11 best Mother’s Day gifts under £20 to treat mum while on a budget

Sarah Dawson
·11 min read
Mum deserves the best of the best, and we made sure to include something in this round-up for every style and taste (iStock/The Independent )
Mum deserves the best of the best, and we made sure to include something in this round-up for every style and taste (iStock/The Independent )

Yes, we know we shouldn’t need a day to celebrate our wonderful mums and the mother figures in our lives, but Mother’s Day is the perfect opportunity to really spoil them and let them know just how appreciated they are.

This year, Mother’s Day falls on 27 March, and will be the first one since 2019 that we’ll properly be able to celebrate together, so we’ve rounded up a fantastic selection of affordable gifts to make sure you don’t turn up empty-handed.

A great Mother’s Day gift should feel like a real treat, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune. Whether you plan to deliver it in person or send it in the post, there’s a fantastic choice of gifts out there, coming in at £20 or under.

How we tested

No one knows your mum like you and, of course, choosing a Mother’s Day gift to suit their tastes and style is a personal thing. That’s why we’ve sourced a wide range of presents to suit all kinds of likes and interests, to give you a helping hand. Crucially, we think they are all things that any mum would be thrilled to receive.

Our round-up includes everything from candles and flowers, to personalised biscuits and make-up bags, with plenty of pocket money-friendly suggestions for the kids to treat Mum, too.

Read more:

The best cheap Mother’s Day gifts for £20 or under for 2022 are:

Little Things by Lucy children’s drawing make-up bag

Best: Overall

Rating: 10/10

Personalised gifts are a thoughtful choice for Mother’s Day, and they don’t come much cuter than this. If your fridge is heaving with your child’s latest creations, turn them into something special that can be treasured forever instead.

We love Olive & Pip’s ethically produced, 100 per cent Fairtrade brushed cotton canvas, zipped make-up bags, which can be printed with a drawing or hand-written note from your child to their Mum or Grandma. The pouches come in a choice of four colours (from a classic black to a vibrant hot pink), and you can choose what colour you want the writing or drawing printed in – we think the metallic shades look very cool.

The bags are a great size to use for make-up or as a toiletry bag for weekends away and we were so impressed with the print finish and overall quality. What we love the most is having our son’s perfectly ridiculous drawings immortalised for life.

Buy now £19.99, Littlethingsbylucy.com

Grind coffee and tin

Best: For coffee drinkers

Rating: 8.5/10

Give your mum’s kitchen cupboard a fancy upgrade with a tin of Grind coffee. Yes, the pink tin is gorgeous and highly Instagrammable, but, as Mum always says, it’s what’s inside that counts.

Shoreditch-based Grind, ethically sources their beans from sustainable farms around the world, paying around double the average Fairtrade price. Available in whole bean or ground, in a choice of house, light or decaf blend, the coffee itself is indulgently rich and smooth. We can vouch for the house blend, which did the trick after a sleepless night with a grumpy toddler – the toughest test of all!

At £9, we think it’s great value for a substantial 227g of coffee and the reusable tin, plus your mum can order refill bags through the post once she’s finished. Oh, and if she’s more a fan of machine coffee, Grind also offers compostable Nespresso coffee pods for less than a pound more.

Buy now £9.00, Grind.co.uk

Bloom & Blossom disco nap

Best: For sleep-deprived Mums

Rating: 9/10

There are not many mums out there who’d turn down the chance of a decent night’s sleep, so if you want to be awarded “favourite child” status, this gift set from Bloom & Blossom is a commendable choice.

The excellently-named disco nap includes a navy satin eye mask, as well as a mini of the brand’s popular all night long calming sleep spray – the perfect 40ml size for keeping by the bed or packing for overnight stays. You only need a couple of spritzes of this heavenly Frankincense-scented spray on your pillow, to be cocooned in the most perfect sleep-inducing fragrance. Combined with the super-soft eye mask, we were out like a light. And that’s certainly worth more than £10.

Buy now £10.00, Bloomandblossom.com

FlowerBe posy and vase

Best: Mother’s Day flowers

Rating: 9/10

Flowers are always a good idea, but forgot a bouquet of past-it, hastily-grabbed petrol station flowers; Mum deserves better than that! This mini posy, made up of seasonal flowers, foliage and herbs, smells amazing and looks so sweet in the little fishbowl vase included.

Whether you opt for a botanical posy in natural shades or a more colourful selection of blooms, you’re guaranteed a cute, country cottage-vibe display that will instantly brighten up a desk, windowsill or bedside table. With stems standing at around 15cm tall, it’s certainly smaller than a traditional bouquet, but without the need for any flower food, these posies should keep looking beautiful for 10-20 days. We’re on day 14 and our flowers are still showing some serious staying power.

Get some more inspiration for Mother’s Day flowers with our round-up of the best

Buy now £19.90, Flowerbe.co.uk

The White Company sea salt candle

Best: Affordable candle

Rating: 9/10

Lighting a candle is a great self-care ritual, so if you want to add a touch of luxury to your mum’s downtime, this beauty from The White Company comes highly recommended. More often than not, scented candles can feel decidedly underwhelming unless you fork out for the premium brands; sitting somewhere in the middle price-wise, The White Company consistently impresses with their affordable offerings.

The pared-back, clear glass style will suit any interior tastes, while the invigorating sea salt scent gives an impressive throw, even when unlit. We found the candle to burn well and evenly, filling the living room quickly with a glorious scent that instantly lifted the spirits. While we can’t quite stretch to a Cornish coastal cottage for Mum on this budget, this candle is a decent substitute.

