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4 Simple Ways To Make Mother’s Day Special This Year

by Filed Under: Giving Gifts, Milestones & Memories, Sponsored Post, Sprung Into Spring


Mother’s Day is tomorrow! If you haven’t already thought about how you’ll celebrate your mom, your mother-in-law, your mama friends, your grandmothers, your aunts, or your so-close-they-may-as-well-be-your-moms, now is the time! Holidays like Mother’s Day don’t have to be expensive or elaborate to be meaningful and heartfelt. Today I’m sharing four simple ways to make Mother’s Day extra special…without breaking the bank or stressing you out!

1 | Give Flowers

Mother's Day Ideas | Blairblogs.com

I know this isn’t anything new or remarkable, but why reinvent the wheel? Flowers are such a beautiful, simple way to show appreciation and love. If your mom or mother-figure lives nearby, you can swing by your local grocery store or florist and pick up a bouquet to drop off. If not, there are dozens of quality websites where you can order gorgeous bouquets to be delivered! If you’re trying to save a buck, consider having the flowers sent on the Friday or Saturday before Mother’s Day–the sentiment will be the same, the recipient will be able to enjoy the bouquet over the weekend, and you won’t pay the premium Mother’s Day deliver fee.

2 | Give the Gift Of Time

Mother's Day Ideas | Blairblogs.com

Don’t get me started about how every single holiday has become a commercialized frenzy of chaos. I love all the decorations and festivities as much as anyone, but I mostly love the heart behind holidays, and unfortunately, the heart is often lost. Mother’s Day is about celebrating, loving, appreciating, honoring, and recognizing the women in your life who have shaped you. It’s about looking at your mom (or grandmother, or aunt, etc.) and saying, “Your life has blessed mine.”

Gifts are certainly thoughtful, but nothing is more precious than your time. Call your mom and find time to spend together in honor of Mother’s Day. It may be on May 8th, or it may be another time. Clear your schedule, turn off your phone. Sit together. Talk. Laugh. The gift of time and the memories that accompany it are so beautiful and important.

One of my favorite things to do when I’m spending time with my grandmothers in particular is to ask them about their lives. There is something so moving about hearing how they grew up, what it was like falling in love and getting married, how they raised my parents, what they dreamed of doing, what their jobs were like, etc. I think it’s fascinating, and my grandmothers, like everyone, love to be heard. The stories I draw out of them, the memories, the lessons…they are so priceless. And if they’re not spoken, remembered, and passed on, they’ll be forgotten. So, if you have a hard time knowing what to talk to your older family members about, interview them. You will be amazed!

3 | Cook a Meal for Her

Mother's Day Ideas | Blairblogs.com

If you hate to cook or you just don’t have the time to pull off a home-cooked meal, make brunch or dinner reservations for Mother’s Day. (Or if you’re a mother yourself–then reservations it is!) But I’m not a mom and I really enjoy the process of putting together a meal, so I look forward to cooking a meal for Mother’s Day.

If you cook, not only will you save money by eating at home, but the intimate setting also allows for a longer, lingering meal, where you’re really able to spend time together in a comfortable, relaxed environment. My husband and I will be out of town for Mother’s Day (coincidentally, at a wedding in my hometown, so we’ll spend the day with my mom), so we celebrated the holiday with Riley’s mom early.

Here’s what we made: steak, parmesan-ranch oven fries, steamed broccoli, and mac & cheese with bread on the side. Everything was delicious, but the star of the meal were the parmesan-ranch oven fries. Because, obviously. Yum. Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Dressing is a staple in our house, and we love using the Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix (you know, the kind that comes in a little packet) in our meals from time-to-time. It’s delicious and so fun/unexpected to take that delicious original Ranch flavor beyond the salad bowl!

Mother's Day Ideas | Blairblogs.com

Here’s the recipe for parmesan-ranch oven fries, adapted from Babble.

Ingredients

  • 2-3 T Olive Oil
  • 6-8 Potatoes
  • 1 Egg, beaten
  • 1 packet Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix
  • 3 T Cornstarch
  • 1/2 C Shredded Parmesan
  • Pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and lightly grease cooking sheet.
  2. Scrub potatoes and slice them into thin spears.
  3. Place potatoes in large bowl and pour beaten egg over then; stir until all potato slices are shiny from the egg.
  4. Sprinkle with cornstarch, parmesan, and about 1/2 packet of Ranch dressing mix (you can use more or less depending on your taste).
  5. Stir gently to evenly distribute coating.
  6. Turn potatoes onto cookie sheet.
  7. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.
  8. Flip the potatoes and bake another 20-25 minutes until crisp and browned.
  9. Enjoy!

