After you look at this gift idea, check out our other gift ideas for New Mothers & Expecting Moms!

(this gift certificate was created online, for free, in 5 seconds at IvyJoy.com)

I haven’t posted any new gift ideas in awhile! That’s because (as Ms. Gift mentions) GiftGirl and I recently welcomed GiftBaby to our family!

I’m tired. Very tired. So is GiftGirl.

We have received many, many wonderful gifts from family, friends, co-workers, and even clients!

All of the gifts have been much appreciated, and we are very thankful.

But, the best gifts we have received have been from family and friends who have come to our home and given their time. My mother has come a number of times and helped out with dishes, laundry, making beds, etc. My sister-in-law came over and cleaned our bathrooms and vacuumed! My father, step-mother, and mother-in-law have all come over bearing food! OK, so they bought the food - but they took the time to think about it, pick it up, bring it over, and eat with us. (my sister-in-law, the same one who toiled in the bathrooms cooked a homemade brisket that took 4 hours to cook - yummy!)

If you are trying to figure out what to give to an expecting mother (and dad too), think about giving your time to help them around the house.

Here are some ideas:

• Laundry
• Dishes
• Vacuuming
• Bathrooms (this is truly a gift!)
• Running errands
• Cooking
• Yard work

Or, just a general offer to take care of whatever needs doing

This gift can be given before or after the baby is born. Consider giving someone a homemade gift certificate at the baby shower, bringing it to the hospital, mailing it, e-mailing it, whatever.

Above I mentioned that the gift certificate I created for the image was from IvyJoy.com. Here are some other sites that can also help you create customized gift certificates:

• LastMinute.com
• Regiftable.com
• GiftCardDesigner.com
• MicroSoft Office Gift Certificate Templates

The sites listed above are OK, but not great - so if anyone knows of another website where you can generate a personalized gift certificate, let us know!

Check out this page on our site for additional expectant/new mother gift ideas …

One of my favorite things about being on an airplane is reading the SkyMall magazine. I like to pretend I have a big house and copious amounts of money and then I pick out all of the completely unnecessary things that make up SkyMall.

I also look through it and every time think, ‘Oh man what an awesome idea’. This past weekend was no exception as I found one of the coolest inventions EVER!

A pen that has a recorder, an FM radio, a flash drive and can play MP3s! I would feel like James Bond with that thing!

Here is what SkyMall says about it:

“These multifunction pens digitally record up to 64 hours using a built in microphone. They can also transfer 2 GB of data and play up to 1000 songs in MP3 or WMA format. The CompuFlash mo0del is also an FM radio.”

The pen will only run you $89.99! This would make a great gift for a college student, a co-worker, the salesman in your life or anyone interested in gadgets.

To some, snow globes are those gifts you get and think, “Now what do I do with this?”.  But to others they are fun to collect and can be gazed upon for hours.

While snow globes aren’t exactly unique unto themselves, there are some pretty awesome/hilarious ones that are.

Martin & Munoz have created a line of hand-crafted snow globes featuring scenes you would not typically find in a snow globe.  For instance, the travelers collection contains scenes of a man with a giant spider behind him or a kid being held over a well by one foot.  There is an island scene with people walking on stilts and another of a man being held at gunpoint. They are really quite interesting and make you think about what you are seeing.

They also are limited in numbers and hard to find.  I did come across some at Unica Home but I am not sure of the availability.  A warning, these aren’t your typical snow globes in looks or price.  Each one will run you about $750!  Here are some additional ones:

Robyn Klauer from Georgie Designs contacted us about a great gift idea her site offers. We all know about fruit of the month, wine of the month and book of the month clubs…but how about a Ring of the Month club!?

Available in 3, 6 and 12 month options, this is a great idea for someone who is into jewelry (or even better, order it for yourself and give away the ones you don’t want!).

Each ring is handcrafted and sent in a beautiful package featuring the ring of your choice. Not sure of the recipients ring size? Georgie Designs will send a gift card notification beforehand along with a ring sizer for them to email or call back with. Then they will have their ring in 1-2 weeks. Perfect!

The prices are reasonable for handcrafted jewelry with the 3-month club at $128, 6-months for $256 and 12-months ranging from $498-$558 (choice of silver or gold).

Go visit the site today and sign-up for the ring of the month club…remember, jewelry is always a great gift!

Related Posts:

• Cool, Funky Plastic Rings 

I was on the lookout for new hip gift ideas today when I came across Lisa’s Chic Boutique.

The site is adorable and the stuff she sells is even better. She has some super cool purses, belt buckles, jewelry and wouldn’t you know, something for the dogs. Man, the store actually makes me feel pretty unhip with how cool it is!

My favorite thing on the site has to be the Marilyn Monroe Cigar Box Purse. It’s definitely unlike anything I have ever seen and it’s just so fun!

Here is an excerpt from the site:

“It is made from an authentic beautiful black “Saint Luis Rey Churchill” cigar box. A rare vintage postcard of Marilyn Monroe is laminated onto the purse and it has received several coats of polyurethane to help preserve and protect it…A lot of Tender, Love & Funk went into this Purse.”

Best part is, it only costs $59! You gotta love that! Get over there and see what other cool things Lisa has come up with!