Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 11, 2025, so it’s time to get clicking on a gift for your mom, your children’s mom, or any other special mother figure in your life. Here are some great gift ideas with wide appeal, sure to be appreciated by mothers of all ages and interests. Many of them are from California makers, which means not only are you supporting local businesses, but the gifts can be shipped out and delivered quickly as well. Happy Mother’s Day!
(Prices, details and availability are subject to change.)
Plant Subscription
Plants are logically a better Mother’s Day gift than flowers because they live longer, and a plant subscription is better than a single plant because it’s a gift that keeps on giving. Lively Root, a farm-to-doorstep nursery founded in San Diego, offers versatile options for plant subscriptions to suit any green-fingered mom. Choose the number of shipments (two, four, six or eight) and frequency (every three or six months). There are five plant subscription options available: Pet Friendly ($49), Easy Care ($34), Not-So-Common ($49), Gift ($109) and Orchid ($49). (Prices shown are for two shipments.)
Bee Bandana
$23 from Pen and Pine Shop via Etsy.com
This 100% cotton bandana in a cheerful yellow hue measures 22” square and features silk-screened hand-drawn illustrations of plants and bees. Your mom can wear the bandana as a hair accessory, face or head covering, headband, neckerchief, and more. The bandana is machine washable. It’s sold on Etsy by Pen and Pine Shop, a woman-run small business based in Eureka, California. If Mom’s not fond of bees, check out their other delightful designs.
The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
This award-winning cookbook, first published in 2002, is a sure winner for any mom who loves to cook. It’s a compendium of recipes created by the late Judy Rodgers, a culinary icon and chef/co-owner of the iconic San Francisco cafe. The cafe’s menus embrace seasonal organic ingredients and are influenced by French and Italian traditions. If that’s your mom’s kind of cooking, she will love this gift, and maybe one day cook you Zuni Cafe’s famous roast chicken!
Bibliophiles Diverse Spines 500-Piece Puzzle
Does your mom enjoy reading and doing puzzles? Bring both of her pastimes together with a gift of the Bibliophiles Diverse Spines 500-piece puzzle. The puzzle art features hand-drawn spines of best-selling book titles on a white backdrop. Making this puzzle extra gift-worthy, it comes in a charming box shaped like a hardback book.
Wheel-Thrown Rustic Modern Coffee Mug
$30 per mug, from FifteenStreetStudio via Etsy.com
This gorgeous handmade ceramic mug will elevate any mom’s daily coffee- or tea-drinking sessions, and she’ll think about what a lovely gift you gave her with every sip. According to San Francisco-based maker FifteenStreetStudio, the 12-ounce mugs were hand thrown on a pottery wheel and finished with a decorative tulip design of matte black glaze and natural clay color. (The listed prices is for one mug; sets of two are available.)
Birdfy Feeder 1 – Bird Feeder Camera
Invite your mom to take her bird-watching up a notch with the Birdfy Feeder, which has a built-in camera and connected app to capture every feathered visitor. The wide angle snaps great shots of visiting birds without disturbing them, and even has color night vision for after-dark wildlife. Mom can set alerts for her favorite birds, and the app recognizes over 6,000 species. The feeder has a built-in battery, is engineered to withstand any weather, and can be mounted on a wall, tree or pole.
Desert Full Routine Curated Set
This gift set of bath, body and wellness products is inspired by the ancient beauty and resilient flora of the California desert. The included products – a White Sage Bar Soap, Desert Cedar Body Oil, White Sage & Mint Bath Salt, Desert Cedar Candle, Yerba Santa Botanical Tea Bags and Desert Cedar Room Spray – are made using plant-derived ingredients and biodegradable formulas. The gift set is from Juniper Ridge, a classic west coast home and body care brand founded in Berkeley in 1998. Coast and Mountain themed sets are available as well.
Need more ideas? Check out our previous gift guides.