Below is a close-up of the parmesan-ranch fries. I made six potatoes worth of fries, and just four of us ate nearly every last one. (Embarrassing or impressive? I’m not sure.) They were incredible! For more delicious Hidden Valley® Ranch recipes, click here.

Mother's Day Ideas | Blairblogs.com

We had such a nice time spending quality time with Riley’s mom to celebrate Mother’s Day, even if it was a little early. I won the mother-in-law jackpot! I don’t know many people who genuinely love spending time with their mother-in-law, and I really, really do. I am continually thankful for her kindness, grace, heart for the Lord, and generosity. If you’re not sure what to do to honor the women you love on Mother’s Day, consider cooking a homemade meal.

4 | Write Down Your Love

Mother's Day Ideas | Blairblogs.com

I adore words. Writing them, reading them, pondering them. The lasting nature of written words is profoundly beautiful to me. It may be awkward or uncomfortable to walk up to your mom and pour out your heart to her, even on Mother’s Day–try writing down your love instead. Open up a card or get a blank piece of paper and write her a letter. Tell her what you appreciate about her, the qualities in her that you admire, recognize the sacrifices she’s made for you, write down what you’re praying for her.

Love written down is authentic and real, and it’s lasting. Those sweet words can be reread lots of times and cherished forever. If your mom (or aunt, or grandmother, or second mom, or whoever) is special to you, but you don’t know what to get her, give her the gift of words. (Another idea: If you don’t enjoy writing, or you don’t feel that you can accurately express how you feel through writing, consider a painting, a video, a framed photograph, etc.)

There you have it–4 simple ways to make Mother’s Day special this year! Huge thanks to Hidden Valley® Ranch for sponsoring this meaningful post! For more information on the brand, check out their website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram pages.

// How do you celebrate Mother’s Day? Comment below for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!

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2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/6/2016 – 6/26/2016

Be sure to visit the Hidden Valley® brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

Comments

  1. Michelle says

    Well, this year most of my family is traveling overseas, so I will be celebrating alone, but I will be calling my own mom, who is also in another country. It is rare for us to celebrate in any concrete way, with gifts or what-not. Restaurants are always WAY too busy on Mother’s Day and some places around us raise their prices for this “special” day. As beautiful as flowers are, I am too practical to enjoy cut flowers unless they come from my or someone else’s garden. I just can not justify the expense, even if it is just a few dollars. Mother’s Day to me generally means gathering my family close to me and having us just spend a nice day/meal together. Thanks so much for the giveaway!

  4. Margaret Smith says

    We’ll be going out to brunch and later in the day, my husband and kids will help cook dinner (and hopefully clean up too). Thanks so much.

  6. Julie Wood says

    I will be taking Mom out to lunch and getting her favorite gift which is a Mother’s Day card with a heartfelt message. She loves getting cards, and I will also be giving her chocolates!

  10. Raena says

    What we do for mothers day:
    My uncles and my grandpa make lunch for my mom, grandma, and aunts. The grandkids are in charge of serving the food:)

  12. Natalie says

    I will be taking my mom out to dinner to The Cheesecake Factory for Mother’s Day.

  13. Amber says

    My 3 year old daughter made handprint artwork as part of a school fundraiser (Square1Art)…a very precious hot pink owl…The art was printed on various items that could be purchased. I ordered an apron with the artwork on it for my Mom, since she’s an artist and does lots of artwork with her. I ordered potholders with the artwork on each one for my husband’s Mom to display in her kitchen with new appliances…and since she cooks with my daughter. After church, both families are invited to our house for BBQ dinner…Hope this is a thoughtful and memorable Mother’s Day for my Mom and Mom-in-love!

  14. Nicole says

    My siblings and I are all living in different places, so we weren’t able to see her on Mother’s Day, but we able to spend the day before with her. We bought her a necklace from one of her favorite boutiques. It has two small circles that are connected and comes with the quote “my mother, my friend”. She also loves the Rae Dunn collection at TJ Maxx/ Home Goods, so we bought her the mug that says “mom”.

