Fringe Studio Journals
Journals! Nothing beats a beautiful set of blank pages ready for whatever creative thoughts or notes you want to jot down. These notebooks from Fringe Studio feature an assortment of colorful and unique designs, including smaller sizes and spiral-bound options that offer an alternative to traditional bindings.
Price: $10 to $45
Lego Bonsai Tree
Is mom not the green thumb type? No worries, we still have you covered. The Lego Bonsai Tree is one of the coolest ways to decorate a space with some (faux) greenery. You get to enjoy building it, accentuate your home or office with its majestic beauty, and never have to worry about accidentally butchering it like that golden larch you left outside all summer. It’s a win-win!
Price: $40.33 to $49.99
Apple HomePod Mini
If mom is already entrenched in Apple’s ecosystem, the HomePod Mini makes a great addition to a humble abode. It utilizes Siri voice commands, syncs up with HomeKit and Apple Music with ease, and sounds great for a tiny speaker. It even comes in fun colors like blue and yellow, though some of the shades are a little harder to get your hands on.
Price: $99.99
Beats Fit Pro
AirPods, schmairpods. Mom deserves even better audio from earbuds that stay in her ears even when exercising or munching on a snack. The Beats Fit Pro offer great noise cancellation, excellent audio quality, and come in unique colors like sage gray. Their only downside is a clunky case that lacks wireless charging, but they make up for it in sound and fit.
Price: $199
Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook
Chromebooks make a great gift for any mother who needs an efficient computer without a whole lot of complication or added cruft. The Lenovo Flex 5 is a well-designed midrange option that ticks all the right boxes, which makes it a great gift if your mom just needs to browse the web, access Google Docs, or carry out a range of other basic tasks. Its most glaring flaw is a weak battery, but that’s not an issue if it mostly stays in one location.
Price: $419
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
A burr grinder is the best way to level up your at-home coffee game. The Baratza Encore has 40 settings, so you can get consistent grinds that are just right — from espresso to a french press. It’s a little noisy, but tell mom it’s just another way to get everyone out of bed in the morning.
Price: $169.95
Photosynthesis
While there’s certainly no drought of excellent tabletop games designed to accommodate up to four players, few are as unique and welcoming as Photosynthesis. In this family-friendly title, you grow trees and shepherd them through their life cycle before they’re rebirthed anew. If you ask us, it’s quite the colorful, lovingly-designed bit of cardboard.
Price: $29.99
Marimekko: The Art of Printmaking
Marimekko: The Art of Printmaking is a true feast for the eyes for any lover of design, printmaking, or fashion. See how abstract, colorful patterns make their way from concept to clothing in this visually decadent history of the Finnish lifestyle design house. It makes a great coffee table book, one that can help inspire on even the grayest of days.
Price: $36
Nixplay Smart Photo Frames
A smart display like the Google Nest Hub may be nice for showcasing cloud-connected photos, but Nixplay Smart Photo Frames take it up several notches. These classy frames can beam a steady stream of selected images into your mom’s home from the Nixplay app, Facebook, Google Photos, and other popular services — and they blend right in with classic frames given their array of sizes and styles.
Price: $112.49 to $279.99
Liberty Puzzles
Puzzles always make a great gift, but Liberty Puzzles offer unique pieces that are intended to complement the lovely artwork. There’s just something inherently satisfying about building an image of birds using tiny pieces shaped like birds, feathers, and other abstract shapes that a conventional puzzle might eschew.
Price: $115
Gardana Clogs
Having a dedicated pair of shoes for the garden helps save your everyday footwear from turning brown or falling apart. Thankfully, these slip-on clogs are waterproof, washable, and sustainable thanks to their hemp-based, plastic construction. And when it’s time to retire them, you can just toss them in the recycling bin.
Price: $62
Ainope 10,000mAh Portable Charger
Everyone needs some on-the-go juice for their phone, and a power bank is best when it stores a lot in a small package. This Ainope charger is tiny, charges via USB-C, and packs a 10,000mAh battery that can rapidly charge most phones twice over. The numeric battery level display is just icing on the cake, so you’ll always know exactly how much power it has left.
Price: $29.99
Fitbit Versa 3
Buying someone a fitness band is a tricky endeavor. You best know the mom you have in mind is not going to be instantly offended by your thoughtful gift, which can easily come off as a dig at their weight. If you’re confident that’s not the case, however, the Fitbit Versa 3 is the best option for most people. It’s more affordable than the Apple Watch, can track many of the same activities, and works with both iOS and Android.
Price: $179.95
Gold Leaf Soft Touch Gloves
These leather and nylon Gold Leaf soft touch gloves are the same ones used by the professional gardeners at Buckingham Palace, and they’re endorsed by Britain’s Royal Horticultural Society. They’re soft enough to maintain finger dexterity but rugged enough to help during many small tasks. Don’t think of them as just garden gloves — they’re get stuff done gloves.
Price: $34.95
2021 Apple iPad (64GB, Wi-Fi)
Don’t think of the base iPad as an inferior device — not for one second. It does nearly all the same things the Pro models do, yet it retails for far less than $1,000. If mom needs a portable Netflix machine or just an everyday tablet, the 2021 iPad is up to the task with its A13 Bionic CPU. It may lack USB-C support like the high-end models, but it’s still plenty fast and touts Apple’s Center Stage feature, which keeps subjects centered in the frame during video calls.
