Does your mom want jewelry for Mother’s Day? Nah. Bath salts? Nope. A pet tarantula? Probably not.

What she really wants is time with you! (Also possibly lunch.)

Your mom sounds nice. So we’ve got 11 different ways to make her happy on Mother’s Day!

We’ve got ideas for photos to take, things to make, and things you can do together.

You’re a good kid.

11 Ways to Make Your Mom Really Really Happy This Mother’s Day

p.s. Mother’s Day is May 10th this year. Get crackin’!

Photo credit: kjsydney

Shoot Your Mom

So, are you going home for Mother’s Day? Really? That’s so sweet.

Since you’ll be hanging out with your mom, why not do a photo project together? Bring your camera along and take turns shooting portraits of each other.

Bored with standard 3/4-face studio-style portraits? Switch things up by taking portraits of your feet as well as your face, a la Ellen Ugelstad’s Shoe Project.

Or take it further by creating portraits out of four different Polaroids. No boring pics for you!

Photo credit: Ellen Ugelstad

Shoot Your Family

If your family all lives in the same town, round ‘em up and take a group portrait.

Make it interesting, too — have everybody jump up in the air before you click the shutter, or make everybody run into the frame before shooting.

Make sure nobody tells your mom about it, then surprise her with the framed photo on the big day. Make it very clear that YOU took the picture, not any of your obviously substandard siblings.

Photo credit: Jelle Vermeiren

Shoot the Kids

Maybe the main mom in your life is your kids’ mom, not yours. Then take some pictures of the younguns for her!

Save the nice clothes and tasteful backdrop for the school pictures, though. Catch the rugrats running around, sleeping, or generally not posing.

Better yet, copy Jan Van Holleben’s Dreams of Flying project and take pictures of the kids doing karate, flying, or diving for buried treasure.

No wait, even better, hand over the camera and have the kids take pictures while you sit back and relax. Ahhhh.

Photo credit: Jan Von Holleben

Cram Your Mum in a Photobooth

This year’s plan for Mother’s Day: take her out for lunch and a heavy dose of silliness.

Take your mum to photobooth near you and wedge yourselves in there for some memorable portraits. Don’t forget the Groucho Marx glasses!

Photo credit: jencu

5 Things You Can Make for Your Momma

Feeling more crafty, less artsy? Maybe you oughta whip something up for your mom.

• Make a frame out of your favorite boardgame and fill it with pictures of lil’ ol’ you.
• Turn one of your photos into a stencil and print it on a shirt or a bag.
• You say your mom likes writing? Use an inkjet image transfer to make a set of custom Moleskine journals.
• If your mom taught you to save glass jars, turn them into frames and show her you were paying attention.
• Your mom’s a shutterbug too? Hooray! Make a camera case just for her!

These Things Remind Me of You

Not much of a people photographer?

Take some pictures of things that remind you of of your mom, like a book she used to read to you or her special secret-recipe cookies.

Frame ‘em up nice and give ‘em to your sweet sweet mama.

A Day in the Life of… You!

If you live far away from your mom, you know that she wishes she was with you all the time. Make her feel like she’s there by taking pictures of your life for a day!

Start taking pictures when you roll out of bed and snarf down a bowl of Cheerios, and don’t stop until you hit the hay that night.

Take pictures of the big and small details you see every day, from your favorite coffee mug to your favorite co-worker.

Print out the photos, label everything and mail it to your mom. She’ll love having a frame of reference when you chat about your life.

Self-preservation reminder — don’t do this on the day you go to the fetish bar or stock up on Thunderbird. Your mom worries enough.

Photo credit: kpwerker

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