I have written an few posts over the past couple of days with Mother’s Day gift ideas including fragrant jewelry and a beautiful photo locket. As someone who lives in a tight budget I know that sometimes “luxury” gifts might be out of reach. Don’t get me wrong, I love fine jewelry, gourmet chocolates and a fancy dinner with my hubby. Those things are all wonderful. But I’m also realistic and it doesn’t take much to make me happy. Some of the best gifts I’ve received over the years include a handwritten poem and drawings by my children. Gifts that come from the heart and are made by hand are worth gold to me.
If you are looking for a great gift for Mother’s Day, or any other occasion for that matter, sometimes the best gift you can give is a gift basket that you made up yourself. It’s a great way to stick to a budget too.
To create the perfect gift basket you first need to come up with a theme. For example, if you wanted to give a “Dinner and a Movie” gift basket you could include a gift card to a favorite restaurant or a restaurant that delivers, a new movie or two, some popcorn, movie theater size candy (or regular size candy) and something to drink. Put all the goodies in a nice basket or container, wrap with cellophane and top off with a bow and you have a wonderful gift.
For Mother’s Day I would suggest products that pamper mom. After all, she works hard. It’s not easy to raise a family, care for your spouse, care for your home and often work too. Mom needs a little R&R and “me time”.
Believe it or not your local Whole Foods Market has many items that would make up a perfect “Pamper Me/Me Time” gift basket for Mom (or a grandmother, wife, or anyone else who is special to you). Here are a few suggestions.
First you’ll need a gift basket or a container. Your local dollar store usually has plenty of options. I would suggest instead of a basket maybe you can find a container Mom can re-purpose to store make up, bath and body products, or even craft supplies. A decorative box or bin would be a nice idea.
After a long day I’m sure mom would love to take a nice, long hot bath. To help soothe her tired muscles why not give me some scented bath salts.
Whole Foods Market’s brand, 365 Everyday Value, has several scented bath salts to chose from. I have Lavender and Grapefruit. I like the Lavender. It doesn’t smell good when you sniff the bottle. It smells much better when you put it in a warm bath. The minerals found in bath salts can help soften skin and even leave Mom feeling calmer, more relaxed and happier. Lavender especially helps you to feel relaxed. That is why many scented sleep aids are in Lavender scent.
When I used the Lavender scented bath salt I didn’t want to get out of the tub. I could have stayed there all night. The pefect way to top off a soothing bath is with a cup of herbal tea, like Camomile. 🙂
The 365 Everyday Value bath salts come in a large container too. Your Mom (or special someone) can get many uses out of just one container.
Another bath time product your Mom would enjoy is the Whole Foods Market 83% Organic Triple French Milled Soaps. They smell SO GOOD!
Crafted in the South of France the Whole Foods Market Organic Triple Milled Bar Soaps are made with certified organic palm and coconut oils, scented with all essential oils and are phthalate and preservative free. These premium soaps are triple milled to ensure a luxurious lather that will leave Mom’s skin clean, moisturized and invigorated.
The Triple Milled Soaps are available in Lemon Verbena, Lavender, Grapefruit Mint, Cucumber Lime, Honey Almond and Vetiver Cedar scents. The Vetiver Cedar caught my eye. That sounds like it smells really good. I just had to try it for myself. It does have a Cedar-like scent to it. It’s a little bit on the “woodsie” side, but that is fine with me because I love that kind of scent. I think this scent is great for women AND men. Sometimes men don’t like scented soaps because they are afraid they are going to smell like a flower. The Vetiver Cedar scent is not a floral scent by any means. The scent also doesn’t stay on your skin (you smell it mostly in the shower). It’s a good, clean, crisp scent.
Another nice scent is the Honey Almond. I can’t distinguish what it really smells like – honey or almond. It’s actually a very pretty scent.
These soaps are big and solid and last a long time. They do lather up very nicely and rinse well from the skin (no sticky residue). They also don’t dry out your skin like other soaps do.
I read online some where that you can use the Triple Milled Soaps from Whole Foods Market as sachets too. Simply stick an unopened bar of soap in your drawer and the scent will permeate throughout what ever is in the drawer. I used the Vetiver Cedar in my sock drawer for a couple of days and every time I opened the drawer I could smell it. Who knew soap could double as sachets. If you stock up on these soaps you can use them as sachets in your drawers until you are ready to use them.
Another item to consider from the 365 Everyday Value line is their Essential Oils.
Some people might consider Essential Oils as something you use in crafts (such as home made potpourri). You can actually use Essential Oils in many different ways. Here are a few examples.
– Mix a few drops of the oil in your daily moisturizer for a light, lingering fragrance.
– Add a touch of Essential Oil on a small terrycloth towel and toss it in the laundry loaded with linens for a calming scent that
will help ease Mom (and everyone else) into a restful night’s sleep.
– Add a few drop of Essential Oil into a spray bottle filled with water for a non-toxic air freshener.
– Add a few drops to baby oil to create your own scented massage oil.
If you Google uses for Essential Oils you can find a lot of great things you can do with them.
Whole Foods Market carries a variety of Essential Oils such as Lavender, Peppermint, Eucalyptus and Tea Trea. Lavender is great for helping you to get calm, relax and fall asleep. Peppermint has the opposite effect – it helps to energize you and wake up your senses.
I have Eucalyptus and Tea Tree. I used to have Lavender but used that one up a long time ago.
I use a few drops in a bottle of water as an air freshener. I also put a few drops on cotton balls and drop them into the garbage cans to help freshen them up. I even put a few drops in the kitchen sink drain to help freshen up that scent too.
What I love about the 365 Everyday Value brand Essential Oils is that you get A LOT for the money. Essential Oils are expensive and usually you get a tiny bottle that doesn’t last very long. The 365 Everyday Value brand comes in 2 fluid ounce bottles. That doesn’t sound like a lot but considering that most other Essential Oils come in 1/2 ounce bottles, this is a lot.
Other items to consider to add into the Pamper Mom/Me Time gift basket include;
- Scented Candle
- New Book or Gift Card to download a new book on the Kindle/Nook
- Fuzzy Slippers
- Luxurious plush bath towel
- Music CD with soothing music (or an iTunes gift card to download new tunes)
- Manicure Set
- Body Moisturizer
- Facial Mask
- Bubble Bath
- Box of Chocolates (the Whole Foods Market Assorted Premium Belgium Chocolates would be a nice addition).
The best part about making your own gift basket is that YOU control how much it costs, so you can stick to a budget. You can also customize it towards the person you are giving it to. I have received gift baskets in the past (pre-made ones that were ordered online) and received several items that I had no use for. I like the idea of personalizing a gift basket to the recipient so that you know that they will not only enjoy but also use all the items.
For more gift basket ideas simply Google it. Trust me, you’ll find A LOT of great ideas.
To find a Whole Foods Market near you visit www.WholeFoodsMarket.com. You can also check them out on Facebook and Twitter. I even found them on Pinterest.
Do YOU like receiving gift baskets? What was your favorite (or least favorite) gift basket you ever received? Do you like to create your own gift baskets? If so, what is one of your more popular gift baskets you’ve created. Feel free to comment and tell me more.
Kimberly
*I received free samples to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced in any way.
saminder gumer says
whole foods has some great items and you can definitely put together a great mother’s day gift with them.
Blessie Nelson says
This article got me thinking! Yes, you are right – there are so many thoughtful things to buy at whole foods for my mom!
ANN*H says
It is true that its better to go and be able to pick each thing out separately instead of buying something already made up, then you can pick their favorites for your own made up basket full of goodies for mom – all at Whole Foods Market.