Welcome to Gifting Intentions, a series exploring our expert tips for giving, mindfully. This week: creating layered, meaningful gifts with women in mind.

Thoughtful gifting takes time, reflection, and care. Gather ideas throughout the year and start brainstorming early. Our number one tip: make it genuine. That said, remember to relieve a bit of the time pressure that can creep up and allow space for your own ideas to unfold. Even a small, sentimental gesture provides a simple way to connect, ground, and nourish a relationship.

Read on to learn more of our expert strategies for creating gifts that celebrate the nuance, depth, and impact of motherhood.

• Develop a practice. Make a habit of notating gift ideas throughout the year, not just in the lead up to seasonal events. A simple running list on your phone can quickly build into a robust gift-giving resource. That beautiful vase she admired while shopping last October would make the perfect Mother’s Day gift this May… but only if you remember.

• Play historian. Women are the keepers of family narratives, generation after generation. Spend some time holding family interviews and documenting memories as gift for her- a simple voice recording app and a few focused questions is all you’ll need to get people sharing and to capture those memories for the next generation.

• Embrace nostalgia. Consider the formative life-story that your sister loves to tell. Was it about her days organizing art shows in college? Try to track down a poster from the archives. The first trip to Europe she took? Perhaps a photo book of the images that never left her phone. Memories of a rose garden as a child? Research an heirloom variety and plant it for her, along with a handwritten note that includes care instructions. 

• Indulge her. Likely, she’s expending her time, energy, and money on others before herself. A gift of natural beauty, a timeless piece of jewelry, a selection of new art books, or an elegant candle are simple gifts, sure to be loved.

• Give her an experience (and get her out of the house). A local cooking class, a month subscription to a new yoga studio, tickets to a series of shows, weekly guitar lessons…figure out the hobby she wishes she had, and make it happen for her.

• Consider the kids. For moms with children still in the house, the gift of quiet may be the best gift of all. Offer to take her children to the park for a couple of hours, handle school drop-off one morning, or give her the makings for an evening of at-home relaxation.

• Details matter. Wrap in solid colored paper or a fabric remnant, then add a linen ribbon, a dried bloom from the yard, and a tag hand-written by a learning child as the finishing touch.