Out of the whole family, mum can often be the most difficult to buy gifts for, particularly if you’re male. Jewellery can be expensive and risky, seeing as it’s hard to know what she will actually like, and chocolates and flowers are predictable and unlikely to really make her smile. So to help out, here are a couple of Christmas gift ideas for your mum

First off, ensure you avoid anything she’s said she needs for round the house. You don’t want to get here something she needs, you should be looking for something she wants. So make sure you avoid getting her a new iron or anything like that.

Instead of that, go for something that demonstrates how much thought and effort you’ve put in. Something personalised will usually do the trick; try getting a family photo blown up and framed or placed onto a canvas, or even better a photo from her childhood.

You can also get chocolates, just don’t be predictable about it. Rather than just grabbing a box of Roses or Milk Tray, take the time to visit a specialist chocholate shop and put together your own selection. Then take the box to get wrapped professionally, add a bow and a nice card. That shows a lot more effort and will make her much happier. You could also select single chocolates, box and wrap them and put them in as individual stocking fillers.

The same thing applies to toiletries, and you can go to the same amount of effort. Go down to a specialist store such as Lush and put together your own box of hand-made soaps, bath salts, whatever you think she’d like. Shops like this are normally particularly good at making presentation boxes and wrapping them professionally.

Hopefully that gives you a few ideas for gifts for her this Xmas. Don’t be predictable this year, try and get her something she’ll genuinely love.