Why You Can Trust CNET 32 Best Mother's Day Gifts to Spoil Mom in 2023
More than two dozen gift ideas for the queen of the castle.
Nobody deserves to be acknowledged and appreciated more than Mom, and Mother's Day is just one of the many days and ways to let her know. This year get the mom or mother figure in your life something extra special she'd never buy herself. We've been heads-down testing the best kitchenware, gear, gadgets and subscriptions to make sure Mom feels properly spoiled this year.
If you're not yet aware, Mother's Day is May 14 and CNET is the official headquarters for all your gifting glory. For bunches of blooms, we've scoured the web to find the best flower delivery services and surfaced a heap of Mother's Day cards that don't suck.
For a great Mother's Day gift, we dug deep into our sprawling hand-tested lists of just about everything to find perfect presents in any category. Whether your mom is a film buff, tech type, culinary queen, gardening gal or fitness fan, we've got Mother's Day gifts that'll definitely make her smile. And if she's flush with physical "stuff," we've got gift ideas that take up exactly zero space, too.
So be a good kid and read on, will ya? And lay a little love on Mom this May.
Read more: 15 Mother's Day Cards That Aren't Lame
Mom is walking here, she's walking there, and sometimes back here because she forgot her dang keys (more on that later). She could use a good foot massage or seven, and this compact electric shiatsu massager with heat will do exactly that -- whenever she wants. Ahhh.
Novice cheese nerds may find a personal cheese cave overkill. But if Mom considers herself a camembert connoisseur, this device will not only keep those blocks fresh for longer but allow them to age for more robust flavors. It imitates the conditions of a real cheese cave -- proper moisture and temperature -- all within the confines of your fridge.
If you're feeling particularly generous, you can add Cheese Grotto's excellent cheese subscription which starts at $59 per month.
My Mom told me that at a certain point, getting "stuff" as gifts is more of a chore than a pleasure. If your Mommy Dearest might have a similar feeling about material things piling up, give the gift of the world's greatest movies with a yearlong subscription to The Criterion Collection.
There are simply too many movies to start naming them (you can browse here), but if Mom digs the classics, from Paul Newman to Pixar, this gift will have her popping popcorn and smiling all year. You can gift a year's subscription for $100 or e-gift cards for individual movie purchases.
Plants are only as good as the gardener who tends them. If Mom could use a day off from weeding and watering, these self-watering planters will free her up for a margarita or two.
Speaking of margaritas, this amazing juicer is a marg lover's best friend. The genius Fluicer bends and squeezes limes and lemons to get a full juice. It even catches the pulp and seeds in a built-in grate.
Tile GPS trackers aren't new but they still make excellent gifts for the Mom who might misplace the occasional beach bag, purse or set of keys.
A monthly serving of exceptional coffee is definitely not going unappreciated. Each delivery of unique beans will remind Mom of her favorite kid (that's you). While there are dozens of excellent coffee clubs to choose from, we love Fellow for its quality selections and simple ordering interface. Be it for yourself or a gift, you'll choose light or dark roast and have it sent every two or four weeks, depending on how much java your mom downs.
Read more: 9 Best Coffee Clubs and Subscriptions for 2023
If your mom runs as cold as mine, she'll love a fire pit to enjoy time outdoors during the spring, fall or cooler summer nights. CNET tested several fire pits and this model was our favorite overall with its clever airflow system that recycles hot smoke back into the fire chamber. It's also super easy to ignite, firing up in about 5 minutes and fully burning in just 15. Even better, this model generated far less smoke than the other fire pits that were tested.
If you can't hire a personal on-call massage therapist for Mom, this may be the next best thing. The Theragun Prime is our top-rated model with five speeds, impressive power, smart features and a quieter motor than others. Read our full Theragun Prime review here.
CNET editor and mom Bridget Carey says, "I never cared about an Apple Watch until I had to do everything at home. Now it's the only way I stay sane." With this multifaceted device, Mom can be with the kids and away from the laptop without worrying about missing a call or big email.
Working from home while also running a home can lead to some serious scatterbrain and an Apple Watch will help Mom locate her phone if lost, schedule her day, make playlists for running and 1,000 other things.
This might be the most attractive smart garden we've come across and it's impossibly easy to use. Microgreens are best known in their role as entree garnish but these baby vegetable greens are positively packed with vitamins and antioxidants.
