30 FREE or Extremely Low Cost Mother’s Day Gifts

Mother’s Day is right around the corner, what a great way to begin posting about Mother’s Day, by posting FREE or Extremely Low Cost Mother’s Day Gifts anyone can make or obtain. These ideas are great if you do not have a budget to work with, have multiple women to accommodate and/or love to celebrate with kindness to strangers too! Many churches find it hard to find budget friendly ideas for 100-5000 ladies. So, to begin this series, we will start with the free or lowest cost ideas.

1. Handmade Cards- Everyone enjoys handmade art filled with personalized thoughts! Whip out the essentials and have a card party if you have many to do! This is awesome to do with kids! Kids have the sweetest drawings and messages. Not an artist, homemade is great. But, if you need some help with ideas of things to draw or tutorials with your kids, try the ArtHub. Cards alone are great, but remember they can be filled with treasures too! Leading me to my next freebie…
2. Dried or Pressed flowers- Flowers are beautiful, but dried flowers are preserved! LOL! True, but I was thinking they are a beautiful surprise to your card as well. On our nature walks, we love to collect a beautiful leaf here or there, along with flowers. Pressing them flat between school books and letting them dry is a beautiful accent to any card. As a gift, these make a great art piece or display in a frame. At craft shows, people often sell them. But as a Mother’s day gift, they are very easy to make and free if you are using your own dried wild flowers. And they can be personalized if children picked them for mommy or grandma, and etc.
3. Bookmarks- Another beautiful item that mails well and fits in a card is a bookmark. Bookmarks can be laminated art with a tassel, ribbon with a trinket on the end, or braided like a friendship bracelet. Personalized with favorite colors and/or charms make this a great or inexpensive gift. I love this for church ladies too, everyone loves a cute personalized bookmark for their Bible.
4. Write her a Letter!– Yes free, simple and it will be treasured! Thank her for being your mom, recall a cute memory that has stuck, maybe a milestone you celebrated with her, and/or something that brings joy to all! She will be thankful!
5. Customized Word Searches- A cute and frugal idea that also fits into a Mother’s Day card. This is wonderful and personal when you use household catch phrases, names and nicknames. Another cute freebie idea.
6. Laminated Art- I called this art, because it really can be anything laminated to the size of an index card. These are also great inside cards. A favorite recipe to pass along, a sweet personalized poem, a drawing, a favorite verse or kitchen cheat. I love these, because when laminated, they last forever in the kitchen AND can be taped to the inside of the kitchen cabinets for display or daily reference.
7. Personalized Book- These are so cute and cost nothing but your time. I have seen “10 of My favorite Memories” or “10 Things I Love About You” or
8. Cleaning Gift- So many things help a mom out, but cleaning the house or the garage is awesome! You can volunteer to wash every dish for the weekend (or month) or organize and build shelving for her closet. Anything would be a blessing to mom! (Or grandma.) Remember this could be shed, garage, detailing vehicles, or the yard!
9. Car Maintenance Gift- Not a cleaning fan, but handy? Car Maintenance your things? How about changing the oil, brakes, rotors or whatever you are good at. A tune up! Mom needs vehicle maintenance too! Use those skills for good purpose, what is better than saying, I love you mom! As a church, this could be made a thing where all the guys help change oil or a basic maintenance check for all the ladies’ vehicles! A great way to make sure your elders are taken care of too!
10. Projects- Another great idea for the handy man or gentlemen. Guys love to build, put things together or lift heavy furniture. Does that Mother have a project that has all the pieces stacked in the corner of the closet? Get the siblings together and make a dinner/project day. Cannot do it on Mother’s Day? Make a coupon for it in her card with the date!
11. Wildflower Bouquet- Wild flowers are the best! So pretty, personally selected and naturally scented. For a small fee, home flower gardeners will even allow you to pick a bouquet of their prized work. Just ask!
