Is your mom hard to buy for? Mine sure was. And the gift card cop out isn't something you can do for mom with good conscience.

One cool alternative is a gift basket geared to her interests.

Have a gourmet mom? How about a gift basket filled with crackers, cheese, biscuits, nuts, dipping oil, bruschetta bites, sweet pears, chocolate covered grapes, wine wafers and a bottle of wine? The price? $125.

Or does your busy mom just need a push to relax? Get her a gift basket filled with bath soaps, body lotion, a body brush, shower mitt, scented candle, tea and cookies? The price? $55.

Check out these and more at bocagiftbaskets.com. Boca Gifts Baskets is located at 940 Clint Moore Road, Boca Raton, 561-994-8495.

XOXO -- Shopper Girl

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These are really cool looking sunglasses -- for you or your mom.

Designer Edward Beiner, a native Brazilian, says he was inspired by Steve McQueen, Elvis, Audrey Hephurn, the sunny skies of Miami and Celtic designs for his new eyewear collection.

Beiner, who has lived in SoFla more than 20 years, is considered a design guru to stars such as Lindsay Lohan, Thalia, Alicia Keys, Gloria Estefan, Shaq, Jennifer Lopez and Sarah, the Duchess of York. But you don't have to be a star to afford his cool shades. They sell for $380. For more, see edwardbeiner.com.

The latest in his nine SoFla shops is at The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens.

Love them. Too bad my birthday has already passed. Hint. Hint.

XOXO -- Shopper Girl

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Here's an item from our sister blog The Skinny:

Is your mom or wife a fan of all things healthy? Vitalicious has a Mother's Day gift for you. It's their Mother's Day Vita Baking Gift of Health basket, which contains all four 100-calorie VitaMix varieties (Vita Brownie, Blue Bran, Banana Nut & Deep Chocolate) and a VitaTop non-stick silicone baking pan plus the book: Hungry Girl: Recipes & Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World. The whole deal is wrapped in a gift basket with a greeting card and is $36.99, plus shipping.

Check out the deal HERE.

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I have been looking for months for the perfect bag to go with my pair of gold tone, snakeskin shoes with a wedge heel.

Everything I found was either too glitzy or the wrong tone until I found this bag at Giovagio at the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton. My gold tone leather bag has pockets on each side for a cell phone or phones, two open pockets and a zippered compartment inside. It looks like a designer creation and sells for far less -- $75. Giovagio also sells jewelry and belts.

Joan Leger and her mother, Florence Leger, operate the kiosk located near Nordstrom and in front of Lucky Brand in a kiosk. It is open every day except Sunday. For information, call 786-873-9331.

I finally trained my husband. He no longer asks "Do you need another handbag?" He knows now that need has nothing to do with it. A new handbag is what a new hat was to another generation.

XOXO-- Shopper Girl

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Pier 1 Imports has re-invented itself once again. It has returned to its roots as a great place to buy small gifts as well as decor items. When I visited last weekend, I found a lot of things that would make great Mother's Day gifts.
Here are a few of them:
These snakeskin bangles look like they cost far more than $7 each. At his price, you can buy mom three or four and a few for yourself.
Check out the faux flowers like this peony arrangement in a ceramic vase for $20. It's perfect for a small area like a powder room or mom's dressing table.
There are also other cool objects like this glass purse than can be used as a decorative object or a planter. It's $25. You may also find some decorative frames for $12 or three small jewel boxes for $10.
For more ideas, see pier1.com.
XOXO--Shopper Girl

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This is the perfect gift for the mom who is an animal lover and needs a place to stash her rings or small jewelry items.

Jonathan Adler, the pottery guru who also designs furniture and accessories, has created this squirrel ring box as a whimsical addition to the bedside table or kitchen, wherever mom may shed her jewelry.

It's 10 inches high and sells for $110. See jonathanadler.com or get it at the Miami store located at 1024 Lincoln Road Mall, 305-.534-5600.

Love this. Make mom smile on her special day.

XOXO -- Shopper Girl

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No matter what style your mom is, she loves to display memories of your family and the other things she loves. One cool gift to give her is a memory board, where she can display photos, invitations, greeting cards and whatever else she chooses.
Pulp Products has a great variety of choices to match mom's personal style -- with 37 choices of fabric from garden seafoam to shells. The 24-by18 1/2 inch boards are $34 at pulpproducts.com XOXO -- Shopper Girl

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What will you see today?

