Every year, mothers and mother figures receive the same displays of love and affection: flowers, sweets, or trips to the spa. While these gifts are beautiful expressions of appreciation, they can also feel impersonal.
Looking for something a little different this year? Museums provide the perfect place to learn and connect with loved ones, and their stores can be great sources for unique Mother’s Day gift ideas.
In addition to selling merchandise inspired by art and exhibits within a cultural institution, museum stores also serve as rich suppositories of hand-crafted objects from independent artists and makers in your own community. When you buy a Mother’s Day gift at a museum store, you can express your love for a maternal figure while supporting a local artist and the cultural institution itself.
Here’s a selection of unique Mother’s Day gift ideas that will make your loved ones feel one-of-a-kind. And don’t worry: many museum stores offer both in-store and online items. You can find museum stores near you here and online museum stores here.
Maiko Maneki Lucky Cat Cosmetic Bag
Japanese American National Museum
Los Angeles, California
While the Japanese American National Museum is closed at the moment, you can still visit their shop online and browse all kinds of unique Mother’s Day gift ideas. Help mom get her travel essentials organized with this adorable cosmetic bag featuring a joyful print of lucky fanning felines set within a colorful plum blossom and wave motif. The heavy cotton toiletries bag is designed and manufactured by a local AAPI woman-owned business.
Silver Pendant Necklace – Mixed Flowers – Medium Heart
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Bethel, New York
Gift mom flowers that will last a lifetime with this precious, heart-shaped pendant made by Shrieking Violet. Encased in resin and featuring real roses, daisies, poppies, forget-me-not, and sunflowers, this eternal bouquet is a perfect expression of love and nature’s beauty. Available in necklace, bracelet, or earring forms, these forever blooms come with a stunning booklet with stories of each flower variety.
Chérette Umbrella
Poster House
Manhattan, New York
Your mother will think of you every time it rains with this elegant umbrella featuring Jules Chéret’s iconic Chérette, a late 19th-century archetype of a liberated woman. This radical image of modernity graced advertisements across Europe and depicted women as fashionable, free, and at leisure, often smoking and sporting a revealing dress. When extended, the umbrella displays each monochrome version of the complete picture, making clear the revolutionary role of chromolithography in creating easily reproducible and colorful images. This umbrella is developed by local, woman-owned business ART IS NYC.
Amelia Earhart’s Hot Chocolate Coffee Blend
Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum
Atchinson, Kansas
Did you know that Amelia Earhart enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate on her historic solo flight across the Pacific? Luckily, your mom can enjoy a nice cup in the comfort of her own home. This unique Mother’s Day gift idea is blended in collaboration with local coffee roaster and cafe Burr Roasters, and it combines a French roasted Colombian coffee with dark chocolate, graham cracker, and marshmallow. It’s the perfect midday pick-me-up after your Mother’s Day lunch.
Dots Earrings
Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
Jacksonville, Florida
Eccentric and sophisticated, the Dots Earrings by Jacksonville jewelry designer Arden Bardol are mini sculptural masterpieces crafted with piano wire and polymer clay. Each pair, whether in the Chandelier or Oblong style, balances line and geometry to frame any mother’s face with style and personality. The earrings are part of Bardol’s signature Suspension Experiment series: the result of nearly two decades of research into architecture, metalwork, and clay.
Peach Basket
American Museum of Ceramic Art
Pomona, California
Gift mom the perfect holding spot for her farmer’s market finds with a charming ceramic vessel designed by Washington-based artist Adrienne Eliades. The Peach Basket, with its simplified basket form and muted palette, is the perfect centerpiece for any dining table or kitchen island and will make vibrant fruits look like miniature artworks in their own right.
Swirl Apple Teal Paperweight by WheatonArts
Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center
Millville, New Jersey
Never leave mom’s desk with this exuberant glass apple paperweight, crafted by the artisans at WheatonArts. Each paperweight is singularly formed through a highly specialized practice, ensuring every individual sculpture is original in color and size. Like some of the best gifts, these paperweights have both a practical and aesthetic function and make for a unique Mother’s Day gift idea.
Audubon Tiny Folio
Museum of Fine Arts
Boston, Massachusetts
John James Audubon’s Birds of America was a sensation when it was published in 1838, and its images of birds in their habitats continue to fascinate nature lovers today. This ingenious pocket-sized version contains all 435 color engravings and is a perfect antidote to any mom trying to cut down on screen time.
Lucy Desi Museum Ladies Quarter Zip Sweatshirt
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Museum
Jamestown, New York
Help Mom stay warm with this sweatshirt from the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Museum in Jamestown, New York. Available in two colors and designed by local business Three-Sixty Graphics, its front pockets and half-zip structure are perfect for a good workout or getting cozy with loved ones for a night of old-school TV.
OMAH Franklin CarMaple Tea
Orillia Museum of Art & History
Orillia, Ontario, Canada
Prepared by local business White Lions Tea House in Orillia, Ontario, this rooibos tea has a soothing, maple flavor with hints of regional blueberries and elderflower. Brewers of this blend were inspired by Group of Seven Canadian painter Franklin Carmichael, whose sweeping landscapes celebrate and revere nature in all of its awesome glory.
Rome Pays Off x TMA: “Flower Still Life” by Rachel Ruysch Yoga Mat
Toledo Museum of Art
Toledo, Ohio
Add some beauty to mom’s fitness journey with this eco-friendly, biodegradable yoga mat emblazoned with a lush still life by the Dutch Master painter Rachel Ruysch. Easy to clean and bold in design, the mat is an exclusive of the Toledo Museum of Art and is produced in collaboration with Rome Pays Off, an NYC-based company that aims to bring gorgeous art into our everyday lives. This mat is primed for both indoor and outdoor yoga, encouraging moms everywhere to get their zen on no matter where they are.
Framed Papercut
Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience
New Orleans, Louisiana
Created by artist Evelyn Goldman, these elegant and delicately crafted papercuts are available in three styles and feature silhouetted pastoral scenes combined with lines from Hebrew prayers and phrases. These distinctive, framed tableaux will immediately become a central part of any Jewish household, grounding the family in spiritual tradition.
Window Gnome by Ellen Kerbs
Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School
Decorah, Iowa
Bring the garden gnomes (or nisse) indoors with this handcrafted, magical friend made by award-winning artist and teacher Ellen Kerb. His sweet expression and delicately painted surface are sure to make any mother smile. Plus, his availability in two sizes ensures you can find a new home for him in any window of mom’s house. Vesterheim sports a variety of unique Mother’s Day gift ideas and celebrates all things Norwegian, offering a plethora of Scandinavian crafts, apparel, and treats.
Looking for More Unique Mother’s Day Gift Ideas?
This Mother’s Day, connect with your loved one over the magic of locally-made, handcrafted goods from museum stores near you.
Use our store locator to discover more gift ideas made by local artists, and don’t forget that many museum stores offer their goods online, too.
We also hope to see you on November 30, 2025, for Museum Store Sunday! Join our mailing list for exclusive updates leading up to our biggest shopping event of the year.