Ingarden has LED grow lights and a reservoir for water that is wicked up into the soilless seed pads. In about seven days, you'll have bushy microgreens to use for salads, sandwiches and a host of other applications. The sleek, simple and clean indoor grower is made from ceramic and steel and fits on basically any windowsill or bookshelf for a welcomed pop of green. See our full review of the Ingarden here.
Everyone could use a few extra meals lying around for those busy days and weeks. Mosaic Foods sends freshly prepared meat-free meals that are as good as any other we tried. You can send a delivery of about eight meals for $70 without committing to any subscriptions. Most are good to pop into the freezer if she's not planning to eat them right away.
Some of my personal favorites were the chili with jackfruit that had a texture eerily similar to tender pulled pork and the Mediterranean tomato ragout with olives, beans and feta. Read our full review of Mosaic Foods here.
In a rigorous test of 10 top skillets, the All-Clad D3 came out on top. If Mom likes to sauté and sizzle, she'll appreciate the even heating and sleek design this high-end frying pan delivers. It'll be her new favorite pan courtesy of her new favorite kid.
Give Mom a helper of the smart home variety -- this is our favorite overall smart display. Thanks to the built-in Google Assistant, the Nest Hub responds to all of the same voice command options as the Google Home Mini smart speaker. You can also control your smart home devices, like a smart doorbell, with an intuitively designed control panel. The second-generation smart home hub model also includes Sleep Sensing and Quick Gestures thanks to Google's Soli mini radar.
The colorful fabric design on this Google assistant smart display allows the device to blend in anywhere, though the tablet touchscreen comes in particularly handy if you want step-by-step help through a recipe in the kitchen. Read our Google Nest Hub (2nd gen) review.
Hauling heavy (and pricey) cans of seltzer home from the store can be a thing of the past with an eco-friendly water carbonator. SodaStream is a good option but the Swedish Aarke carbonator is big on style and more giftable if you ask me. It's available in five great finishes to match her kitchen motif. Read our Aarke carbonator review.
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If there's one thing moms put up with way too much of, it's noise. Help her drown out the clamor with a pair of noise-canceling headphones so she can listen to music, podcasts or the soothing sounds of waves crashing on a far-off shore. New moms with small children in sleep training will appreciate them doubly -- triply, even.
Because nothing's too good for Mom, we'd go straight to our top recommendation, the Sony WH-1000XM4. CNET's David Carnoy called it a "nearly flawless noise-canceling headphone." Not only are they more comfortable than the previous iteration, Sony upgraded the voice-calling capabilities, too.
These often sell for as low as $278, but if that's still too pricey we have plenty of other recommended noise-canceling headphones, including earbud models, that start at $100 or less.
This compact Wi-Fi speaker is affordable at $99 and plays bigger than you'd expect for its small size. Yes, it's more appealing to those invested in Apple's ecosystem and comfortable with Apple's voice assistant Siri, which drives the speaker. But the price is right and Mom can pair two HomePod Minis to create stereo sound or combine several to create a multiroom audio system.
A more analog indoor grower is this simple propagation station with a chic rustic look. Plants can live in there, giving your home a fresh pop of green. And Mom can cultivate clippings from existing plants to be potted or planted and make the most of the ones she has.
If Mom uses a hair dryer regularly, she will almost certainly consider this Dyson an upgrade. The admittedly pricey Dyson Supersonic hair dryer measures air temperature over 40 times a second and regulates heat accordingly. This is all to prevent heat damage to hair that's blow-dried often.
This unique candle burns for as long as 60 hours and the copper-finished holder is giving off some seriously cool antique energy. This would definitely make a nice centerpiece on the dining table during a relaxing meal. Refills for the candle are $18 so bag one or two for when this long-lasting candle finally does burn out.
Here's another great gift idea that won't need storage. With all the time mom spends keeping the ship from sinking, there's not always time to spend on personal interests and endeavors. MasterClass makes it easy to learn about a plethora of subjects from the folks who know them best. There are cooking classes from icons like Thomas Keller and Alice Waters but also lessons on subjects you might not realize you need help with.
A MasterClass subscription is $180 for an annual membership and includes more than 100 classes taught by luminaries in fields from fiction writing to poker, there's something here for everyone. With credible teachers, solid production values and a vast catalog of subject matter, MasterClass is like Netflix for the overly ambitious.
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The 600-fill duck down insulated blanket is plenty warm and, weighing a mere 20 ounces, light enough for camping or wearing around the house (no judgment here). But it's the quilt's poncho mode that makes it the ideal accessory for hanging outside by the fire pit. If the mom you're shopping for tends to run a little cold, this might be an ideal Mother's Day gift as we roll through spring.
