Digital Trends

She gave birth to you, raised you, fed you, and watched all two hours of the horrible school play where you played Thomas Jefferson and ended up crying when you forgot your lines. (And even took you for ice cream afterward, remember?) After putting up with your childhood nonsense, Mom deserves something nice on the one day a year set aside to pay tribute to her infinite patience.

At the same time, if she’s a practical lady, she probably doesn’t want you dropping the big bucks this year, on her, either. For frugal sons and daughters, a custom card cooked up with HP Creative Studio, a nice note written by hand, and fresh-picked flowers should do the trick. If you’re a little less artistic, we’ve already rounded up scores of cool custom gift ideas you can order online. Or, if you’re a little more tech-savvy than her, you could also replace her desktop wallpaper, screensaver, or help clean up her computer. But for those looking to give Mom something in a bow with a bow on it, you can find plenty of inexpensive and useful gifts to spoil mom, too. After the Hot Wheels play set she got you when you turned six, it’s only fair.

For the active mom…

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS7, $160

Picking a camera for Mom can be tough with all the choices out there, but we think Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-FS7 offers the perfect blend of style, function, small size, and price. Intelligent Auto mode makes it easy to capture 10-megapixel stills with minimal hassle, you can choose from pink, green, blue, silver and black to suit Mom’s tastes, and given how sturdy the super-slim metal case feels, your siblings will definitely think you dropped far more than $160 for it. You always were the favorite child.