Best apps for making Mother’s Day awesome!
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Get ready for Mother's Day with a little bit of help from your iPhone or iPad!
Updated May 2017: These are still great apps for making Mother's Day perfect for mom this year.
Mother's Day is just around the corner, and if you're still brainstorming what to do for your mom to show just how much she means to you, we have a list of apps that will facilitate the best day of recognition she's ever had.
Incidentally, we should be showing our moms how much we love them more than just once per year — so make sure you tell yours you love/miss her the next time you two talk.
Paperless Post
Whether she lives 1000 miles away or in the same house, the first thing to do is get a nice card. If you've planned ahead, you can use Paperless Post to create a physical paper card to have mailed to the matriarch in your life. If you've waited until the last minute, however, you can still send a beautiful digital version online right before you see her smiling face.
There are thousands of cards to choose from; dozens are completely free. Each one is customizable with various fonts and colors, custom backgrounds, and designer envelopes so you can make it as personal as you want.
Paperless Post specializes in illustrated greeting cards invitations from famous designers as Kate Spade, J. Crew, Oscar de la Renta, and more. Paper cards are printed on flat or foil-stamped card stock and you can add an attractive liner to each envelope you send, digitally or physically.
Mom may not require much for Mother's Day, but she might be secretly hurt if you didn't at least take the time to send her a card.
- Free - Download now
Foldify
Foldify is a fun papercraft app with dozens of fully customizable templates, letting you create your own mini paper family for mom. You can select a shape from various 3D templates — including hexagons, squares, and triangles — and more intricate designs like cars, people, and houses.
Templates are fully customizable. You can either paint and draw an illustrated mom, or import pictures from your photo library and add silly stickers. You can then print out your creation and fold it according to the simple instructions. With dozens of templates to choose from, you can create a papercraft diorama of the entire family, including the car, the house, and your little monster... I mean, little brother.
Once assembled, these little boxy figures will make the best present mom could ever wish for.
- iPad - $3.99 Download now
- iPhone - $2.99 Download now
Kitchen Stories
How many times has your mom prepared your breakfast, made you a sack lunch for school, or cooked you a balanced dinner? Chances are, more than you can count. This Mother's Day, return the favor by making her breakfast in bed, or cooking her favorite dish for dinner. Don't know how to cook? Don't worry. Kitchen Stories is loaded with lots of helpful how-to videos for basic cooking techniques, like how to cook bacon or how to cut a tomato. You can also find more advanced videos on such topics as homemade vanilla extract and how to truss a chicken.
When you find a recipe, you can read reviews from others that have made it, check the prep and cook time, watch how-to videos, and send the ingredients to your shopping cart.
- Free - Download now
OpenTable
How many times has your mom made sure you were well-fed and ready to take on the world? Chances are, she stuffed you full of Hamburger Helper so often, you can't remember ever being hungry. You can repay her tenfold by taking her out to a fancy dinner at the best restaurant in town, and OpenTable can help make that possible.
You'll be able to browse local restaurants based on popularity, what's available now, food options, places that are known for certain things (like brunches, big groups, or neighborhood gems).
When you pick a restaurant, you can check out pictures, read reviews, and view the menu. If it looks like the place you want to take mom to, you can filter availability based on how many people will be in your party and what time you want to eat.
Mom will appreciate that she doesn't have to cook or clean up after her well-meaning family.
- Free - Download now
Heads Up!
When mom says the only thing she wants for Mother's Day is to spend time with her kids, she means quality time. No playing video games or watching sports (unless she asks for it).
One fun way to have fun with family is playing the game Heads Up: It's a version of charades where one player shows off a word to the group that they can't see. The others then try to give hints that describe the word to help the player guess it. Once the player gets it correct, they nod their device and a new word appears.
Heads Up is a great game for families to play, no matter what the occasion — I've seen it played in lines at the grocery store, at the park, and even waiting at the DMV. It's fun for everyone and keeps the family interacting together.
- $0.99 - Download now
iCloud Photo Sharing
If mom lives too far away for you to get together in person, you can always create a photo montage of things you've done to keep in touch. If your mom has an iPhone or iPad, you can share a photo album with her: Just make sure the both of you have iCloud Photo Sharing turned on in your Photos app. Then, create an album filled with pictures of you having fun with friends or a video of her grandchild's first steps. She can comment and like pictures you post, and share her own photo adventures with you, too.
iCloud Photo Sharing is great for more than just Mother's Day. You can share pictures with each other all year long and have a more personal connection than just looking at Facebook photos.
- Free; it's part of the Photos app. Check out our ultimate guide to find out how to use it.
Anything else?
What apps do you plan on using this year to help you make Mother's Day extra special? Let us know in the comments.