Stay-At-Home Gift Ideas to Pamper Mom on Mother’s Day
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The “farm-to-mom” package: DIY-flower arrangement plus loose leaf teas from Poppy
By Tim Ebner | Edible DC
This year Mother’s Day will be celebrated a bit differently than in year’s past. Instead of Sunday brunch, or a spa day away from it all—moms of all types will be staying home to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
That could mean you’re physically separated from mom, or stuck next to her on the couch—either way, she’ll need something special to relax and enjoy the time at home even if everything around us is downright stressful.
Thankfully, there are several creative gifts from local, artisan, and sustainable businesses that easily do the trick. These gifts are made for delivery and help support local businesses and worthy causes. (Also, may we suggest that you act soon? Delivery from postal services has been slower due to COVID and many popular items sell out early, so don’t delay. Many shops and restaurants suggest placing your orders by May 3.)
From the standard hits—flowers, wine, and self-care spa essentials—to gifts for those who love to cook or garden—there are several ways to say, “I love you, Mom!”
Flower Delivery Services. OK, let’s start with the basics. Every mother deserves flowers on her special day. And two DC-delivery services put together beautiful bouquets from local and sustainable flower farms, and best of all, they’re local-female owned businesses.
Holley Simmons is the founder of She Loves Me, a homey shop on Upshur Street in Petworth, which closed up due to the coronavirus and quickly went all-in on flower delivery service. Her bouquets are perfect for any “just because” occasion, but on Mother’s Day, she’ll be donating a portion of flower proceeds to CASA DC, a nonprofit that supports children in the DC foster-care system. Delivery is included in the price of flowers, and you can order online.
Another flower startup service, Poppy, takes flower design to the next level with DIY-kits. Founder Cameron Cameron Hardesty spent time learning floral design at The White House and later with a master florist in Germany, and recently her company partnered up with Alaya Tea to offer a flower arrangement fun, plus some relaxing tea leaves to enjoy afterward. The gift set is called farm-to-mom and both the flowers and the tea leaves come from sustainable farms. Or you can order the “Poppy at Home” package for yourself and gift one to mom for 10 percent off. All Mother’s Day orders must be placed by May 4th at 3 p.m. for guaranteed arrival on May 8.
PHoto by jacob reid.
Virtual Wine and Cocktail Tastings. Wineries and bars of all types are making the switch from in-person sales to e-commerce now that tastings are on hold for the foreseeable future.
But even with coronavirus, you can take mom to the vineyard, by way of Rohrersville, Maryland, with a Big Cork Vineyard virtual tasting. The winery produces several varieties including Syrah, Chardonnay, and Malbec, and each week you can log into Zoom for a virtual tasting. First, purchase any bottle of wine—or better yet gift mom six bottles for 10 percent off and free shipping, then tune-in for virtual “Wine Wednesdays”.
Order 3 bottles or more and the shipping fee will be waived on wine shipments from early mountain vineyards.
Early Mountain Vineyards will happily supply your mother with “summer water,” i.e. rosé. Known for their well-blended wines made with grapes grown on their vineyards outside of Charlottesville, their drop-dead gorgeous tasting room and restaurant make for a delightful afternoon. With that experience off limits for the time being, you can still share Early Mountain’s wildly popular rosé now, sent straight to your mom with your love. Early Mountain is also waiving shipping fees on orders of more than 3 bottles, order here.
Meanwhile, in DC, restauranteur and bar savant Carlie Steiner has a new provision, wine, and cocktail service called Seco that includes curated wine packs for the mom who wants to sip on something intriguing this Mother’s Day, like a collection of six skin-contact wines, ranging from lighter, more fruit-driven styles to rich, funky experimental oddities. Steiner also created several cocktail packs, including daiquiris (one of her personal favorites) for to-go or delivery service. And she routinely plays host to free virtual cocktail classes with Republic Restoratives, streaming live on Instagram and Facebook.
Image from Boll & BRANCH
At-Home Spa Day. Mom may not be able to book a 60-minute Swedish massage at her favorite day spa this year, but you can give her a taste of relaxation thanks to a few eco-friendly and socially-responsible brands.
Boll & Branch, a brand known for comfy bedding and mattresses, also has beautiful luxury, spa-style robes for a day-off approach to Mothers’ Day. The robe comes in a vibrant botanical print and is lined with absorbent French terrycloth. Boll & Branch is also in the first phase of their Helping from Home initiative, where they are donating 1,000 mattresses and 5,000 pillows to emergency medical operations in cities hardest hit by COVID-19. To help fund the effort, Boll & Branch is offering 10 percent off sitewide with the code “GOODNESS” and 10 percent off each purchase will be allocated to their “Helping from Home” efforts.
And for spa treatments skin treatments—think fruits and veggies. Piperberry uses organic produce to produce skin moisturizers, masks, and cleaners that can add a calming layer of beauty to Mother’s Day. First-time customers get a special 15-percent discount and the treatments include natural ingredients like raspberries, blueberries, cranberries, hibiscus, and kale, which can help give your skin a natural glow.
