Mother’s Day: PART II of Making a Book an Extraordinary Gift on Any Budget

Sunday, April 26th, 2009 | Gift Idea, Uncategorized

***This is the 100th Post!!!***
In yesterday’s post I suggested some specific books (or for the mom who really loves reading – a Kindle would be another fantastic gift) that would make nice Mother’s Day gifts. For the second part of this series I am going to embellish on the idea and show you different ways to make any book or publication into a really thoughtful and personalized present.

By M. Gauvin - www.matthewgauvin.com

Part II
Ideas for Making Any Book or Publication Into a Really Thoughtful and Personalized Present
Books are great presents for a variety of reasons, including, you don’t have to worry about getting the wrong size or color, they ship well, wrap easily, and there is such a wide variety to choose from that, as long as your recipient likes to read, you can find something that really suits them and their personality.

The first and most important thing is to start with a great foundation. If none of the book suggestions I made in Part I seem interesting, do a search for an author or genre that you know your mom or spouse likes and get that instead. It doesn’t have to be a book about Mother’s Day in order to make a great Mother’s Day gift!

Hint: Don’t know what type of book she likes? No problem! Take a peek at her bookshelves, coffee table, nightstand…even the bathroom. Maybe you’ll notice she reads more magazines, newspapers, or enjoys other publications like puzzle or game books (i.e. sudoku or crosswords). Whatever it is that she likes, that is what you should get, whether it is a book, a magazine subscription or a weekend delivery of the Times, go with what she loves.

Here are some additional ways to personalize this for every budget – feel free to be creative and mix and match any of these ideas…

Inscribe the book in a thoughtful way. You just have to be sincere and tell her what a great mom you think she is and why you got her this present. Ex: It could be as simple as “I love you mom/dear and I know this is one of your favorite authors. I wanted to be sure that I got you something that you could enjoy that is just for you – after all your hard work you deserve it and I want you to have a very Happy Mother’s Day!!!” Simple, sweet and to the point. Obviously I’m being very generic and you should personalize it more but my point is, you don’t have to write poetry, you just have to let her know that you gave this gift some thought and chose this particular gift because you want to please her.
Wrap it in a unique way – like wrapping it in nice paper and putting a few real flowers, wrapped in tissue paper, under a big, bow with made with wide ribbon that is tied around the book and the flowers. This is a great way to incorporate the traditional idea of giving your mother flowers in a more innovative way.
Wrap it nicely and attach something special, like a beautiful broach that she would like wear, to the center of the ribbon. Then it becomes two gifts in one!
You might also consider giving her a very nice bookmark to go with it or a nice book cover if she likes to travel frequently with her books.
Incorporate the book into a gift pack that is anything but generic!
Is your mom of the age where she needs her reading glasses but always seems to lose them? Get her a nice pair of glasses and a beaded chain or pendant that helps her keep them close at hand and wrap the items separately in coordinating paper.