Buy now £20.00, Thewhitecompany.com

Circular & Co reusable coffee cup

Best: For on-the-go mums

Rating: 9/10

Made from recycled single-use paper cups, this reusable coffee cup ticks all of our boxes. Reliably leakproof, designed to last for 10 years and 100 per cent recyclable after that, it’s such a great gift and even clinched the best buy in our round-up of the best reusable coffee cups.

What we really love about this cup is its clever lid, which opens and closes with a simple click. You can even do it one-handed; fancy! Performance-wise, we found it kept our tea hot for just over an hour on a chilly walk, which is a lot longer than other cups we’ve used. It’s available in two sizes, and a choice of six colourways, so you can pick a combination to suit your mum’s tastes (and appetite for tea).

Buy now £13.95, Circularandco.com

Sea Change Malborough sauvignon blanc

Best: For wine lovers

Rating: 8.5/10

You can’t really go wrong with a decent bottle of wine on Mother’s Day, and this Marlborough sauvignon blanc not only delivers on taste but is also eco-friendly too.

Sea Change offer a plastic-free alternative to many traditional bottles of wine. For example, the plastic wrap around the cork has been done away with and the paper for the labels come from certified sustainable forests. As well as this, for every bottle sold, Sea Change donates to marine charities.

This vegan wine is a treat for New Zealand sauvignon blanc fans. Crisp, dry and packed full of flavour, it pairs especially well with seafood, although you could just suggest Mum cracks it open while you’re there, so you can raise a glass in her honour. In a totally, non-selfish way, of course…

Buy now £16.99, Seachangewine.com

Rare Birds Books lucky dip

Best: For bookworms

Rating: 8.5/10

Championing female authors, Rare Birds Books offer a lucky dip, where you select the genre and the editorial team will choose a book your mum will love. Every title is published within the last three years and we love the idea of filling bookcases with talented women’s writing. As well as the fun element of surprise, it’s a great option if your mum is an avid reader and it’s impossible to keep up with what she’s read already. If she gets sent something she’s read before, Rare Birds Books can exchange it, no problem.

Each book arrives beautifully wrapped and includes a postcard introducing you to the book inside, and the unwrapping process really does make the whole thing feel quite special. It’s a great letterbox-friendly gift, if you need to send a gift in the post.

Buy now £8.99, Rarebirdsbooks.com

Illamasqua colour veil blusher

Best: Luxury make-up gift

Score: 9/10

High-end make-up always feels like a treat, and we were amazed that this easy-to-wear blusher from luxury brand Illamasqua came in at just £20. The gel-cream hybrid blusher has a soft, jelly-like texture, which can be applied to the cheeks for a fresh, youthful flush of colour.

It’s recommended you use a brush to get the best results, but more often than not, we ended up gently tapping the blusher onto our cheeks with our fingers in a rush, and were impressed with the seamless finish, regardless. It’s a fool-proof blusher, so a great choice for mums who might be lacking confidence in their make-up skills. We also found the texture worked a treat on mature skin, giving an enviable “just had the best night’s sleep” glow, with zero caking. Plus, the packaging looks very fancy.

Buy now £20.00, Illamasqua.com

Critically Endangered socks

Best: For eco-minded mums

Score: 8.5/10

Never underestimate the joy a really good pair of socks can bring. This super-soft pair from Critically Endangered will up your mum’s sock game, as well as help protect some of the world’s most endangered animals. Available in a range of designs, from contrasting colourways to stripes and tie-dye, each pair of socks features a different endangered animal including the Sumatran elephant, snow leopard and hawksbill turtle.

The socks come in their own (recyclable) cardboard box and include a recycled fact sheet about the animal in question. Plus, with 10 per cent of the sale price going directly to WWF to help support critically endangered animals, as well as helping the World Land Trust protect 20 square metres of rainforest with every purchase, it’s a gift with a conscience, too. We can’t get enough of the comfort levels these 85 per cent GOTS organic cotton socks deliver.

Buy now £12.00, Criticallyendangered.co.uk

Bumble & Goose X Sketchy Muma biscuits

Best: Sweet treat

Score: 9/10

What better way to show your mum how much you care than in biscuit form? Here, bakers Bumble & Goose have teamed up with illustrator and author Sketchy Muma (otherwise known as Anna Lewis) to create a collection of sweet treats that are almost too pretty to eat; almost. Each iced biscuit features hand-drawn illustrations in white, pink and baby blue, and messages that do a good job tugging at the heartstrings. Most importantly of all, we can vouch that they taste amazing.

The pack of 10 decorated biscuits arrives beautifully gift-wrapped and are guaranteed to improve your mum’s next tea break immensely. This is one gift that won’t hang around long.

Buy now £20.00, Bumbleandgoose.co.uk

The verdict: Cheap Mother’s Day gifts for £20 or under

So much depends on your mum’s personal taste, but for a general crowd-pleaser, we love the Little Things by Lucy children’s drawing make-up bag. It’s such a great “keep forever” gift, that captures a moment in time with children or grandchildren, and the personalised element is always a winner. We can’t fault the quality and it certainly feels more premium than the price tag suggests.

Voucher codes

For the latest discounts on chocolate, flowers and other gifts, try the links below:

If you’re looking to splurge on some bling this Mother’s Day, these are our favourite necklaces for mum