Mom’s 70th birthday gift
October 13, 2020 3:31 AM Subscribe
I’m looking for a gift for my mom’s 70th birthday. I was thinking of something monogrammed or personalized, maybe jewelry. I’m concerned with it looking cheap if it’s from Etsy.
Do you know any good gift websites like red envelope or uncommon goods? Do you have gift ideas? She likes elephants and sentimental stuff. Looking under $100. Thank you!
Do you know any good gift websites like red envelope or uncommon goods? Do you have gift ideas? She likes elephants and sentimental stuff. Looking under $100. Thank you!
Lately I've been giving people small ancient things - meteorite fragments, fossils - for big birthdays. How it's received probably depends on the person, but marking the day with a hundred million year old (or 5 billion year old) thing would make me happy. (Also, far less ancient fordite jewelry.) I've not yet been disappointed by the etsy shops that sell such things.
It looks like they largely cost a bit more than your price range, but there's rather a lot of art made by elephants for sale online.
posted by eotvos at 4:33 AM on October 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
It looks like they largely cost a bit more than your price range, but there's rather a lot of art made by elephants for sale online.
posted by eotvos at 4:33 AM on October 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Sheldrick trust has some nice pieces
Prints
Pendant
They also have adopt an orphan program
posted by Ftsqg at 5:59 AM on October 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Prints
Pendant
They also have adopt an orphan program
posted by Ftsqg at 5:59 AM on October 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
I used to love browsing through museum gift-shop catalogs, back when we still got them. Lots of gifts seem tailor-made for the Mom demographic:
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Art Institute of Chicago
Museum of Modern Art
Smithsonian
posted by Sweetie Darling at 6:31 AM on October 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Art Institute of Chicago
Museum of Modern Art
Smithsonian
posted by Sweetie Darling at 6:31 AM on October 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Novica is a fair-trade site, affiliated with National Geographic, with goods made by artisans all over the world. You might well find something there. (And FWIW, I've been pleased with everything I've purchased from them.)
posted by DrGail at 11:03 AM on October 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by DrGail at 11:03 AM on October 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Randomly browsing jewelry sites (it's how i blow off steam), saw this sterling silver elephant necklace at Ross-Simons, and thought of you. R-S has good quality, medium-price-point jewelry and I've had good customer service interactions with them. (Actually, searching for "elephant" brings up all their elephant themed offerings, which range in price and style, in case you're looking for something else.)
Novica, as DrGail mentioned, sources from local artisans and there is a TON of elephant-related stuff on it (including some elephant-made paintings, though I think they are a bit above your price range). You can filter by type and price. I too have purchased from Novica and been happy (the silverwork from their artisans is particularly nice, I think).
It really depends on your mom's style, too, but you could always get an elephant-and-baby piece if your mom would appreciate the sentiment. Here's a sculpture that I think looks quite classy and captures the special-bond-y-ness of parent/child relationships without being schmaltzy (... sorry, I am sometimes not good at maternal sentiment, lol). Or you could try getting a piece of jewelry with a flatter body (here's the silver version) and having it engraved to personalize it.
And departing from elephants, but staying on jewelry and personalization, there is a lot of thumbprint jewelry on Etsy where you can have your thumbprint immortalized on a charm. There are lots of options in different styles, some where you can add words (including in your handwriting), birthstones inset or as charms, etc. FYI that a lot of people use thumbprint jewelry as memorial jewelry so if that feels weird to you, ymmv on this idea. But my own 70 yo mother appreciated the sentiment!
I find that Etsy quality really scales with price, and also that included necklace chains tend to be cheaply made, so sometimes I will replace the chain (or just exclude it) when gifting necklaces.
LASTLY (again! sentimental 70s mother!) one idea is, if your mom has multiple children, you could get her something with all of her kids' birthstones. I considered one of these "family tree" or heart pendants for my mom, but I ultimately went with something else so I can't speak to the quality specifically.
posted by alleycat01 at 1:09 PM on October 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Novica, as DrGail mentioned, sources from local artisans and there is a TON of elephant-related stuff on it (including some elephant-made paintings, though I think they are a bit above your price range). You can filter by type and price. I too have purchased from Novica and been happy (the silverwork from their artisans is particularly nice, I think).
It really depends on your mom's style, too, but you could always get an elephant-and-baby piece if your mom would appreciate the sentiment. Here's a sculpture that I think looks quite classy and captures the special-bond-y-ness of parent/child relationships without being schmaltzy (... sorry, I am sometimes not good at maternal sentiment, lol). Or you could try getting a piece of jewelry with a flatter body (here's the silver version) and having it engraved to personalize it.
And departing from elephants, but staying on jewelry and personalization, there is a lot of thumbprint jewelry on Etsy where you can have your thumbprint immortalized on a charm. There are lots of options in different styles, some where you can add words (including in your handwriting), birthstones inset or as charms, etc. FYI that a lot of people use thumbprint jewelry as memorial jewelry so if that feels weird to you, ymmv on this idea. But my own 70 yo mother appreciated the sentiment!
I find that Etsy quality really scales with price, and also that included necklace chains tend to be cheaply made, so sometimes I will replace the chain (or just exclude it) when gifting necklaces.
LASTLY (again! sentimental 70s mother!) one idea is, if your mom has multiple children, you could get her something with all of her kids' birthstones. I considered one of these "family tree" or heart pendants for my mom, but I ultimately went with something else so I can't speak to the quality specifically.
posted by alleycat01 at 1:09 PM on October 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Does your mother write letters/notes at all? Monogrammed stationery might be a nice way to go.
posted by orange swan at 4:09 PM on October 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by orange swan at 4:09 PM on October 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
The UNICEF Market has lots and lots of elephants!
posted by mareli at 7:16 PM on October 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by mareli at 7:16 PM on October 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you guys so much! These are all great suggestions for her birthday and future gifts as well. Thank you again!
posted by dianeF at 7:31 PM on October 13, 2020
posted by dianeF at 7:31 PM on October 13, 2020
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posted by jointhedance at 3:59 AM on October 13, 2020 [2 favorites]