5 Easy Gift Ideas For Mom

What do you give the woman who has everything? Here are five easy gift ideas for Mother's Day that are thoughtful and creative.

{Chocolate-Dipped Berries} 

The only other person who loves chocolate as much as you do is your mom, am I right? So it’s only fitting to make something sweet for her on Mother’s Day. While I do enjoy chocolate-covered strawberries, I wanted something small that could be easily packaged as a sweet gift. Raspberries were the perfect berry. The mixture of the sweet and tart berry with the chocolate made for a yummy “pop 'em in your mouth” gift. All you need to add is a glass of champagne.

Total Time: 30 min. | Prep time: 5 min. | Yields: 2 baskets of berries 


Ingredients:

• 2 baskets of raspberries
• 1 (10 oz.) bag of dark chocolate pieces
• 1 (10 oz.) bag of white chocolate chips

Things You’ll Need:

• Parchment paper
• 2 cookie sheets
• 2 microwave-safe bowls
• 1 rubber spatula
• Resealable plastic bag
• Small plastic goodie bags
• Ribbon

Directions for Melting the Chocolate:

1. Wash your berries and pat them dry with a paper towel. Add them to a bowl and set them aside. Get your cookie sheets ready by placing a sheet of parchment paper over each and set them aside. Make sure you have everything set up before you start melting the chocolate.

2. Add your dark chocolate pieces to a microwave-safe bowl. It’s very important to make sure the both the bowl and spatula are completely dry. Heated chocolate sizzles when it touches water, and we don’t want that.

3. Heat your chocolate in intervals of 15-30 seconds, depending on your microwave, stirring every time. If your chocolate isn’t melting after two 15- second warm-ups, you can increase the time to 20 seconds, then up to 30 seconds if necessary. Be sure to stir in between each interval with your plastic spatula. It should take between 1½ and 2 minutes total for the chocolate to melt.

Directions for Dipping:

1. Immediately bring the bowl to your berries and cookie sheets when your chocolate is completely melted. Chocolate can harden after a few minutes, so you may need to reheat in between dipping your berries.
2. Grab the berries one by one and begin to dip them. Dip the top of the berry first, covering about ⅔ and leaving the bottom exposed. I used my hands to dip the berries in the chocolate, but you can use toothpicks if you don’t want to get messy. Line the berries up on the parchment paper on the cookie sheets after you dip each one.

3. Melt your white chocolate chips after you’ve covered all your berries with the dark chocolate, using the same process as before.
4. Scoop the white chocolate into a resealable plastic bag when it's melted. This is where it gets messy. Cut a tiny hole in the corner tip of the bag after the chocolate is inside.

5. Test on a little piece of parchment paper to get an idea of how much chocolate comes out of the hole. Squeeze gently so the chocolate drizzles are as thin as a string.

6. Drizzle the white chocolate over your berries. Do this a few times for the desired amount of white chocolate.

7. Place the cookie sheets in the fridge for the chocolate to harden. This should take about 15-20 minutes.

8. Place a handful of berries in your plastic goodie bags when the chocolate has hardened. Tie the top with a ribbon and voila – your berry bites are complete. Repeat this until all your berries are bagged and ready for gifting. Place the bags in the fridge to prevent melting if you're making the berries the night before or hours before you see your mom.You can add a few of these bags to a small basket with a sweet card and a bottle of champagne when giving them to your mom

{Gift Cards}

Gift Cards are a perfect option for Mother's Day! Think at-home spa basket, or a wine-and-movie basket using an iTunes gift card. Remember this one from Christmas? Do a spinoff for this holiday! 

{Jewelry}

I've noticed that my mom loves when I give her jewelry, especially when it's more fashion-forward pieces. When it comes to daughters, moms love to feel included and in the mix with the trendier styles! Gift mom with a nice bangle or a layering necklace that she can wear everyday – pair it with the chocolate berries for a special touch.

{Tickets to a Musical}

Experiences! Moms just want to spend time with their daughters and there's no better way to do it than by planning a fun day or night the two of you can share. Find a local musical and have a fun dinner-and-show night. Get creative with a Mother's Day card, making your own ticket stubs with details about the special night to place inside.

{Flowers}

Flowers are a definite win with mom. Why not wrap flowers in a special way to show her how much you care?

What You'll Need:

•  3-4 bunches of flowers from Kroger
• Newspaper
• Ribbon
• Rubber band

Directions:

1. Undo the flower bunches and create your own bouquet by mixing different flowers.

2. Secure each bouquet with a rubber band.

3. Fold newspaper in a triangle and wrap the flowers.

4. Secure them with a ribbon.

Sometimes I think the best gifts are the ones you make and take a little time to put together. When you think about it, the amount of time it takes to go shopping for a gift versus making something is probably the same. I know my mom appreciates these homemade gifts the most.

This content was created in partnership with Kroger Family Stores using free products provided by Kroger.