of giving, even if I am not receiving a gift in return. Not to brag and all, but I am essentially the “gift maven” for several family members and friends!
Like most special occasions of 2020 thus far, Mother’s Day may be a tad bit different this year with the social distancing protocols we’re all abiding by these days, so online shopping and shipping windows are especially important, since the holiday is a little over 2 weeks out! So, if you’ve been struggling to come up with something thoughtful to send to that special life-giver of yours, don’t panic! I’ve got you covered with some unique items (in no particular order) that should land on her doorstep within the next 2 weeks and won’t leave a gaping hole in your wallet!
Word to the wise: Always double check the shipping windows, should anything have changed since my original post date!
#1: Moon & Lola Vineyard Square Monogram Necklace
Moon & Lola is a brand near and dear to my heart, much like its owner and principal designer, Kelly Shatat. Based in Downtown Apex, NC, the brand offers all the monograms you could ever dream of fixing your eyes on! The Vineyard Square pendant necklace is my newest favorite from Kelly’s monogram creations — so unique and more of an elevated monogram style. The best part is, you can customize your pendant’s color, metal and even the font style to your liking! Personally, I LOVE how it is pictured above, especially in the Script lettering.
This necklace is usually $68, but with Moon & Lola’s Spring Sale promo code HAPPY40 (applicable for orders over $50), your cost is only $40.80 before tax and S&H! Mom will love the personalization of the elevated and oh-so Southern monogram, and YOU will love the savings. Check out gift idea #8 for additional savings from Moon & Lola!
#2: Milk-n-Honey Tea Company Gift Sets
Looking for a unique floral bouquet for Mom? Well, look no further than Milk-n-Honey Tea Company‘s artisan tea blends, curated into a beautiful Mother’s Day Gift Set for tea-sipping mamas everywhere! Equally as lovely as it is thoughtful, the gift set includes 3 varieties of floral teas secured with a beautiful gold bow: Della’s Rose (caffeinated), Earl Grey Lavender (caffeinated) and Garden Dreams (decaffeinated). The two caffeinated blends serve to give mom the jump start she needs in the morning (I’d choose Della’s Rose to get the day “blooming”… see what I did there) and a calming afternoon pick-me-up (Earl Grey Lavender, my personal fave), while the soothing Garden Dreams blend serves to ease her into a relaxing headspace before resting her head on her beckoning pillow. BTW – the set is on sale right now for $10 ($12 Reg.)! Oh, AND they offer Organic Bath Teas ($4) for some seriously calming and aromatic R&R! (#selfcare)
The Milk-n-Honey Tea Company is a relatively new Florida-based operation whose mission is to carefully curate teas that are cultivated and harvested from the best tea plantations around the world to provide you with a high quality experience. This past Christmas, I ordered some of their pre-curated tea gifts to give to family members along with a variety of their locally sourced honey sticks, and to say it was “a hit” would be an understatement! So be sure to check out their additional gift sets too, and don’t forget those Honey Sticks! Locally sourced honey is such a delightful and inexpensive complement to these gifts.
#3: Luxury Home Fragrance Candles
Say what you will about this seemingly shameless plug for HomeWorx by Harry Slatkin candles at HSN, but a $20 price tag on a high-end Set of 2 18oz home fragrance candles is something I just can’t let you miss out on! They’re on clearance now, so once they’re gone, they’re gone (and you’ll later end up having to search ULTA or QVC for similar items). I love them all, but if I had to play favorites, I’d have to choose the spa-like Florals pairing (White Tea Leaf & Pear Blossom)!
Then there’s my “Old Faithful” home fragrance candle choice: “Volcano” by Capri Blue, which can be purchased at several different retailers; however, I decided to spotlight Anthropologie and Altar’d State for today’s post. Anthro is currently offering a pretty, minty-green sea glass variation of the candle for $24 ($32 Reg.) for a limited time, so I had to share! Then we have the beautiful creamy-white variation from Altar’d State, perfect for most households, priced at $30; but to be honest, their mission to “Stand out for Good” is a pretty great motivator for me to purchase with them, even at $6 higher than Anthro.
Side note: if you happened to catch my first blog post, “What’s in a Flame?” a few weeks ago, I hope you snagged the limited edition Coastal fragrance candle I featured, because they’re completely gone from Anthro’s website now!
