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It can be tough finding something memorable to give your mom for Mother’s Day. You’ve done the flowers, the brunch, the candy and card, but now you’d like to give her a gift that reflects that you value her in a new way that she’ll really love.

And, if it is a signature year for your mother (perhaps marking a milestone birthday or other event), you might feel added pressure to give the perfect gift.

Here we outline 5 Mother’s Day gift ideas you can either do yourself or hire us to craft.

The FIVE GIFT IDEAS FOR CAPTURING MOM’S LIFE STORIES

1.       Mom’s book of life stories.

We help families capture and preserve life stories in books. This can be done either with written stories by your mom or through interviews and content we produce based on the stories she tells us in recorded interviews. We work with Mom to craft stories into narrative and incorporate photos into a custom-designed book she will be proud to share with family and friends.

Storied Gifts is a team of professionals with years of experience helping clients produce beautiful life storybooks. If you’d prefer a DIY project for your mom, we share resources to help you get started.

2.       Organize Mom’s photos.

How often have you been to funerals and memorials where photos are displayed or presented in a slideshow? Often, the family has rummaged through pictures they’ve not thought about for years. It’s sad enough that the photos have been left to collect dust, but when the person is gone, the actual value of the stories they tell can be lost, too.

 Storied Gifts offers a service to pull photos from devices and the cloud and scan the older hard ones into one organized system. We can work with your mom to create a timeline of significant events and then use categories — including people, dates, and places — to organize photos for easy access. Plus, your mom and you can enjoy those images and memories now!

If you want to take on the DIY version of this project, we have some resources and ideas to help.

3.       Oral histories and transcripts.

Moms are flattered when their family is interested in hearing their life stories. Bring in a professional interviewer to capture and preserve Mom’s memories through audio and transcript. We have years of interviewing experience to help her recall and tell the details that make those stories sing.

For the DIY folks, your mom will be thrilled if you ask to interview her. Be sure to record the conversation. We offer resources to help with the process.

4.       Photo story video.

These days, we take for granted that we can capture life moments on video, but that has not always been so. In decades past, most people visually archived memories through photographs.

 As valuable as photos can be for remembering, they lose value without the backstory of who, where, and what is happening. As a solution, we offer Storied Gifts Talking Pictures, producing videos featuring signature photos with your mom narrating in a stylized production she’ll be excited to share with family and friends.

For DIY creatives who know the tech of making and editing video, consider this a super idea that Mom will love — and your family will appreciate when you share the finished project.

5.       Children’s Book about Mom.

If little children are in your family, double the gift to Mom by capturing one of her favorite stories and photos in a stylized, custom-designed children’s book. The gift keeps giving every time it’s read to children and will be a keepsake for years to come.

DIY: this project is for you if you have a bit of know-how of a publishing program and can tap into self-publishing platforms.

We are here to help you realize the best Mother’s Day Gift of meaning. And if Mother’s Day creeps up and you need a quick gift solution, we offer gift certificates you can give Mom with the tantalizing promise of life story-telling adventures and the message you truly care. For questions, please contact sherry@storiedgifts.com

Sherry is the founder of Storied Gifts a personal publishing service of family and company histories. She and her team help clients curate and craft their stories into books. When not writing or interviewing, Sherry spends loads of time with her grandchildren and lives in Des Moines, Iowa.

STORIED GIFTS SHOP

Need a beautiful infusion of inspiration for your storied life? Please check out the Storied Gifts Shop where the theme is Words of Encouragement.

The shop is a mother and daughter venture for Sherry and Alexandra Borzo of Content In Motion. They both work to help their client's stories sing. The shop is their effort to inspire a focus on healthy minds for everyone through positive thought.

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