This is the question from the makers of Flip, which just may be the world’s easiest-to-use camcorder.

The size of a small digital camera (but much lighter), the stylish Flip is easy to whip out of your purse or pocket, so never again will you fumble to get your kid’s solo in the Spring play. When your soccer star is racing toward the goal, you won’t miss it. You will shoot and score, too.

Flip, truth be told, is for “vidiots.” There is one Record button. Push it to start. Push it again to stop. The only other buttons are to play, zoom in or out, and delete.

The Flip Ultra, $179.99, has 2GB (60 minutes) of memory; The regular Flip, $149.99, has 1GB (30 minutes) of memory. (Get it at www.theflip.com; you should also try other retailers; we saw it on Amazon.com for $120.)

To watch the video on TV, it’s a matter of plugging it in. When you want to download it, the Flip software comes up as soon as you plug it into the computer’s USB port. The company calls the video resolution “TV quality.” I’d say it’s very good, better than videos I take with my digital camera.

Flip sent us one to try. After installing two double-A batteries, it took 1.5 seconds to turn it on and use it. I took it home and got the kids in action, singing, dancing, and hamming it up. They are 8 and 5 and of course fought over who got to record what. (This might be the only downfall of the Flip - the kids will usurp it.) We downloaded the video, and easily e-mailed it to their Dad, who is out of town.

The message sent with the video: Dear Honey, Mother’s Day is coming and I have flipped for the Flip.

K.V.W.

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Jay Strongwater doesn't design as much jewelry since he decided to concentrate on the home. But I go crazy over the limited pieces he does create.

I bought a beautiful Strongwater pin in Charleston that gets tons of compliments. It looks like a piece I inherited from my grandmother, who wore it in the 1920s.

Your mom is special so why not give her something like this "Suzette" Pave Pansy Pin? It is handcrafted enamel over metal with gold trim and his trademark multicolor Swarovski crystals. The pin is 1 1/2 inches high and 1 1/2 inches wide. It sells for $150. See jaystrongwater.com.

It's so cool I may order one for myself.

XOXO-- Shopper Girl

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Got my mom a birthday bouquet of gerbera daisies from Organic Bouquet, which uses only organic and sustainably grown flowers. And the prices are no higher than any other online florist. Check out their Mother's Day selections HERE. At left is their organic bunch of lavender roses, for $49.95.

By the way, Mom's flowers were gorgeous -- and eco-friendly.

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Mother's Day gifts don't have to be boring.

If you know a young mom who loves yoga, here are a few great gifts:
Yoga mats don't have to be Plain Jane. Check out these nature-inspired designs of Gaiam yoga mats with matching bags from Barnes & Noble. The mats are $21.98 and the bags are $19.98.

And if that yoga mom had a baby recently, I found the perfect book that you can buy at the same time. Check out Baby OM: Yoga for Mothers and Babies (Henry Holt & Co., $18) by Laura Staton and Sarah Perron. It includes everything from baby bonding exercises to a discussion of the benefits of yoga for postpartum depression.

Happy shopping.

XOXO-- Shopper Girl

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Bookmark wishingfish.com and you’ll be one step ahead when it comes to shopping for clever, off-the-beaten-path gifts for every occasion.

With Mother’s Day coming up, we found lots of options for all types of moms. And while we know Mom is worth a fortune, trust us, she’ll be delighted with these $10-and-under finds.

Does she love ... the beach? Give her a Day at the Beach she can enjoy even when she’s working at her desk. The kit has everything you need to rest and relax at the beach -- including white sand, sandals, sea shells, a beach chair, beach umbrella, beach ball and floating ring.

Does she love ... to grow things? Give her the Heart Garden, where she can plant and grow a heart filled with thyme.

Does she love ... to travel? Give her some sassy Luggage Tags With Attitude, a set of six playful tags with sayings like “Careful: my shoes are inside.” Or “I'm pretty sure this isn't your bag ” or “Nothing worth stealing in here.”

Does she love ... to wash the dishes? (Of course she doesn’t, but she does it anyway.) Give her the Bubble Scrubber, an ingenious scrubbing brush that has a built in bubble blower for hours of cleaning fun. Better yet, give her the day off and do the dishes for her.