#4: Lighthearted Graphic Tees to Brighten Up Your Social Distancing
Because sometimes, if you don’t laugh you just might cry. I can hear Coach Dugan (Tom Hanks) yelling, “There’s no crying in quarantine!“. In addition to their under $20 price tags, I just love how bright and cheery these tees are, even during a difficult time such as this. What I’m really impressed by is Simply Southern’s COVID-19 Collection and their heart to give back with every sale in this collection. A portion of the proceeds from those tees will go toward to donating 10,000 medical masks to local hospitals and medical personnel, as well as financial assistance for multiple health organizations in combating the virus.
#5: Painted Crosses from Hobby Lobby
Does your mom enjoy the grace of the cross and beauty of painted florals? My mom has a beautiful collection of unique crosses that she has collected over the years, all of which are featured on a gallery wall in her dining room. Even if your mom isn’t necessarily a “gallery wall” collector of crosses, these sweet symbols of hope and grace are subtle enough to be clustered together without competing, and bright enough to cheer up any corner of her house. Who knows? You may just kickstart a new collection for her with these little guys! BTW – they are currently 50% off at Hobby Lobby, tallying up to just $12.97 for all 3 before tax and S&H!
#6: Fox Run Marble Cheese Slicer
Maybe I’m biased, I am a bit of a cheese freak after all, but this Fox Run Marble Cheese Slicer I stumbled upon on Amazon Prime may actually be one of the best “bangs for your buck” yet! It boasts a genuine marble surface with an easy-to-use wire cheese slicer, AND includes replacement wires just in case, all for under $20! So for the charcuterie-loving moms that aren’t fans of the prep work involved in displaying a beautiful spread of artisanal cheeses, this is a game changer. Also, for those mommas struggling with arthritic hands, but love exploring tasty wine and cheese pairings, this for you too!
#7: Hinged Bud Vases
Amazon.com 
KTure Accessories | “Drusy Dusters”
Another Amazon Prime win, this Set of 9 Hinged Bud Vases have endless possibilities! The flexibility of the hinges connecting the bud vases allows you to create several different shapes for the arrangements and fits multiple surface areas (i.e. – straight across a mantle, zig-zagged atop a table runner, curved around in a semicircle to accent a decorative bowl or centerpiece, etc.). Your mom can pick floral buds and/or sprigs of greenery from her garden — really any small piece of natural foliage — and create a beautiful display without spending a dime. And at $42 with free S&H, your wallet’s doing pretty well too!
I first laid eyes on this type of tablescape eye candy at the new Welcome Center of FBC Palmetto when I launched my KTure Accessories “Drusy Dusters” jewelry collection (image above) and fell in love with the versatility of these bud vases! That said, if you’d like to check out my jewelry pieces for Mother’s Day too, please feel free to visit my Facebook and Instagram pages. Just send a private message or email with any inquiries! (#shamelessplug)
#8: Stylish Scarf for Accessorizing (and Flattening the Curve)
Mark my words: ACCESSORIZING WITH SCARVES WILL MAKE A COMEBACK! Just remember, you heard it here first (maybe). Not only are these Buttercup Bandana scarves from Anthropologie fun pops of colors and prints for outfits, hairstyles and handbags, but they can also serve as somewhat of a safety feature during this pandemic! I saw it written recently, “Don’t change your habits to prevent getting the virus; change your habits to prevent spreading it.” So to be clear, wearing a beautiful scarf to cover your mouth and nose is mainly to help keep the wearer’s germs from transmitting to at-risk people. When this pandemic blows over, your mom will simply have a bright and cheerful scarf to accessorize her hair, handbag and clothing with! Oh, and being that all 3 color ways of the Buttercup Bandana scarves are priced at $20 each at Anthro, you might as well snag one for yourself too!
#9: Moon & Lola Delicate Bracelets Stack
Okay, so this one technically doesn’t count because it’s not quite under $50, but hear me out — there are so many reasons why I love this oh-so chic and stylish Moon & Lola stackable set for Mother’s Day gifting! First, let’s talk about the price– this set is actually valued at $188 (if purchased separately), so the “regular” price of $88 is already $100 off; THEN you’ve got the incredible Spring Sale going on right now at Moon & Lola (again, any order over $50 is eligible for 40% off with code HAPPY40), bringing the price of the set to $52.80 before tax and S&H. That’s a $135.20 value!