Price: $319.99 to $329
David’s Black Tea Press travel mug
If mom prefers tea over coffee, then this double-walled Black Tea Press from David’s Tea is the perfect travel mug. With it, you can easily infuse hot or cold water with loose tea leaves that stay separated, saving you from a mouthful of grit. And once you reach the proper steep time, you merely have to slide the press to take out the leaves.
Price: $36
Amazon Echo Show 8
Amazon’s Echo Show 8 is a helpful smart display for keeping in contact with family and friends via video calls, and its robust sound makes it a great connected speaker for blasting the latest from The Weeknd. The most recent model features a wider lens that can automatically frame you up, and if privacy is a concern, there’s even a physical shutter you can slide on to cover it.
Price: $129.99
Kombucha Brew Kit
Why buy expensive ‘booch when you can brew your own? This kit includes everything you need to get started, including a sizable mason jar and a code to claim a SCOBY, allowing you to make up to one gallon of the probiotic drink at a time. Think of mom’s gut health for once!
Price: $45
Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones
Everyone deserves a little peace and quiet sometimes. Make sure the mother in your life gets theirs while also enjoying some quality-sounding tunes or podcasts. The Bose QuietComfort 45 are some of the comfiest headphones around, and they feature excellent noise cancellation. They’re great for travel but also superb at tuning things out around the house for some quality “me time.”
Price: $329
Kaweco Sport Iridescent Pearl Fountain Pen
The Kaweco Sport is a staple among compact fountain pens, and the pearl colorway is a sight to behold. A quality pen is a great gift for any mom who likes journaling or slowing down to take notes, and while this shimmery colorway may be a bit hard to come by, you currently can reserve it at select retailers or opt for one of the many other colors of Kaweco Sport pens out there in a variety of nib sizes.
Price: $27
Octopus Charging Cable
We dare you to find a cuter multi-connector charging cable. This little plastic octopus charges devices via USB-C, Micro USB, and Lightning. It’s great to have in your bag when you might need to charge a variety of different devices, and it’s just absolutely adorable. Also, if you try to plug in the wrong cable it squirts ink all over you (we’re kidding, it doesn’t do that).
Price: $12.90
Madewell Short-Brimmed Bucket Hat
If mom loves to look fashionable while vibing on a touch of ’90s skater-inspired nostalgia, Madewell’s Short-Brimmed Bucket Hat is the perfect gift. It’s a particularly great one for spring, too, as the white canvas pairs well with all kinds of outfits.
Price: $29.50
Bialetti Express Moka Pot
Take it from the Italians, there is no better way to share espresso after a hearty meal than with these little pots adorned with l’omino con i baffi (the little man with a mustache) asking for another. They’re timeless, they look great on display in the kitchen, and they make a superb espresso. Go ahead and get mom a bottle of Sambuca to go with it. Now you’re digestif-ing with the red, white, and green.
Price: $34.99
Recently (subscription)
Everybody wants to document family memories in print form, but finding the time to make pricey photo books every year is nearly impossible. A subscription to Recently allows you to easily create quarterly photo books that resemble high-end magazines. The paper is super thick, and you can make one in about 10 minutes on your phone.
Price: $14.99 per quarter
Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard (with or without mouse)
We all know that mothers work hard, and when working remotely, they should have the ergonomic comfort of a desk setup that doesn’t lead to wrist pain. The Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard keeps your hands spread apart, opening up your shoulders for better posture while sitting or standing. The optional setup with a mouse and separate numpad is especially good if your mom is the number-crunching type.
Price: $53.99 to $129.99
Free People Sunny Sweater Bomber
The cardigan is the perfect sweater. It’s light and airy yet still keeps you a little warm, rendering it the perfect accessory for the spring and fall. This bomber-style cardigan from Free People has a unique texture and comes in a variety of bright and bold colors. It may be a label that usually targets young women, but this boho-style sweater looks great on moms of any age.
Price: $39.95
Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda
There’s no better way to recapture the joy of playing a gaming classic like The Legend of Zelda than with this Nintendo Game & Watch handheld. The standalone device offers three vintage Zelda games as well as a Zelda-themed clock and timer. Your mom can whittle away the hours as she plays these classics on a handheld that oozes nostalgia or set it up as the coolest tabletop clock around.
Price: $42.50 to $49.99
Chef’n Double-Sided Spatula
An artisan is only as good as their tools, and a baker is only as good as their… spatula. This double-sided, nonstick spatula from Chef’n is perfect for the mom who can’t get enough of The Great British Bake Off. Plus, if you gift it to them, maybe there’s a chance all those new cookie and cake recipes will be “tested” on you.
Price: $7.79 to $8.77
Fujifilm Instax SQ1
Sometimes taking photos with unpredictable results makes them more memorable. A square-shaped instant photo is timeless, and the Fujifilm Instax SQ1 is a charming film camera with a selfie mirror that makes capturing memories with the once-iconic format effortless. After all, there’s just something magical about holding a finished print in your hands right after you take the shot. Make ’em count!
Price: $119.95
The Verge Logomark Shirt
Remember the old adage: AMLGDITV (All Moms Look Good Dressed In The Verge). If mom is a fan of tech and culture with a keen fashion sense, then The Verge Logomark Shirt makes the perfect gift. The heather gray t-shirt uses a soft, cotton blend and features our iconic penrose triangle logo in a gradient that recalls our go-to color pallete.
Price: $26
