I’m a big fan of giving gifts that have your face on them. Okay, maybe not my face. My daughter, on the other hand, has been known to melt hearts with a well-timed smile so I feel like she’s an excellent candidate. And, not to sound like a mother, but is there any other gift you’d rather get than a present with Alice’s face on it? Right? Plus, grandparents seem really into photos of their grandkids, and it makes you seem like a super-thoughtful gift-giver in that you were able to get your ducks in a row enough to get photos to the printer in time for them to create a gift. Being this awesome is a lot of work.

Now, of course, you can’t go wrong with a photo book or calendar, but I figure with a mug that adorable let’s get creative…

1. My mom was the lucky recipient of one of these watches from May 28th this year and I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say it was her favorite present. It may have been her only present due to a fake, early Christmas, but I think we can all agree it would totally have annihilated the competition.

2. Who doesn’t want your face in the middle of all the action? Getting your face on a billboard is one thing, but on a cutting board? That’s a whole different level of notoriety.

(We just went for one of the many sites that creates them and it turned out fine: Walgreens, Snapfish, Ritzpix all do them. If you had a great experience somewhere, let me know and I’ll update it!)

3. So there are a million puzzle sites out there, but we used Puzzle You because it lets you upload multiple photos so you can get everyone in, plus you can do lots and lots of pieces to make it really hard. We did this one at our fake Christmas and it kept all of the Kull sisters quiet for hours while we whiled away. Chris was very happy with it.

4. I know, I know. Photo books and calendars are just such sweet presents, plus they last all year. Rather than the usual suspects though, how about one of these gorgeous ones made by Artifact Uprising? They recycle Colorado beetle-kill trees to create boxes to house your photo books and clipboards to hold your calendar sheets. Plus, their designs are clean and simple, and they even have an option for you to customize your own templates if you want to get crazy.

5. What? You don’t want to put a photo on it? But it still needs to be totally thoughtful and meaningful? Don’t worry, I gotcha covered. Last year we gave all of the grandmas these bird necklaces from Mama’s Magic Studio, which we customized with the number of their grandchildren. It’s subtle, but a great conversation piece. Bam.

I can’t believe I’m about to do this but, because I love you all so much, I’m going to give you my Secret Weapon Gift for Moms. Wait, you’re saying you don’t have SWGs? OMG, you must get yourself some. SWGs are your go-tos for when your brain is fried and you can’t think of anything creative or it’s two hours before the party and you realize Amazon hasn’t invented “Appear Now” shipping yet.

For example, I have my Housewarming one – some sort of sleek bird feeder (this one’s a bit more expensive than I like but you get the idea); one for dinner parties – Too Haute Cowgirls’ popcorn  when I’m organized, otherwise, it’s this wine, which they now sell at Costco! (Yes, it’s predictable, but the label is gorgeous and that’s obviously how you know if wine tastes good.); a birthday party one – this pirate towel works for most ages; and  a Kull sister one – anything Little Mermaid, Harry Potter, or Batman-themed (don’t ask me. No, seriously. I have no idea).

The SWG though I’m most proud of is my mom one. It’s meaningful, unique and useful. It is…

the Mom’s Line a Day book! (God, I love a bit of fanfare.)

The concept is simple – you write one or two sentences about what your kid did/said/wowed you with that day and over the course of five years you’ll have the best wedding gift ever to give your offspring (you’re welcome). My favorite part is looking back and seeing how I don’t remember a damn thing from last week, says the woman who silently rolled her eyes when her sister couldn’t remember when babies start crawling (4 months? 7? not a clue).

Of course, I forget to write it in every day and some days are more mundane than others. But what I love about this gift is it reminds you to look at today; when I’m really in it, I find myself more carefully engaged in our day so I can report back later. And that, my dears, is one helluva of SWG.