Secondly, since there are 5 bracelets in the set, there are endless combinations for wearing them: 2 at a time, 3 at a time, all together, etc. Or, you could even split them up and spread the love across more than one special mom in your life (annnnd maybe keep one for yourself? ::wink wink::)! One of my favorite bracelets in the set is the Straso Cuff, which normally retails individually for $38; so, if you’re in the market for only one bangle, this little guy is eligible for 30% with code HAPPY30 applied (for orders up to $50), bringing it to $26.60 before tax and S&H! For orders under $30, M&L is offering 20% off with code HAPPY20; so really, you’ve got a discount any way you shop their site!
#10: Personalized “BFF” Coffee Mug
Right out of the gate, I have to admit that I’m generally not a huge “personalize-my-everything” kind of gal, outside of monograms, of course. However, when I saw the advertisement for this item from Unifury with the long-haired blonde embraced by her topknot-clad brunette BFF, it strummed all the chords of my heartstrings as I instantly saw the image of my mom with her arm wrapped around me. The resemblance was uncanny and such an accurate representation of our relationship. When I customized this coffee mug (and there are TONS of looks to choose from), I added our shared BFF (my sister) into the design and ordered 3 of the custom mugs, one for each of us. At $24 each, it was 100% worth every penny.
The timing of the purchase was perfect, as it was during my final weeks of ping-ponging back and forth between Florida and North Carolina before my permanent move to Wilmington (10 hours northeast of my parents’ Florida home). It was to remind my mom that she was, is and will always be my best friend, no matter where either of us lives. I have had no truer, more loyal friend than my momma, so this little cup was to serve as a comforting reminder of that special friendship upon my departure. It has since taken on immensely more significance given the COVID-19 crisis and the stay-at-home orders from our respective states. So, each time I borrow my sister’s cup to sip my coffee (while mine’s in storage), I am reminded of how blessed I am to have two amazing bloodline BFF’s — one to quarantine with, and the other I just can’t wait to be reunited with when all of this is over.
#11: Daily Quick Read / Devotional Book
These daily reads really help to align my focus and set the tone for my day ahead — something both my mom and her mom (my Mema) instilled in me at a young age. I’m definitely not perfect when it comes to reading them first thing in the morning, as I can tend to get distracted at times and then have to circle back to them later in the day. When that happens, I have often found that the message from at least one of the reads was especially pertinent to how my day unfolded and then realize that I could have really used that wisdom prior to starting my day. So, I highly recommend working at least one of these quick reads into your and/or your mom’s morning routine:
- Pursuing of divine Peace daily
- Given to me by my Mema well over a decade ago so that we could be “on the same page” together. I have read it ever since and each year the same daily truths hold constant, no matter how my circumstances change year after year.
- Seeking out God’s gifts of Joy daily
- Given to me by Justin’s mom and Granny, knowing my love for Jesus Calling and my desire to pursue joy more intentionally with this particular book.
Blessings for the Morning and Evening by Susie Larson:
- Encouraging words and scriptures for the day ahead and calming verses and benedictions before resting your eyes
- Given to me by my mom and one of her dearest friends, as they had both been so blessed by reading these blessings daily
Unshakeable by Christine Caine:
- Daily pep talks that tune your heart and mind to God’s empowering truths, no matter the external battles of the world around us
- Given to me by my sister, who was encouraged and inspired by these daily reads and recognized my need for these amazing blasts of encouragement every day.
Mama Said by Vera Jo Strickland:
- Ever wish you could go back in time and ask your grandmother or great grandmother for advice on how she handled specific stage-of-life struggles? I often wish I could speak to my Mema about her struggles with infertility and how she found hope and healing before the joy of having my mother.
- She may not be my Mema, but Mrs. Vera Jo is vibrantly alive and well, has walked this earth for more than 80 years and has shared her wisdom from all stages of life in this daily devotional. I have followed her words of wisdom and scriptures on Facebook for some time and cannot wait to add this book to my daily spiritual regimen.
Well, that’s all folks! Let me know if you snagged some of these gifts in your digital shopping cart for the mom(s) in your life. And if you come up with any other unique gifting ideas under $50, be sure to share them in the comments below!
