CBS News
The best Mother’s Day gift ideas under $50 are budget-friendly surprises Mom will love
Mother’s Day is a couple of weeks away, and that means it’s time to start shopping for the perfect gift for Mom. Does she love gadgets? Is she a big Stanley cup fan? It can be tough to figure out the best thing to give the woman who gave you life. If you think this year you might need some help choosing the right gift for Mom, we’re here to help. Especially if you’re on a tight budget this year.
Sure, you can always get Mom flowers. But we found plenty of other thoughtful gifts under $50 that’ll make her feel appreciated without stressing your budget. We did the hard work for you by scouring the internet for some of the most fun and thoughtful gifts for moms of all types, from those who love to garden to mothers who spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
The best Mother’s Day gifts under $50
If you’re still struggling to find the perfect gift for Mom, check out our picks for the best Mother’s Day gifts under $50 that ship and deliver quickly. (Have a little more to spend? Check out the best Mother’s Day gifts under $100.)
For moms who need to relax: HubiCare eye massager
Mom spends so much time working. Sometimes she might want to close her eyes and take a break. This eye massager with heat, vibration and a Bluetooth speaker can do wonders for someone who’s stressing daily.
This battery-powered eye massager is meant to be worn in 15-minute intervals. It has five different massage modes plus soothing heat to help combat puffiness, eye strain, and dry eyes. Mom can connect a device via Bluetooth and listen to her favorite songs while enjoying the heat and massage pressure.
Regularly $60, you can get it now at Amazon for $43 after applying the on-site coupon.
For moms who love snacking: Cookies and chips ultimate snack care package
If your mom is the type of person who’s always snacking, give her something good to snack on this Mother’s Day. This 50-count snack bundle comes with a little bit of everything: sweet, savory and everything in between. It comes with plenty of chips, crackers, cookies and candies so Mom always has something to grab when she wants to indulge.
Send this care package filled with hot fries, Cheez-Its, gummies, pretzels, Rice Krispies Treats and more to make Mom’s special day a delicious one. Find this 4.4-star-rated Mother’s Day gift idea on Amazon for $40.
For moms who need their morning coffee: Zugg coffee mug warmer
Coffee is best piping hot, but unfortunately, it won’t stay that way all day. Help your mother enjoy a delicious cup of steaming coffee all day long, even when she gets busy, with this coffee mug warmer.
This self-warming mug set holds 12 ounces and can warm any beverage with its USB-powered base. Place the included mug on the warming pad and it’ll keep a constant temperature of 131 degrees. The mug is double-wall insulated as well, so it’ll better hold its temperature when Mom takes it off its base.
For moms who just want a good hair day: Revlon one-step volumizing hair brush
Make sure Mom never has to worry about a bad hair day again with this one-step volumizing brush by Revlon. All she has to do is wash her hair and then run this brush through her damp locks to dry and style it at the same time.
It’s already built like a regular brush, which makes it even easier to use. Its 2.8-inch size means it can tackle long or short hair and locks of any texture, though it’s great for anyone with long hair that needs taming. It has three heat settings, and it can help Mom tame her mane in a way that won’t damage it, with up to 50% less heat exposure. The result? Mom loves her hair and she doesn’t have to drive to get the same results.
This 4.6-star-rated brush is perfect for achieving a salon-quality blowout without spending all the extra time and money. Regularly $40, find it on Amazon for $37.
For moms with tired feet: Cushionaire feather cloud recovery slides
If your mother is constantly hustling and bustling, her feet could likely use some relief. That’s why we like these cushy cloud slides. Have her swap out her current footwear when appropriate for these cushy cloud slides. They’re made to feel like you’re walking on air with their soft, molded footbed that your feet sink in with every step.
These slides are easy to slip on and come in a wider variety of colors. Their 1.74-inch platform heel will also take some of the pressure off of Mom’s feet so she can glide around the house or run errands in bliss. They’re also non-slip, so no accidents while getting the mail or making breakfast. Just sweet, sweet comfort awaits.
Find them for $25 at Amazon.
For sentimental moms: Americanflat bronze family tree picture frame
Moms love to keep photos of their family close by. This bronze family tree picture frame is a creative way to display photos of the whole crew without spending an arm and a leg on multiple traditional picture frames. The family tree has room for six small 2×3 photos that hang like leaves with their included ribbons.
(Need some pictures printed for the frame? Your local Walmart can print photos from your phone in just one hour.)
“If you want a gift to make Mom cry, this is it,” says one Amazon reviewer. “Everything seems to be well made and assembled. The pictures are what I would call wallet size but I printed 5x7s and cut them to fit. It’s easily assembled and the photos are simple to switch out and replace.”
Find this 4.5-star-rated Mother’s Day gift idea on Amazon for $30.
For moms who are serious about skincare: Peach & Lily glass skin discovery kit
Glass skin is a Korean skincare trend that results in a shiny, glassy complexion with few or no blemishes. If Mom absolutely loves trying new beauty products, this Peach & Lily kit is a great way to give her a firm foundation.
It comes with everything Mom needs to eventually achieve glass skin, including the Power calm hydrating gel cleanser (1.0 oz), Wild dew treatment essence (1.0 oz), Glass skin refining serum (0.5 oz) and Matcha pudding antioxidant cream (0.67 oz). She’ll love sampling all the products, and she can always purchase the full-sized versions if they work for her.
Find this 4.5-star rated beauty set for $39 on Amazon.
For moms who love lounging: Aamikast long-sleeve button-down pajama set
It’s hard to beat a great pair of pajamas — after all, everyone needs something to sleep and lounge around the house in. Let Mom retire her old worn-out pajama shorts and give her something luxurious to wear with this two-piece set.
This two-piece long-sleeved top and pajama pants set is made of stretchy, cozy materials (95% Modal, 5% Spandex) so Mom can get up and move in them. They come in plenty of colors, too, so you can choose her favorite.
Find this set at Amazon for $45. Sizes range from small to 2XL.
For moms with a green thumb: Colwelt 8-Piece garden tool set
So many moms love working in the garden and growing luscious veggies and herbs or bringing up gorgeous flowers. If yours is one of them, you can’t go wrong with this 8-piece gardening tool set. It comes with everything a mom with a green thumb needs to tend to her garden.
This 4.8-star-rated set comes with a kneeling pad, garden gloves, pruning shears, a trowel, a tulip trowel, a hand fork and a cultivator. It comes with a fun storage tote bag to keep it all in, too, so everything matches.
Find this Mother’s Day gift idea on Amazon for $44.
CBS News
Head of Russia’s nuclear defense forces killed in Moscow blast triggered by device hidden in scooter, officials say
Moscow — The head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Forces, Lt. General Igor Kirillov, was killed along with his deputy early Tuesday in an explosion in Moscow, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.
An explosive device hidden in an electronic scooter went off outside a residential building as the two men left the structure, Agence France-Presse cites investigators as saying.
“Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene,” committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement. “Investigative and search activities are being carried out to establish all the circumstances around this crime.”
The committee carries out responsible major investigations in Russia.
Kirillov was sentenced in absentia by a Ukrainian court on Dec. 16 for the use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine during Russia’s military operation in Ukraine that started in Feb. 2022.
Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, said it had recorded more than 4,800 uses of chemical weapons on the battlefield since February 2022, particularly K-1 combat grenades.
During the almost 3-year operation, Russia has made small but steady territorial gains to the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine it already controls.
Kirillov had been in his post since 2017, AFP notes.
CBS News
Earthquake rocks Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, deaths feared, U.S. embassy damaged
A powerful earthquake hit the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu Tuesday, smashing buildings in the capital, Port Vila, including one housing the embassies of the U.S. and other nations. A witness told Agence France-Presse of bodies seen in the city.
Dan McGarry, a journalist with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project based in Vanuatu, told the Reuters news agency in an interview that police said at least one person had been killed and injured people had been taken to hospital.
“It was the most violent earthquake I’ve experienced in my 21 years living in Vanuatu and in the Pacific Islands. I’ve seen a lot of large earthquakes, never one like this,” he said.
The 7.3-magnitude quake struck at a depth of 35 miles, off the coast of Efate, Vanuatu’s main island, at 12:47 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The ground floor of a building housing the U.S, French and other embassies had been crushed under higher floors, resident Michael Thompson told AFP by satellite phone after posting images of the destruction on social media.
“That no longer exists. It is just completely flat. The top three floors are still holding but they have dropped,” Thompson said.
“If there was anyone in there at the time, then they’re gone.”
Thompson said the ground floor housed the U.S. embassy, but that couldn’t be immediately confirmed.
A photo showed significant damage to the building:
The United States has closed the embassy until further notice, citing “considerable damage” to the mission, the U.S. embassy in Papua New Guinea said in a message on social media. “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this earthquake,” the embassy said.
The New Zealand High Commission, housed in the same building, suffered “significant damage,” a statement from Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ office said, adding that, “New Zealand is deeply concerned about the significant earthquake in Vanuatu, and the damage it has caused.”
Thompson, who runs a zipline adventure business in Vanuatu, said, “There’s people in the buildings in town. There were bodies there when we walked past.”
A landslide on one road had covered a bus, he said, “so there’s obviously some deaths there.”
The quake also collapsed at least two bridges, and most mobile networks were cut off, Thompson said.
“They’re just cracking on with a rescue operation. The support we need from overseas is medical evacuation and skilled rescue, (the) kind(s) of people that can operate in earthquakes,” he said.
Video footage posted by Thompson and verified by AFP showed uniformed rescuers and emergency vehicles working on a building where an external roof had collapsed onto a number of parked cars and trucks.
The streets of the city were strewn with broken glass and other debris from damaged buildings, the footage showed.
Nibhay Nand, a Sydney-based pharmacist with businesses across the South Pacific, said he had spoken to staff in Port Vila who said most of the store there had been “destroyed” and that other buildings nearby had “collapsed.”
“We are waiting for everyone to get online to know how devastating and traumatic this will be,” Nand told AFP.
A tsunami warning was issued after the quake, with waves of up to three feet forecast for some areas of Vanuatu, but it was soon lifted by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Earthquakes are common in Vanuatu, a low-lying archipelago of 320,000 people that straddles the seismic Ring of Fire, an arc of intense tectonic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific Basin.
Vanuatu is ranked as one of the countries most susceptible to natural disasters such as earthquakes, storm damage, flooding and tsunamis, according to the annual World Risk Report.
CBS News
12/16: CBS Evening News – CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.