Even though I’m personally nowhere near kids in my own life, a lot of my good friends have started families in the last year or two. Which is so exciting because I love kids and someday want a lot of them of my own! So as Mother’s Day rolls around, it’s not only a day to celebrate my own mama, but those new mamas around me as well. My friends usually have plans with their families on the actual holiday, and me with mine, but I still like to treat my girlfriends to something special. After all, I’ve seen just how busy and selfless they’ve been raising their babies, so they obviously deserve a little pampering!

This year, I thought of a really cute idea (if I do say so myself!). I know some new mamas can’t leave the babies just yet, so to let them pamper at home and on their own schedule, I created little ‘pamper boxes.’ And let’s be real, I’m pretty sure any girl loves getting a box full of pampering items right?! So while I used this idea for Mother’s Day for my friends, it could actually be applied to other celebrations. Here’s how I did it (and these are directions for making a few at a time since that is what I was doing):

Find the box

Whether you use cute boxes with a print or are just wrapping up a cardboard box, find a box that’s about the size of a shoe box. You could even use an older shoe box (in good shape) and wrap it with pretty wrapping paper. Then, get either confetti, burlap, or something similar to line the box and the items you’ll place in. This keeps everything safe (especially if you’re shipping), and it gives that “filled” look even if you don’t have items brimming to the top.

Get personal

Since I was doing this for a few friends at once, I wanted to keep things easy but make the experience personal for each mama I was giving a box to. I wrote down each friend and then things they liked when it came to pampering. For example, I have one friend from church who is always talking about fragrances, so I knew I wanted to get her one. Another friend is a makeup girl, so I thought that’d be fun. Maybe someone is all about skincare, so face masks or a serum would be cute. And so on! Make a list of all items you’ll need (and you can probably get a few items for each – like a candle or something everyone likes).

Start shopping

Y’all know I’m kinda all over the place, so I don’t trust myself to “go shopping” for a project like this because it will literally take me 72 hours. Which is why eBay is my BFF for a lot of reasons, but one of them being shopping when I need to buy quite a few things. I love how everything is in one place and y’all can literally get EVERYTHING from that site. Did you know there are actually approximately 1.1 billion listings at any given time (like WOAH right?). Definitely, everything needed for personalized pampering boxes and more. Plus, they have great price points, which makes creating bulk presents less painful once you add up all the items. For my makeup-loving friend, I picked a couple cosmetic products like this eyeshadow palette and this lipgloss. For my friend obsessed with perfume, I grabbed her this perfume. YEP, all from eBay! So if you didn’t know they sell beauty and fragrance products like this, now you know – so easy right? I’ll include other things I bought at the end of this post, too!

Leave a note

The final touch is writing a personal note. I don’t know about y’all, but I LOVE me a personal card or note, and I think it’s a sweet touch here. Since it’s Mother’s Day, maybe a nice little note about why they’re a good mother or what you’ve learned from them. Maybe even an offer to babysit while she gets her nails done or for a date night to make this whole pampering box even more special? Pretty sure she’d love you forever!

And that’s about it! This seriously only took me a couple hours from start to finish, and I have to say, I think it’s a pretty cool gift. I might have to keep this going for birthdays and bridal parties in the future – wouldn’t that be cute?

But if you have a mom to celebrate this year, this could be a really sweet idea so I hope y’all liked this post!