Mother’s Day is in two weeks. So by now, you’ve figured out the day is not really about you and more about the grandmas. Your mother and your mother-in-law. Hi guys! I love you both! (They read my blog religiously.)
The good news is— gifts for grandmas are ridiculously easy. Basically, all grandparents want is photo evidence of their grandchildren to show their friends. Mugs, calendars, tote bags, blankets. The more customized photo items they have, the closer they feel to them at all times. Whether it’s Mazzy’s head emblazoned on a shirt or Harlow’s tushie mooning them from their mouse pad.
If you are smart, gift giving on Mother’s Day really just becomes the process of picking out a photo and selecting the vehicle on which that photo should be served up. For instance, last week I posted a photo of Harlow hysterical crying next to an unphased Mazzy on my facebook page. Many of you suggested I turn that photo into something special like a framed poster for our living room.
I decided pillow cases would get the most bang for my buck.
For coasters, I’m think these photos of Mazzy getting drunk off grape juice on Passover are totally appropriate. Don’t these four pictures make for a lovely bar set?
I love the mousepad idea, too. But instead of Harlow‘s tushie, I like this photo of Harlow looking at whoever is on the computer with disdain.
‘“Really? You are on that thing AGAIN???” This way Grammy and Grandma can know exactly what it’s like to have Harlow in their home EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Or… how about a puzzle with this sisterly photo of Harlow stealing Mazzy’s cupcake?
Then you can feel a strong sense of completion when you finally finish the puzzle by yourself at 3am after everyone has long gone to bed.
Alright, now my creative juices are flowing and I want to make MORE PHOTO GIFTS.
Like a laminated placemat with Harlow stuffing her face!
A tote bag with Mazzy sticking out her tongue!
A fleece blanket of Harlow yawning!
As for that framed photo to hang in our living room? I think a canvas of this memorable afternoon with my girls would be PERFECT. Nothing says motherhood more than a family photo with no one looking at the camera except for mom.
But seriously, photo gifts present endless opportunities for both comedy and sentiment.
If you want to play it safe (for the grandmas), Walgreens has numerous customized card options, calendars and canvases. I created these super cute cards and they were ready the very same day. (That’s for all you people who wait to buy gifts at the last second— are you listening, Mike?)
But if you want to go for gold, they also have blankets, mugs, mousepads and everything inbetween. I suggest you create something that will really make a lasting impression.
(Oops. I meant to put them away before Harlow saw them.)
Today, I’m giving away five $25 Walgreens gift cards to five lucky readers!
You can use it to make blankets of your yawning children or something nice with an adorable photo that even the grandparents can appreciate. For a chance to win, all you have to do is describe the photo and photo gift that would make you the happiest to see on Mother’s Day in the comments below.
Example: I’d make a mug of Harlow baby mugging!
For a second entry, tweet the following and then leave a second comment saying you did so:
I just entered to win a Walgreens gift card via @mommyshorts. http://bit.ly/1GflpXO #ShareLifesHappy
You can order Walgreens photo gifts online or at the store. If you are at the store, make sure you pick up a copy of their catalogue— I’m inside!
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WINNER UPDATE:
And the winners are… Christine Phipps, Alice DeLyser, Samantha, Tanya and Sharanda Crews.
Congrats! Please contact abby@mommyshorts.com to claim your prize.
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This post was sponsored by Walgreens, but all amazing new pillowcases are my own.
Cool ideas!
I’d make a mug of “that time the boy and the dog found my tampons” which depicts that time my 2 year old and my dog were caught with tampons just EVERYWHERE. Because who wouldn’t want to sip out of that hilarity every morning? Cute kid. Check. Cute dog. Check. Tampons. Check-check.
I would make a calendar with pics of different family members for each month representing their birthdays!
Tweeted
I just tweeted out my entry too 🙂
Id pick a zoo picture of kids in front of the flamingos.
I’m a sucker for photos on canvas. But what I would really like now is a new coffee mug with a silly picture of my two kiddos on it. Likely the one where my son is wearing his sister’s tiara and she’s behind him sticking her tongue out. My husband broke my last photo mug of my daughter as a baby when she discovered she had a tongue.
I would make a mug with a pic of my crying son, saying ” Don’t talk to me before I’ve had my coffee! “
I tweeted the tweet as well. 🙂
@lynnski61
I have a photo of my 2 year old girl in a pink kitty cat dress wearing a Thor helmet unintentionally doing a thumbs up – I want that on a tote bag because it’s so hilarious and bad ass.
I would make a blanket of my boys feeding the giraffes at the zoo!
I’d make pillowcases for my mom (cos I’m not a mom yet!)
It will have a picture of me and her dog, Beatrice aka her Two Duaghters!
