Five alternative Mother’s Day gifts in Liverpool

When we told Lucie Davies that we'd be hitting up Interflora in time for Mothering Sunday she frowned. And then hit us. And then gave us five much better Mother's Day gift options.

Next Sunday marks the calendar date when all mothers are given the official day of rest they deserve. A friend (not wholly unconnected to SevenStreets) admitted he’ll be hurriedly filling out an Interflora order a few days prior to Mother’s Day.

But should a chronic daffodil shortage befall the UK, or if you are just looking for something a bit more imaginative or thoughtful to to give the woman who changed your nappies and endured your grunge phase, why not try one of these alternative Mother’s Day options?

An outing with The Lady in the Van

National treasure and satirist Alan Bennett is surely to mothers what a custard cream is to milky cuppa. Putting aside its slightly suggestive subject matter – a batty old lady – his partly autobiographical play, restaged at the Playhouse in May, should be a real cream cracker.

Playhouse Theatre
Williamson Square
10-14 May
Tickets from £10 to £21.50

Something fishy

It might feel slightly creepy to be stared at by passers-by whilst you experiment with one of these new fish pedicures. But can you think of a better way to bond with mum than over the sensation of several slimy little critters nibbling away at your dried up winter feet? We didn’t think so.


Sakinsu
Bold Street
Fish pedicures - £10 for 15 minutes or £18 for 30 minutes

All made-up

Forget the childhood anguish of discovering your lovingly crafted Christmas gifts stashed away in your parents garage years later. Leaf is offering you a chance to rediscover your creative side… together.

New monthly event Craft Creative is putting on special Mother’s Day sessions in which a trained aromatherapist will show you both how to make your own organic goodies such as body scrubs and bath bombs.

If it all goes a bit wrong (and messy), you can always abandon the rose petals and treat her to a spot of high tea upstairs, in the amazing Venetian-esque surrounds of Leaf’s first floor.

Leaf
Bold Street
Saturday 2 April, 10am–12pm
£10 per person or £15 for you and your mum
Email: [email protected] (limited availability, booking recommended)

Best shot

Every discerning Merseyside mum will remember Lewis’s legendary fifth floor. The embodiment of fashion and style from the early fifties until its closure in the eighties, this uniquely preserved space got its own photography exhibition in 2010 shortly before the store’s closure.

Liverpool snapper Stephen King captured the original period fixtures and fittings in all their mid twentieth century glory, as well as the people who worked there. Prints are now for sale, via the London gallery the exhibition is currently touring to.

Orange Dot Gallery

A taste of Spain

Trivia alert: Mother’s Day is celebrated on several different dates across the world, including 2 May in Spain.

If your mum lives beyond the M57, why not send her a little bit of Liverpool by way of Catalonia? From chocolate to chutney and capers to cornichons, you choose from a range of Mediterranean delights to fill one of Lunya’s traditional willow hampers – they do the rest.

Lunya
8–20 College Lane
Liverpool One

Main image by Hardluck Hotel, Flickr via Creative Commons
Sakinsu image courtesy of Dave Evans