Eight Great Gift Ideas for Mother’s Day
Great ideas for what to get mom on Mother's Day, with suggestions that range from a spa day gift card to an afternoon at the thrift store.
Does your mom love grabbing a good bargain? Look no further than New Hampshire’s wide variety of antique and thrift shops, some of which benefit a good cause. Does she like to be pampered on the special day? A spa day might fit the bill. Or would she rather be surrounded in roses? It can be done at a formal rose garden right off the ocean. A gift card to any of the below shops and experiences will be sure to put a smile on mom’s face.
FOR A SPECIAL DELIVERY
Baskets New Hampshire can deliver custom items in endless categories. Add a bottle of wine, some bath products in a galvanized bucket or a picnic basket, and your gift is complete. What has your mom been talking about lately?
EXPRESS YOURSELF
Paint your piece of the sky during a DIY class at Art Escape in Laconia. Choose from a variety of pottery, paint on canvas, or explore their new blacklight splatter room. Art Escape offers classes and walk-in hours.
SET UP A PHOTO SHOOT
Finally get that family portrait that mom has been asking for at Birch Blaze Portrait Studio.
ENJOY A WINERY TOUR
Through June 30, Averill House Vineyard in Brookline hosts “Bottle Your Own Experience Sundays.” Experience wine-making with your besties during this two-hour event. You’ll get to make your own wine, then craft and bottle it to your liking. Enjoy charcuterie treats, and enter the tasting room to try several different wines.
FOR THAT ONE-NIGHT SOLO GETAWAY
Garrison Hotel & Suites, Dover and Durham > It’s upscale, it’s quiet and it has a pool. What more do you need?
FOR THAT SPA DAY
Wentworth By the Sea, New Castle > This spot has several fabulous spa services. Before your appointment, take a dip in the spacious heated hot tub, then choose from a manicure, pedicure, a variety of massages, whatever you fancy. You’ll feel like you’re a thousand miles away.
Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa, Whitefield > Give mom the best life can offer with this magical getaway in Whitefield.
True REST Float Spa, Keene > Immerse yourself in one of the sensory deprivation water “eggs” filled with Epsom salts during a 60-minute therapy session, then take in the oxygen bar. Float your troubles away.
Fleuresh Restorative Spa, Manchester > Fleuresh is perfect for staycations, babymoons, and, of course, Mother’s Day. In addition, there are hydrafacial and other skincare services, scalp treatments, holistic facials, meditation and massage, body treatments and day packages. Try their “Sensory Massage Journey” to see where it takes you.
From the Ground Up Podiatry & Barefoot Medical Spa, Portsmouth > Moms are constantly on their feet, so it makes sense that those feet should be well cared for. When toes aren’t in tip-top shape, it’s time to consider some extra TLC. The hybrid podiatry and spa services at Barefoot Medical Spa in Stratham can do what electric foot massagers, home spa kits, and traditional nail salons can’t – provide personalized attention and advice in a professional, sterile environment that places an extra special emphasis on cleanliness and sanitary practices. Barefoot Medical Spa also offers “medical pedicures,” a hygienic, dry, non-invasive procedure to help improve toenails and the soles of the feet.
Nicknamed “medi pedi,” these services combine a “luxury” pedicure in a medically sterile environment similar to a doctor’s office. Medi-pedis are also best for those who may have damaged nails or extremely dry skin. Barefoot Medical Spa offers several types of services. Some include a consultation with a podiatrist; others use low-level laser therapy to treat specific ailments related to toenails. Having more serious nail and foot issues like calluses, fungus, athlete’s foot, and cracked heels can be enough to make you hide under the covers and never show your tootsies again. Medi-pedis usually aren’t done at a traditional nail salon. This is where Barefoot Medical Spa has a leg up on other, more traditional foot spas: they partner with From the Ground Up Podiatry, located in the spa’s offices. From the Ground Up can help kids, adults, and seniors have healthy feet through every stage of life. Here, board-certified podiatry specialists and skilled nail technicians can listen to your concerns and come up with a personalized plan to care for feet that need extra special attention, targeting problem areas using advanced equipment and coming up with ways to keep them healthy and good-looking. Barefoot Medical Spa can also help those with diabetes or arthritis, ballet dancers and runners, and those who are on their feet a lot – like doctors, nurses, and of course, moms.
Even if your feet are already fabulous, Barefoot Medical Spa can help them stay that way with their myriad spa services — nail treatments, foot soaks, massages, and polishes — in a clean environment. Choose from hydrating and moisturizing skin therapies, foot facials, and CBD pedicures, as well as several massage therapy options that can detoxify and rejuvenate the part of the body that we lean on the most. This Mother’s Day, Barefoot Medical Spa is hosting a Mom & Me aromatherapy pedicure and massage on Saturday, May 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with live music, mimosas, and comfy socks to complete the mood. For $99 per person, a therapist will troubleshoot and take care of nails, cuticles, and more. Mom can enjoy a foot soak, exfoliation and hydration, and then have a fresh coat of nail polish applied in her choice of color.
BLOOMING ALTERNATIVES
Fuller Gardens, North Hampton > Fuller Gardens, a public botanical and estate garden just off Route 1A, boasts about 1,700 rose bushes with 125 varieties in all shapes and shades. By Mother’s Day, the gardens should be in full, transcendent bloom. This working formal estate garden also features a dahlia display garden and a Japanese garden.
Fuller Gardens officially opens Mother’s Day weekend. Pick something from their Mother’s Day Weekend plant sale, May 9-11 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Extra points: Instead of a bouquet that fades in a week, why not buy a shrub or rosebush in their favorite color and plant it so that it returns every year? Or maybe mom has a bare spot in her garden for a few perennials and annuals. She’ll appreciate the effort.
FIND A GOOD BARGAIN
Just The Thing!, Dover > This little shop is always surprising. From framed vintage artwork to art deco, Just The Thing has a quaint but cute and eclectic style, offering gifts and antiques from local sellers. Visit the store for seasonal items, jewelry and furniture.
Children’s Orchard, Newington > This consignment shop is stuffed full with bargains for moms – baby and kids clothes in all ages, toys, books, shoes, playpens, bikes and whatever else is on trend in kids’ attire. Find cool gently used outfits, some at deep discounts.
Outfitters Thrift Store, Manchester and Concord > All sale proceeds benefit the Families in Transition program.