I’d make a canvas print out of my four year old son mimicking our dog peeing on the fire hydrant. Ah, the beauty of nature…when it calls!
I’d make a coffee mug of when I told the girls to hug for a picture and the older one nearly strangled the younger one, leading to many tears. A good reminder of why I need the coffee.
Tweeted!
My maddy, making her grumpy, something is unjust face on a mug
i would make pillow cases of me and my son for my mom (grandma), the woman who already has everything.
I’d love a tote bag with this cute picture I have of Quinn pushing the kid’s cart at the grocery store.
https://twitter.com/bybreenah/status/591629337369169922
I’ve been looking at doing coasters for a while now. Maybe some with the girls munchkin selfies on them.
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/mlvanhuss/status/591629858750377984
I would make a canvas print of my babies (3.5 and 10 months) where my 10 month old is sticking her tongue out and her older brother is hugging her with glee!!! <3 always warms my heart!
Photo gifts are awesome! I’d make a mug of “the one where my kid got ready to go on her own.” She got dressed to go out in the snow in a winter hat, sunglasses, and her Olaf bathrobe. When I requested she add a coat to the ensemble, she told me, “the cold never bothered me anyway.”
I want a tote bag of my daughter’s face after she ate half a socks.
I would make a collage of all the pictures of my 2-year screaming at different Disney characters on our last vacation.
Also for your reference, grandparents day is actually September 13!
I’d make a blanket of all of my kids watching a movie together so that I could use it to cover them when they’re watching the next movie together and be so very meta.
I’d make a pillow with my daughter making some sort of silly face or laughing so I’d have that to wake up to every morning. All the things I love about ovcasionally co-sleeping without waking up clinging to the edge of the bed trying to both not fall to the floor or wake my daughter up.
My girls were playing “models” one day and borrowed my camera 🙂
Lipstick and eyeshadow everywhere! And my poor 2 year old son…
I would live these pictures as magnets on my fridge for everyone to see!
I have some amazing pics of my boys wearing my dresses.They are SO cute. They won’t find it cute later, so I’d best slap it on something permanent… 😉 I like the pillowcase idea!
I would love to put a photo of my little Bean on a canvas!
I’d like a photo canvas of my sons on Thanksgiving- one of my favorite pics of them, and we just moved into a new house and need some stuff on the walls.
I love the idea of a calendar, a cavas print or even the greeting cards! Our new baby arrives in June, and our June baby turns 3! I think we will have lots of sibling photo shoots in our near future!!!
I tweeted @apmy23
I would have a canvas done of my grandsons standing in my back yard with their bums showing as they water the grass.
There was a mother near me who recently lost her little boy to child abuse. I don’t know her personally, but I know she would give anything to hold her baby one last time. I’d love to be able to give her a photo blanket of him so she can snuggle him forever. It’s not something that would make me “happy” per se, but it would make my heart hurt less…
We have winter birthdays (oct and March) so have a stack of birthday pictures to be turned into many things. Actually, still need to take my son’s birthday pictures, shhh! Don’t tell!
I would make magnets of each of my children making silly faces or a mug of my 5 month old little girl “in a mug” pic.
A blanket with my mom and I on my wedding day I think.
I tweeted!
I’d take that one family pictures (that one with everyone actually looking at the camera) off my computer finally and put it on a puzzle so we could put it together as a family. I would then glue it together and frame it.
I used one of those photo apps to make a side by side picture of my oldest daughter, at 8 months old, and my husband when he was 8 months old. I’d love to have THAT on a set of pillow cases! HAHAHAHAHA
It has been Tweeted!
My son is three weeks old. On the second day one of my best friends managed to catch a picture of him with his tongue stuck out at us. That picture, or the picture I took of his fury smile on just about anything would be perfect.
I’d like a pillowcase of my Lemon sticking her tongue out!
Posted on Twitter!
I would make a blanket of my 3 month old giving me the “stink eye!” It’s pretty funny and should be a meme for something!
Is it sad I’ll probably make one of me laughing with a lobster before I am about to eat it? LOL. Also I tweeted!
I would make a canvas of my daughters on easter where my 14 year old is handing my one year old a flower. Its the most precious picture I have.
A blanket with a picture of my girls Reading to each other in bed
I’d pass it along to my husband and have HIM make ME a photo book! 🙂
I tweeted! https://twitter.com/Spaceshot3000/status/591654036023160832
I’d make mugs of my pillowcases of my daughter yawning in her crib.
I’d get a tote bag with my daughter’s picture on it…when she first learned to point – with her middle finger. She never realized why we kept asking her to point at things and then laugh hysterically.
I would love a pillowcase of my granddaughter’s gorgeous face up close looking at a powdered waffle at an amusement park. It precedes a picture of her covered in the powdered sugar.
