Here are some ideas I've come up with and done in the past. I made this list because I'm trying to think of something new for this year!

• ✔ Soap Roses: I took glycerin soap, added rose-scented oil, and dyed 1 batch yellow, and 1 batch pink. Poured a teaspoon at a time onto waxpaper, making petals as it hardened, and carefully molded roses, 1 petal at a time around the ends of fake rose stems. I made this up and don't know a tutorial, but it's easy and people love them! Just watch out for when others start requesting them.
• ✔ Scrabble Pillows: I made some simple off-white pillows and took cloth paint and painted them to look like Scrabble tiles spelling out the word "MOM" (my mom loves that game)
• ✔ Felt Cupcake Pincushions: I made mine a chocolate cake (my mom's favorite) with milk chocolate "icing" and I made 3 different toppings: a pink heart in a cloud of whit frosting, a swirl of white cream, and a strawberry. They are interchangeable with velcro! Here is the tutorial I worked off of: http://www.ehow.com/how_4470534_cupcake-pincushion-out-felt.html
• ✔ Breakfast with Off-The-Wall Recipes: Usually my mom just like some eggs and bacon, but she loved it when I made her this special menu: mango and basil quesadillas, Earl Grey and Vanilla teacake, and Lavander Lemonade. You will want dried Lavander and an Earl Grey/Vanilla combination tea for this (I used Twinings) - the effect is amazing! And there is something about purple lemonade with a few thin slices of the fruit tossed in that is absolutely charming.
• ