70th Birthday Gift Ideas for Mom

By 70, your mom has the kitchen gadgets, the scarves and the scented candles. What she does not have enough of is proof that the life she built has been noticed. The best 70th birthday gifts for mom give her that: a memory, a day out, or a keepsake with your family's story in it. Our top pick is a song made from her own stories, because it says what most of us never quite manage to say at the dinner table.

Listen to a real Songbond song

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry her name and your stories.

12 70th birthday gift ideas for mom

1. A song about her life ($39.90). You share her nickname, the house she raised you in and the thing she always says before she hangs up the phone, and Songbond turns it into an original song. It is ready within 24 hours, and she can play it for her friends at lunch the next day.
2. A jar of 70 memories. Hand out slips of paper at a family dinner, or mail them to cousins and old friends, and ask for one memory each. Fill a glass jar with them. It costs a few dollars, and she will read them one at a time for months.
3. A day back in her hometown. Drive her to the street she grew up on, her old school, the church and the diner that is somehow still open. Bring a camera and let her tell the stories as you go.
4. A charm bracelet with one charm per decade. Seven charms, one for each chapter: the town she was born in, her wedding, each child. Usually $80 to $250, depending on the metal.
5. A weekend with her sisters or oldest friends. You book the cottage and handle the driving. She only has to show up with her stories.
6. An illustrated portrait of the family home. An artist draws the house where she raised you from an old photo. Usually $50 to $150 framed.
7. A rose bush or fruit tree for her garden. Plant it together on her birthday so it blooms every year after. Usually $30 to $80.
8. A pottery or painting class for two. Take the class with her. The bowl will be lopsided, and she will use it anyway. Usually $40 to $90 per person.
9. Tickets to the musical she keeps mentioning. Add an early dinner before the show. Usually $80 to $200 a seat.
10. A cashmere wrap. Soft, warm and easy to wear to church, the theater or out on the porch. Usually $80 to $200.
11. A monthly flower delivery. A small bunch at her door every month of her 71st year. Usually $40 to $70 a month.
12. A proper spa day. A massage, a facial and lunch, booked and paid for, with you along as company if she wants it. Usually $100 to $200.

How to pick the right gift for her 70th

Think about how she spends a good Saturday. A mom who is always out and about needs an outing, not another object. A mom who loves her home wants something that lives there. If she is the one who keeps the whole family together, give her something the whole family made.

• If she is sentimental: the memory jar, the house portrait or the song.
• If she is always busy: the weekend away, the musical or the class.
• If she loves her home and garden: the rose bush, the flowers or the wrap.

What to write in her 70th birthday card

Skip the lines about age. She has heard every joke about turning 70. Instead, write down one moment you remember that she probably thinks you forgot: the lunch she packed for your first day of work, the night she drove two hours to pick you up. Then tell her one thing she taught you that you still do, like folding towels her way or calling when you get home safe. Two or three specific sentences will mean more than a page of general thanks, and she will keep the card in her top drawer.

Make her 70th birthday song

Create a 70th birthday song for your mom. Tell us about her, and the song is ready within 24 hours. If the party is tomorrow, express delivery gets it to you in about an hour.

Also in the Journal: 70th birthday songs for the party and birthday songs for mom.