We do puzzles at every big family holiday, and I’d love to get a puzzle made as a surprise for the next one, with a pic of all the cousins from last Christmas. 2 are smiling, one is crying, and the baby is indifferent… 🙂
I love the mousepad idea. I’d make one of us when we dressed up like octopus for Halloween.
I also tweeted
I think a photo of my 18 -month old with spaghetti plastered all over her face and hair would make the perfect place mat!
Also tweeted!
I’d order a canvas picture of my girls in the bluebonnets- we just moved and my walls are so empty!
I have used Walgreens for many mugs and key chains, I would love to use a giftcard and make an updated mug as my kid is now 6 years old not 6 months…the age she was the last time I got the grandmas a mug :0)
P.S. I love your blog…
I would love a mousepad pic of the time I took my girls and niece to Disney and stood inline for 5.5hrs to see Anna and Elsa
I would do a canvas print of a family photo from our recent trip to Disneyland, because we haven’t had a family photo since our daughter was born, 4 years ago…
I have a picture of my daughter that my husband calls the stressed out house wife look. Her hair is a mess and she sweats on with jewerly. I would put this on a coffee cup.
I would love to make a reusable shopping bag with this picture of my daughter. She has the look of disgust on her face, with her nose turned up with the caption “Go to Church” on it. It came up when my mom used the app Cap That on her photo. Hilarious!!
I would use the picture of my three tr old in the wire dog crate for a canvas print. That way it looks like he’s in a wall cage. 🙂 better than TV!
I would get a canvas print from my Monday Morning photo shoot. Because Raquel did an amazing job
I would love a shirt or a shopping bag with a picture of my girls on the front and a picture of them from behind on the back. I think that would be so cute!
i love the pillow cases!!
I think a pillow with all 5 grandchildren on it would suit my mom perfectly!!
Just moved into a new office space and would love to make a mouse pad for my new office with a silly pic of my kiddo to keep him close while I’m away!
I’d make a placemat of my toddler eating corn by the fistful (and showering it everywhere in his path along the way).
I love the puzzle. My grandma would absolutely lobe it of my daughter and her!
I have a picture of my son using our dog as a pillow while laying on the dog bed inside the dog cage. I would love to have it made into a blanket. Then use it to cover them both up at bed time after my son transitions to a big boy bed.
My son is obsessed with puzzles. I was just saying I need to make him a puzzle with our faces on it! (or curious george….) he’d be happy either way!
I’d love a set of coasters with pics of my two boys drinking out of their huge, foot long plastic cups.
1) I would get each of my 3 boys a throw pillow sham with a precious pic I have of the three of them. Great visual for nighttime thoughts & prayers, especially when we’re not all together in the same bed for books/prayers.
2) I have a great pic of my older 2…with #1 photobombing #2. So telling about their relationship even 3 years later! I’d put it on a tote bag…would be fun to use on quick errands (we do the reusable bag thing here in Austin)
3) A pic I took of my 2yo playing peek-a-boo would be perfect for a puzzle!!
I have a picture of both my kids throwing an epic tantrum at the same time. I think I would make a blanket or shower curtain out of it! Put it right in the guest room when grammie comes to visit!
Though I love your mouse pad it’s hilarious!
I kind of want a puzzle of the time my daughter was hugging her (very unhappy looking) baby brother and saying “But he’s my baby!”
i would make a mug of my 10 month old niece with red berry juice all over her face like a man eating zombie!
I’d make a tote bag with my twins ‘hugging’ (they may be fighting but I couldn’t tell so I took a picture) for my mom to take to the pool.
I’ll have to go with placemats with pictures of my son with spaghetti all over his face.
tweeted!
I would get a blanket with a picture from one of her newborn photo session.
Oh man I love those pillow cases. I would make a calendar with pictures of my daughter for each month.
I would make my annual photo book, since I am a couple of years behind. But as a gift, I’d like a mouse pad of my kids making faces, to scare the desk clutter from encroaching on that area.
I would probably make each grandmother a coffee mug since they drink it every day. It’s hard to say whether I’d do a sweet, smiling photo or one of the many silly ones!
My mother and mother in law would love it if I would just give them my sons’ latest photos (18 months and 4 yo) before their next milestone photo op! The littlest guy will turn 2 on June 1st!
I would put a picture of my kids napping on a blanket
I would make coasters with pictures of my daughter and our dog on them.
I would create a mug with my favorite photo of my husband holding our son when he was a tiny baby.
I would want a fleece blanket of my daughter’s “hulk smash” fit throwing face from when she was 2 months old
A puzzle from a photo of my daughter on the kitchen floor eating from a huge mound of popcorn she spilled.