  15. Madeline says

    This Mother’s Day we went to an herb and flower show and then out to lunch. Lots of fun!
    maddiembrubaker (at) gmail {dot} com

  19. Will Griesmer says

    I celebrate mother’s day with family. This year we were in Costa Rica.

  21. steve weber says

    We drove 4 hours to surprise my GF’s mom for Mother’s Day.. it was a nice relaxing day

    groogruxking40 @ gmail dot com

  23. Jessie C. says

    We went out for dinner with my parents to celebrate.
    tcarolinep at gmail dot com

  25. heather says

    We took mom to lunch and gave her lots of flowers and presents for Mother’s Day this year.

  26. Allison Swain says

    I baked my mom some of her favorite cookies and I took her out to lunch and a movie.

    thanks for the chance to win

  29. Stefanie Gladden says

    we celebrate mother’s day by grilling out and swimming in the pool all day!

  34. Kristen says

    Usually we go to a play or a concert together. This year we did breakfast and antiquing. The main thing is the time spent together 🙂

  37. Dee says

    I celebrate Mother’s Day by treating my mom to a weekend of fun, including manicures, brunch, and a show. 🙂

  42. Cassandra Eastman says

    We have a Mother’s Day tradition where my Grandma, Mom, Sister and my family including my husband and kids have a picnic at the Japanese Stroll gardens near us. It’s just a fun relaxing day!

  43. Maureen says

    My husband and I went to see my parents the day before because then on the actual day my mother and father were able to spend the day with other siblings of mine and their children

  46. anastasia2013 says

    Those look DELICIOUS!!! Wow, I definitely have to try them 🙂 This year, I didn’t do much for mother’s day because my mom is super far away, but I love all these ideas!! Giving flowers is one of my favorites 🙂
    [email protected]

  48. Elle says

    We celebrate by spending time together and either having a BBQ or going out to brunch depending on the weather.

  50. onyinye Elochukwu says

    I usually spend mother’s day at home with my family. I make special dishes for us with the help of my hubby.

  51. shelly peterson says

    We usually go out to dinner and spend time together or weather permitting we have a bbq.
    cshell090869 at aol dot com

  54. Jeffrey says

    We celebrated Mother’s Day on the Friday before because my wife had to work on Sunday. I made her favorite meal, my homemade pizza! We finished off the night with a trip to the ice cream store with the kids.

  58. rachel says

    My mom lives far away so a phone call and gift have to do until I see her in person!

  61. Rebecca says

    My husband took me out for lunch. It’s always nice to get a little break from cooking.

  63. Judith VanAlphen says

    I use hidden valley all the time, meatloaf,tuna salads, potatoes and on and on. I love it.

  71. Anne says

    Mother’s Day is a day of reflection for me, especially this year. It’s been ten years since my sweet mother passed away. She loved Mother’s Day, so on her special day, I remember the happy Mother’s Days we spent together.

  78. Elizabeth Pergande says

    I love to go for picnics and this would be wonderful! truckredford(at)Gmail(Dot)com

  88. Linda says

    We let mom pick what she wants to do, this year she wanted to go to Antique shopping.

  90. susitravl says

    We went to brunch, then the nursery and bought flowers that we planted later in the day.

  91. StephaniePhelps says

    We usually celebrate Mother’s Day at home with the kids and just have some games and food!

  94. Denise L says

    We celebrate Mother’s Day with our extended family. My mother-in-law is just the best and we always get together for a big family meal on Mother’s Day.

  98. Betty Curran says

    I don’t do much for Mother’s Day. I lost my mom a few years ago and my children’s work schedules usually have them working on Mother’s Day.

  100. Cynthia C says

    When my mom was alive, I used to cook a nice dinner for her and get her a beautiful hanging basket for her yard.

  102. angie says

    Unfortunately, my mom lives in SC and I live in OH, so we don’t get to see each other for Mother’s Day. I call her and I send her a card and sometimes, when I can afford to, I send her a gift. But, other than that, it is just another day here at home.

  108. Bert Ruiz says

    We go to Church, we take a family portrait and have dinner at home # SweepstakesEntry

  114. Jerry Marquardt says

    I usually celebrate Mother’s Day by going out to a nice and fancy restaurant and getting an unusual dinner.

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