Mother’s Day will be here soon (May 12), so if you haven’t started shopping yet, it’s time to get cracking. Mom gives you lots, and Mother’s Day is just one of many days to show her you appreciate her. To help you out, we’ve rounded up our recommendations for the best self-care gifts, tech gear, gift subscriptions, kitchenware and more to make sure your mom (or grandmother, mother-in-law or any other mother figure in your life) feels properly spoiled this year. Our gift-giving experts here at CNET chose some of our own favorite things and dug deep into our sprawling lists of staff-tested products to find the best Mother’s Day gifts for every kind of mom. Whether your mama is a gadget buff, a serious home chef or she could use a little self-care, we have Mother’s Day gifts that’ll fit the bill. If she says she already has too much “stuff,” we have gift ideas that take up zero space — or you can check out our list of the best flower delivery services.
Does Mom always have a cup of tea or coffee on hand? Then she’ll appreciate this self-heating mug. I keep this at my desk all day long, and I love that I don’t have to keep reheating my coffee and tea in the microwave. Bonus: You can also use the warming pad to charge your phone. Mom is here, there and everywhere — which is why she could use a nap. And when you need to make that smooth transition into naptime, there’s nothing quite like a weighted blanket. Thanks to its breathability and its soft yet heavy feel, the Luna tops our list of the best weighted blankets of 2024. It’s also a welcome mix of affordability and quality. Mom is walking here, she’s walking there, and sometimes back here because she forgot her dang keys (more on that later). She could use a good foot massage or seven, and this compact electric shiatsu massager with heat will do exactly that — whenever she wants. Ahhh. If Mom could use some quality shut-eye, she’d appreciate this 100% pure silk sleep mask. CNET ranked it the best overall sleep mask thanks to its comfortable cushiness and the adjustable velcro strap on the back. “I found that it didn’t slip off my face while I slept like other masks tend to and the fluffy padding made it have a total blackout effect,” says CNET’s Caroline Igo. If you can’t send Mom to a massage therapist, this may be the next best thing to help relax those muscles. The Theragun Elite is our top-rated massage gun, but the Theragun Mini is a powerful, cheaper option in a smaller package. It’s easy to throw in a gym bag and delivers an impressive 1,750 to 2,400 percussions per minute.
If she needs more than an at-home foot massage — and chances are she probably does — line her up with a professional massage. I especially love giving this gift to new moms. You can choose any amount on the gift card, but be sure to check out the cost of a standard massage, since prices vary by location. More self-care gifts for moms: Fresh flowers might be a traditional Mother’s Day gift idea, but a beautiful bouquet is always sure to put a smile on her face. We tested a slew of online flower delivery services, and The Bouqs Co. came out the clear winner. Bouqs offers a wide variety of beautiful blooms including roses, peonies, tropical flowers and more. And right now, you can get $20 off select bouquets using the code 2XBLOOMS. If a bouquet of fresh flowers is too traditional, this Lego set is a unique gift that will appeal to her creative side. Check out more of our CNET staffers’ favorite Lego sets. You’ve probably heard a lot of funny stories and anecdotes about your mother’s life over the years. What if you could collect them all in one place? Storyworth is a service that will pack all her memories and stories into a beautifully bound book. Once a week, she’ll get a question via email that’s a writing prompt. (You can choose the question or Storyworth can select it for you.) At the end of the year, all her answers are collected into a hardcover book with photos and captions. If you’ve ever heard Mom complain about all those photos sitting in her phone collecting proverbial dust, now is the time to do something about it, and a digital photo frame is the thing to do. The Nixplay smart digital picture frame stores thousands of images and will help you display either one photo or a running slideshow of Mom’s life and her favorite people and moments so you can actually enjoy them for once. The frame is available in various sizes — up to 15 inches — and a motion sensor will turn the frame on and off automatically. Speaking of memories of the photographic sort, if she has a pile or piles of old-fashioned paper photos that are susceptible to damage, floods and fires, surprise her with an easy fix: professional photo scanning. Plus, you can use the files to make a sweet digital album or slideshow that she can share on social media. ScanMyPhotos is a master of photo scanning and will digitally organize any images no matter where you’ve stashed them — scrapbooks, photo albums or piled up in a shoebox. You can scan individual photos starting at $0.13 per scan, or the company can send you a box that you fill up and it’ll scan them for a flat rate of $240.