Kammok has a slightly more budget-friendly model, the Field Blanket, for $95 as well.
If you've ever heard mom complain about all those photos sitting in her phone collecting proverbial dust, now is the time to do something about it and a digital photo frame is the thing to do. The Nixplay smart digital picture frame stores thousands of images and will help you display either one or a running slide show of your favorite people and moments so you can actually enjoy them for once. The frame is available in various sizes -- up to 15 inches -- and a motion sensor will turn the frame on and off automatically.
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While the Sony noise-canceling earphones are great, not everyone is into that over-the-ear style. Mom can keep one ear on a Zoom call and the other on the kids with these popular and versatile earbuds. Long battery life comes via a case that recharges them throughout the week. The handy ear hook means Mom can wear them anywhere and while doing pretty much anything. Plus, the Powerbeats come in a range of flashy and fun colors.
Flowers for Mother's Day may not be a new concept but with a subscription to BloomsyBox, the bouquets keep coming. You can choose weekly, bimonthly or monthly deliveries of fresh flowers to lift mom in the way only fresh flowers can. You can also choose the bouquet size, priced accordingly, from the Bloomsy Original (18 to 24 stems) all the way up to BloomsyBox's Premium bouquet (27 to 32 stems).
The Ode is one of those luxury gifts that fits squarely in the splurge category, and it should probably be reserved for a true coffee nerd of a mom. I tested the Ode and it grinds faster, more consistently and more quietly than any other I've used. It also aims to please even the most finicky coffee drinkin' mom with 31 (yes, 31) grind settings.
Important to note that the Ode is engineered specifically for drip coffee and not espresso. The claim is that too many grinders attempt to do both and fail to do either well. It's also not meant to grind large amounts of beans at once, making it ideal for Chemex and pour-over systems.
These stemless wine glasses are handmade by Mexican artists, blown from recycled glass to create six elegant vessels for wine, cocktails or water. Because each set is handmade they'll look a little bit different but you can bet they'll draw some attention and compliments every time they're set out on the table.
Speaking of memories of the photographic sort. If mom has a pile or piles of old-fashioned paper photos that are susceptible to damage, floods and fires, there's an easy fix: professional photo scanning. Plus, you can use the files to make a sweet digital album or slideshow that mom can share on social media.
Everpresent is a master of photo scanning and will digitally organize any images no matter where they are -- scrapbooks, photo albums or piled up in a shoebox. In fact, the company is especially well-suited to handle photos in all forms, shapes and sizes, turning them into a neatly organized, digitized collection that is completely safe from the elements.
Prefer to curate some photos and give Mom a photo book instead? We've pulled together the best photo book options.
The Japanese have been hiding some seriously good snacks from the rest of us. Bokksu collects the best snacks and treats from the east and sends them west in a tasty, curated monthly snack subscription. A perfect gift for the mom who's prone to a snack attack. It's also a unique gift for the new mom or expecting mom who needs those extra calories.
The best part about Bokksu is that almost none of these Japanese snacks are similar to snacks we already have here in the US, so she'll likely come across some munchies she's never tried before. Snacks run the gamut from sweet to savory with favorites such as seaweed tempura, puffed rice with ramen seasoning, green tea and lemon cakes, Japanese candy including yuzu gummies and creamy matcha Kit-Kats.
You can send as few as three months' worth of snack boxes ($45 each) or as many as a full year ($40 each) and no two snack sends will ever be the same.
Read more: Best Snack Boxes to Gift in 2023
After my Mom treated herself to an espresso machine last year, I followed up with these double-walled cappuccino glasses. It was perhaps the best 15 bucks I've ever spent and they're now the only glasses she'll use for hot beverages.
This set of two sleek glass coffee mugs are great for coffee but also tea, chai and matcha (see above). If you'd like to really amp the gift up, pair the set with one of these great coffee clubs and subscription services that'll ship the best beans -- espresso and otherwise -- to Mom's door.
When the opportunity to swim arises, you must always be prepared to take the plunge. This lightweight towel is small enough to throw into a bike bag, backpack or back pocket. According to Matador, it absorbs more than twice its weight (81 grams) in water. It's machine washable and comes in a mesh bag with a sturdy handle and hang loop.
Another small luxury for Mom. These bright and refreshing herbal spritzes transport her somewhere much more peaceful than the place she probably is with just a few pumps. The three-pack from Ulta includes an aloe, cucumber and green tea spritz, another with herbs and rosewater and a third with lavender and chamomile to calm and comfort her skin.