Cookware and Barware for a Cause. Quality cookware is especially needed now that we’re stuck at home and forced to meal prep nightly. And mom’s dinner routine will dramatically improve with Hestan Culinary cookware tools, including stainless steel, titanium, and copper pots and pans, which for a limited time are discounted by 20 percent as part of its Mother’s Day spring sale. And recently Hestan announced its support for No Kid Hungry to make sure children have access to food during school closures due to the coronavirus. For every cookware products gifted to mom, 5 percent of the proceeds go to support the cause.
And while travel plans may be on hold for the time being, Well Told, etched and printed, and engraved bar accessories, that can help mom remember her favorite places around the world, including a Washington, DC “on-the-rocks” glass. First-time customers receive a 10 percent discount and an additional 10 percent of our proceeds support nonprofit and community-based organizations like Habitat for Humanity.
And for any last-minute kitchen essentials delivered to Mom’s door, be sure to email or call Leah at Hill’s Kitchen on Capitol Hill. Popular items include state-themed cutting boards, cocktail mixers, baking pans, and dishtowels with personal touches. Be sure to check Instagram for popular items or drop Leah a line to find out if a particular kitchen gadget is in stock.
Chef Sebastien Giannini, executive chef, four seasons hotel.
Breakfast in Bed. There are so many ways to celebrate mom, but maybe the most popular option is breakfast in bed. For an indulgent start to the day try the Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC’s four-course “brunch in a box” for $65 per person. Or you can opt for an at-home dinner with BOURBON steak.
The brunch box is prepared by Chef Sebastian Giannini and includes smoked salmon mousse tart, arugula salad with phyllo wrapped brie, and a roasted-half Cornish hen with potato tournées, truffle arancini, and carrot tournées. And don’t forget dessert—a decadent chocolate tart finishes off this extravagant meal.
Fresh roast coffee is available from rako coffee, founded by two sisters, lisa and melissa gerben.
Freshly Roasted Coffee. Add a bit of buzz to mom’s morning, be sure to the morning try DC-based founders Lisa Gerben and Melissa Gerben’s RAKO Coffee, now available for doorstep delivery.
Each specialty brew comes from sustainably-sourced, single-origin coffees, and while RAKO waits on summer plans to open two DC shops, you can online store from their Sumatra, Guatemala, Burundi, and Ethiopia labels, available for free shipping in the District, Maryland, and Virginia. Each order also comes with custom brew guides so mom can make the best possible coffee at home. Best of all RAKO is donating 10 percent of every sale to Erik Bruner-Yang’s “Power of 10” crowdfunding initiative, which employs laid-off restaurant workers and meals to first-responders and community members affected by COVID-19.
Order pollinator seeds in bulk or buy the packet (think milkweed and more) or monarch gear. All the proceeds go to habitat restoration and research on monarch butterflies at save our monarchs.
Green-Thumb Gardening. Does your mom have outdoor space? Help enlist her in creating pollinator habitat in her yard with milkweed, or bulk wildflower seed, the smallest size will cover 1,000 sq feet with 17 species of wildflowers that monarchs and others love. And why not put that seed card in a cute butterfly bag too? Or if your mother lives in DC, American Plant is a great idea for a beautiful gift—a peony, an azalea, or a group of plants—the garden team can give you ideas or even create a custom pot for her, available for curbside pickup or delivery.
The locally made Virtual Spa Kit from Shop Made in DC.
Show Her Local Love. DC’s Shop Made in DC showcases and sells the work of local artisans in the DMV. DC is home to hundreds of creatives who design, craft, roast, stitch, bake, weld, brew and build amazing products. Shop Made in DC is the first store dedicated to only Made in DC products, and while their Dupont Circle, Georgetown and Wharf locations may be closed, you can still shop for mom here at their pop-up shop featuring unique and one-of-a-kind, locally made gifts.
@susieqable’s favorite local gift to give, a salt pig from West VA’s salt maker, J.Q. Dickinson.
Speaking of local, well, West Virginia-style, I’m sharing our Publisher’s favorite gift from local salt maker J.Q. Dickinson.
Seventh generation salt-makers, brother and sister Nancy Bruns and Lewis Payne united to revive their family’s salt business, J.Q. Dickinson, which started in 1817. Dickinson produces a rare, small-batch finishing salt, harvested from the ancient Iapetus Ocean trapped underneath the mountains of Appalachia. The salt is completely natural and contains many minerals, and in their online store, you can buy an assortment of salt-related gift packages, but Edible DC publisher, Susan Able’s go-to-gift for mom or family and friends, is the “Salt Pig”—a traditional way of keeping salt at the ready, this time in a handmade ceramic pig. $79 for the pig, salt and a scoop.
Tim Ebner is a food and travel writer based in Washington, D.C. A frequent contributor to Edible DC, where he writes an award-nominated beverage column, he also writes for Eater DC, Washington City Paper, and Forbes Travel. He's from Maryland and has a weakness for Old Bay seasoning and Orange Crushes. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @ebnert