12. Mason Jar Gifts- Too many varieties to picture all of them. I love making breads and cakes in a jar and gifting them. Mini cookies are a favorite gift we love to share too.
13. Cute Mommy & Me Egg- plant starts- Everyone uses eggs. Place your egg shells in an old used carton and place a bit of dirt in them. Draw the cute faces and plant seed in them to be transplanted later. No seed? No worries. Just grab some spices or beans that will sprout for a cute addition to your Mommy & Me egg people (for hair.) (Hmong beans, Coriander, mustard seed, split peas, etc.)
14. Mother’s Day Coupon Booklet-
15. Framed Art- A really cute idea for the little ones, is to frame their special Mother’s Day masterpiece.
16. Framed Quote- feeling too old to frame your art? How about Mom’s favorite quote OR a funny from childhood- shared and gifted with sweet memories and sentiments.
17. Tea Bag Art- Have a tea lover “Mother” on your hands? Or looking for another cute little sentiment to say “Happy Mother’s Day” in your card or in the gift bags? These super cute Mother’s Day Covers from The Thrifty Couple are super cute for inside those Mother’s Day cards or bags.
18. Seed Envelopes- Similar to the tea bag art, these customizable seed envelopes are another great addition. Really cute too from The Thrifty Couple!
19. 30 Day Jar OR A Compliment Jar- There are a ton of variations for this piece, so feel free to do as you like and altar it to fit your Mother’s Day recipient. Find a cute recycled jar to up-cycle and decorate it all cute. Then place 30 compliments or 30 sentiments on individual slips of paper. A great way to be thrifty, personal and loving!
20. Breakfast in Bed- A great way to start any day, is break fast in bed! Even if this is some really good local cinnamon rolls and coffee, AMAZING! A great way to put something personal in your day if you are having a gathering for Mother’s Day!
21. Brunch- Great food always brings people together on special days! With so many amazing recipes, brunch is one way to make Mother’s Day special, and works for catering to many mother’s as well!
22. Baked Goods- Baked goods are a great way to the heart. Favorite cookie? Bar? Or brownies? NUMMY! Keep it simple or make part of the gift as the display. A cute bow, paper folded baskets or weaved paper baskets. Simple, cute & effective!
23. Jar Gifts that are Edible- This can be complimented with your baked goods, or just by mom’s favorite treats and place them in your jars. Ribbon or a cute bow top it off!
24. A Candle- This can be purchased inexpensively OR homemade with melted wax or crayons. We have done this a few times with our Sunday School kids with crap crayon pieces from the nursery buckets of crayons. Check out this handy site for 20+ candle ideas. Super cute!
25. Photos- So simple, but definately treasured! Everyone loves photos! Whether digital or a physical product, mom will love your photos!
26. Succulent Gifts – Succulents are really inexpensive. If you buy them from Amazon when they are on sale, you can get them as little as $0.42 each. A great deal if you have a large group of moms to purchase gifts for! Paired with cute ceramic dishes or pails, this is another great Sunday School gift we have done before!If you are looking for a craft or budget friendly option, a week of saving tin vegetable cans and decorating them the week prior to Mother’s Day is a great way to be cute and thrifty!
27. Wooden Art Gifts- Have a slab of wood and photo lying around. Grab some mod-podge and make a beautiful custom art piece for the wall or mantle.
28. A Mini Album- What is the fastest way to a Mother’s heart? Her children and grandchildren typically. How about a cute mini scrapbook for your mom’s life? A cute tutorial may be found here!
29. Snackle Box or Mom’s Emergency Stash- Every mom needs an emergency chocolate or snack stash. Help by placing inexpensive treats in a plastic tackle sorter or organizer. Get a cute printable from Eighteen 25!
30. Dinner- Not a big cook, but you can grill? How about some baked tators and chicken on the grill! You got this!!! Your mother probably just wants to be remembered. So, make her a great dinner, just an evening of some of her favorite foods, or dessert night! Woohoo! She will love it!

What a blessing it is to be “mom”, and how special it is to be a blessing to our mothers on Mother’s Day! Be sure to check back tomorrow for 25 MORE Free or Low Cost Mother’s Day ideas!

HAPPY HOMESTEADING & HAPPY HOMEMAKING!