Gift Ideas for the Creative Mom

I am in this awkward place right now between reliving our beautiful three weeks in Nigeria, trying to sort out all the feelings and transitions that come with facing such great poverty, and jumping into the holiday season back here in the US. There are a lot of conflicting feelings and it feels awkward to go from sharing about Nigeria to sharing about favorite gift ideas because, bottom line, I am not about consumerism but I am about thoughtfulness.
So with that in mind, I wanted to share some of my very favorite things that I have enjoyed and would highly recommend as gift ideas for the creative mom. Because all of these things appeal to me and my creativity … not really even as a mom – so this may be better stated that it is gift ideas for the creative woman.
I hope you enjoy and find inspiration for your holiday shopping – and please leave your own ideas in the comments so I can share with my husband! haha.I know it’s entirely possible that the entire population of stay at home mom’s that love instagram have one of these letterboards … but really, it has been such a fun addition to our home and I have utilized it throughout the entire year (it was my Christmas gift from Paul in 2016) and I still really like it. It’s given me a fun platform to display thought provoking, encouraging, or just plain quirky quotes!

From top:
Travelers Notebook: I use mine every single day. It has my calendar in it, as well as my bullet journal, my to-do lists, my collection of questions, and every other list I utilize combined in this one beautiful leather bound book. It has simplified my life immensely – I no longer look at other notebooks because the TN is so useful and beautiful.
Paul made my leather cover, but Midori is hands down the best if you’re going to purchase one.
I make my notebook inserts, but you can purchase them here and the calendar you can buy here.
Note: there are two sizes for the Traveler’s Notebook. Make sure you buy the size you want and all the correct notebook sizes!

A collection of pens: Paul has done a great job at finding amazing pens for me. This Pilot Prera fountain pen he bought me last Christmas has been a regular favorite of mine and these 005 point Microns are always on hand (they are my go-to for writing in my Bible). I have never used jetpen, and don’t really have a need to since I have so many pens right now, but they do offer this amazing collection of pens based on the color. So you can get a selection of any color pen without committing to an entire pack of the same type. Amazing!

Infused Olive Oils: I have been infusing my own oil for a while now and they make such a delicious addition to meal time. While you may not quite have enough time for the oils to infuse between now and Christmas you can start the gift and just include a note as to when they can start using the oil – and ideas as to how!

Unique Foods: It’s true that everyone’s tastes are different, but if you don’t try something you won’t know if you’ll like it or not. I LOVE different foods. So much! And I love when people gift me food items. I haven’t always loved what the food tastes like, but I always love trying it out! A really fun gift is a collection of different food items – think chocolate bars from different countries, different spreads for bread, or spices. Share something with your creative friend that you grew up eating in your family that most people aren’t familiar with. Or look at things that are made locally that you can gift. I discovered smoked salt because of a gift from a friend and now I am not sure how I lived without it!

Tea and Coffee: Same as unique foods, teas and coffees can offer fun experiences and broaden culinary horizons. Bulk green coffee beans are a fantastic gift for the coffee lover who wants to experience roasting their own beans and I shared some of my very favorite teas over here.

Mid liners: These are the best highlighters I have found – they don’t bleed through light pages (like your Bible) and the colors are very nice – there is even a gray one!

Art supplies: Nice ones, that mom doesn’t need to share!
These colored pencils are my favorite (I’ve got other shades on my wish list this year!)
Watercolor paints
Watercolor paper
Art books
Modeling clay

My friend Sarah (pictured above, modeling the apron, PC: Shanon Hanson) first shared about this apron she found at World Market and as soon as I saw it I started searching for the closest store and bought my own mid August. I had previously pinned so many variations of this smock/apron with back straps just like this one and had even attempted making my own … this one is worth saving yourself the headache, time, and cost of making your own. I use it all the time in the kitchen and while doing chores. It washes well, pockets are generous and useful, and the coverage is excellent.Are you familiar with Flow magazine? If not, it is a delightful magazine that originated as a Dutch publication and has since become an international magazine. It is full of inspiration and beauty and encourages the reader to slow down and appreciate what is around them. It is my favorite magazine to read and I am hoping to get a copy of their newest book A Book That Takes It’s Time. I haven’t met anyone else familiar with this magazine, so your odds are pretty good that you can gift this to a friend without worry that they have it!

I have been slow to warm up to my phone’s camera because I am super partial to my DSLR, but these phone lenses have definitely been one of my favorite things to use with my phone camera! You can get a huge range of quality with camera lenses, but I’ve been happy with this set for my purposes. (The above picture was taken with one of the attachments – I used it a lot while in Paris because the backgrounds and us all fit in a selfie!)

While there is certainly limited usage, I thoroughly enjoyed having a Polaroid camera with me during our trip to Nigeria. The boys and I used it almost daily to print off a picture for our journals. The quality is not amazing, but the fun factor is! I look forward to using it during future trips, too. Basically at any moment if someone gave me a budget and a time frame for a trip I would be on cloud nine pulling together a fun filled itinerary. Paul has done this a lot over the past year given how his job has required him to travel a lot and he has been able to bring us along with him. But if he wrapped this up as a present I would be equally as stoked. I’ve found this true of most of my creative minded friends, too. They don’t lack in ideas, just the resources to make those ideas happen. If you know how your creative friends tick, find the resources to enable their creativity to soar.

Finally, another gift that I cherish and that encourages – or more so, inspires – my creativity, is house plants. I enjoy my plants so much and they are such a cheerful addition in our home. There are SO many amazing pots to put a houseplant in – from quirky faces to Anthro-style pottery. Plants for my garden are also loved!

I hope this inspires some ideas for gift ideas for the creative mom (s) on your shopping list this year! Please share your favorite gift ideas for the creative mom in the comments so I can share with Paul!! Or send him a text because he thinks I am impossible to find gifts for, so I think he just needs some ideas! haha.