-- Kavita Varma-White

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So I'm telling my son about the new wiper blades my husband put on my car for me over the weekend. "For Mother's Day?" he asks. Well, no, but come to think of it, that would be a nice gesture for Mom -- replace her wiper blades! But don't make that the entire gift.
(OK, I have to ask: Have you seen that Advance Auto Parts TV commercial, the one with the poor saps standing in the rain next to their wrecked cars because they didn't replace their wiper blades? Now mine were pretty bad but I could at least see oncoming traffic and telephone poles. What were they using, old hot dog buns?)
To bring things back to Mother's Day, get your mom some new wiper blades. Advance Auto Parts will even put 'em on for free.
-- G.G.S.

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Hand-cut cookies were a big part of DeAnna Skedel’s childhood. So big that she still uses her grandmother’s vintage cookie cutters.

Her husband Victor, however, used to laugh at her cookie cutter ways.

Then Skedel, who teaches art at the University of Missouri, created a cookie cutter in her Victor’s likeness. Her Victor Cookies were such a hit with him and everyone who saw them that a new business was born.

Here’s how it works: E-mail Skedel a jpeg photograph and she’ll let you know if your loved one is a good cookie cutter candidate. (A strong jaw and hairline are key.) Skedel creates a 3-inch aluminum cookie cutter for $20 plus shipping. It’s up to you to bake and decorate. Skedel’s e-mail address is cookieswrdlv@yahoo.com. -- J.T.

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Hand-cut cookies were a big part of DeAnna Skedel’s childhood. So big that she still uses her grandmother’s vintage cookie cutters.

Her husband Victor, however, used to laugh at her cookie cutter ways.

Then Skedel, who teaches art at the University of Missouri, created a cookie cutter in her Victor’s likeness. Her Victor Cookies were such a hit with him and everyone who saw them that a new business was born.

Here’s how it works: E-mail Skedel a jpeg photograph and she’ll let you know if your loved one is a good cookie cutter candidate. (A strong jaw and hairline are key.) Skedel creates a 3-inch aluminum cookie cutter for $20 plus shipping. It’s up to you to bake and decorate. Skedel’s e-mail address is cookieswrdlv@yahoo.com. -- J.T.

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There are flip-flops and then there are Havaianas. Trust us, these flip-flops rock. And if you'd like to give Mom a super cute pair, try the many styles offered by Endless.com. These, for example, are the Pois model, for $19.95 (yes, it's more expensive than Walgreen's but totally worth it), with metallic silver straps and a silver and black footbed. Perfect for eveningwear! (Yeah, whatever, us moms call a trip to Publix a big night out.)
Great thing about Endless.com: overnight shipping is negative $5 (how 1999!)
-- G.G.S.

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Whether your mom is a fashion plate, a free spirit or a collector, she’s going to love Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel at The Norton Museum of Art .

It’s an exhibit of Apfel’s clothing, but the way she combines color, texture and pattern in pieces purchased at flea markets and from haute couture collections transcends fashion. There’s an art to her style. Organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the show runs through May 27. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and Sunday 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Admission: $12 for adults, $5 for ages 13 to 21 and free for children under 12. Call 561-832-5196.

Be sure to buy mom the $50 catalog, which includes a telling introduction written by Apfel herself.

- J.T.

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You can't go wrong with flowers for Mother's Day -- they're always the right size and color and they're calorie-free. And I found a deal on Proflowers.com -- two dozen assorted roses with a green glass vase for $29.99, plus tax and shipping.
As for shipping, you'll pay extra for Friday or Saturday delivery, so choose the "flexible" option and it'll get delivered on Thursday or Friday for the $9.99 standard shipping price. (just cross your fingers if you want Friday).
-- G.G.S.

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Just discovered a great website chockful of Mother's Day ideas: Jacaranda, which features wares from South African artisans. A portion of the proceeds from each purchase goes to a school in South Africa for physically disabled children from around the region.

We love these unique fish servers ($259).

Also like this Rose is a Rose lucite cuff ($148) -- but go to the site and see the vast selection of cool cuffs.

-KVW

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Mother's Day is 24 days away -- have you started shopping for dear-old Mom yet?

Beginning today we'll provide plenty of ideas. (And since some of us are Moms, you can bet it will be stuff they (read: we) would love to receive.

Kitchen gadgets are a popular gift -- but sometimes you wonder who it's really for. Because when you get Mom the cool waffle iron, who is it that ends up making those waffles?

We love this 15 " square shape herb wreath from Williams-Sonoma. Bay leaves, sage, mint, chilies, sunflowers -- a combination any cook would love.

Order by May 7 for a Mother's Day delivery.

K.V.W.

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