Mother’s Day Gifts Ideas - An Australian Essential Guide



Mother's Day Gift Ideas

If you read my last blog post regarding mother’s day gift ideas, this is a practical continuation of my awesome tribute to our mums and what 11th May, 2014 is and can be. I was Googling top Mother’s Day gifts and as usual the first morsels I was being handed were big stores and brands peddling impersonal factory made products in hopes of making a buck off our love for our mothers. And the artist and Australian in me let out a little scream and a sigh. And I said, that’s it! Let’s show them how it’s done.

So here it is. I decided to make a guide to reclaiming mother’s day and celebrating the real spirit. You see, I thought, how can I show my mother what she means to me and who she is by something that someone else made in a factory somewhere? How can my only personal contribution in my gifts be no more than top 10 products, clicking the ‘Check Out’ button on an online store and waiting to have it deducted from my credit card. To hell with that. I thought, if she’s my mum, then the present I get her should be something I help create and bring in to this world, just like she helped me come into this world.

Since I’m an artist and a shameless supporter of local communities and the New Age spirit, this guide is also a tribute to Australian arts, crafts and small and local personal businesses, a celebration of our motherland too.

Mum’s Own Little Garden (Miniature Tray Gardens and More)

There is no more natural and personal way of showing my mum that I love her than making her her own little garden. Sound like a crazy, impractical hippie idea? Well then you should have a look at these gardens. All they take is few days work (about an hour every day) and by mother’s day you’ll have your very own personal and living representation of mother earth for your mum. You could find small herbs or plants, your mother likes; add models and objects that carry personal significance. And it’s a gift that will hopefully keep living for a while, or as long as your loving bond remains. Every time your mum waters or neatens the little strip of paradise you made her, she’ll remember you and put that love in the soil. The link I’ve put up are real tray gardens that people made at home, it’ll give you a lot of ideas.

Mum’s Own Perfumes and Scents

For most of us who wear perfume, its origin, design and manufacture is somewhat a mystery land. We forget that every beautiful or heavenly or passionate perfume in world actually comes from scents that the Earth already contains and that Mother Nature preserves it in the most amazing ways. Whether its sweet Honeysuckle or the Ambergis taken from whales, all olfactory beauty originates in nature. We merely rearrange that fragile beauty. So here is a gift idea from one of most inspiring small businesses in Australia, its called Perfume by Nature and they make natural perfumes, focusing on local ingredients.

And as a part of this section, I’ve selected something that makes the nature-loving Australian in me beam with happiness and pride. Here is a small selection of essential oils, enough to start learning and enjoying aromatherapy. The best thing is that all of these essential oils are certified Australian Organic and from the soil of our own magical red Island.

Mum’s Own Work of Art Wardrobe

So, this is one of my all-time favourite small business and design houses. They are called Pendragon, and it is a small Australian artists and designers collective that makes handmade shoes, clothes, jewelry and accessories. What’s truly amazing about Pendragon is its authenticity, everything you buy is a work of art (not industry), it carries a personal meaning and most of all it’s a great way to support local artists and designers, especially those that are talented and struggling. The same way our mothers believed in us and our talents and potential whenever we struggled to make it.

Remember the Time When All Mums Used to Knit?

This is one of my favourite Australian businesses. It’s completely locally owned, a small enterprise, and supports the local yarn industry. They have everything to do with the craft, from yarn to crochet needles to design patterns to a huge collection of wool. And they have a mother’s day gift offer on right now, you can find the promotional code online. The place is called Yarn Glorious Yarn. God, I love the name.

Mum’s Very Own Stationery!

I have loved personalized stationery ever since my little sister cut up pastel sheets at seven and wrote my name on them with crayons to make her brother a ‘biznush’ card. Here is another great small Australian business called Tinyme. And they offer personalized stationery, you tell them what to put on items and they deliver it to your door. You can personalize everything from cute little letter pads to elegant journals for your mum. A great idea is to leave loving or funny messages in a personalized diary or notebook. It will bring a lot of laughter and joy into your mum’s life when she chances upon them when you are not there and remembers you.

I really hope you try one of my crazy inspirations that came to me this morning.

My boss used to say, success is the extra mile. And I think here, the extra miles are the small personal details and the efforts we make to make those details happen. That’s what makes us feel special when someone hands us a gift. Remember, you had it right when you were a kid and you made a badly drawn and cut mother’s day card for you. That will always be more special than any gift you can give her. So now that you are a grown up with a bank account and keyboard. Why not go back and learn something from that child and take a leaf from your own book?

I leave you with a few last mothers day gift ideas. These are some items I love and am really certain your mum will too. The most special ones are the uniquely Australian gifts.
Edible Blooms Chocolate Bouquets and Gift Hampers
Mother’s Day Special Handmade Cosmetics by Lush
‘Mother I’ve Always Wanted To Tell You’ Journal
Homedics Tru-Heat Footspa
Bits of Australia Gifts - ( Their story)
Kitchen and Jewelry )

Love and Peace and Love again. Hope you find best mother’s day gift for your mum this year.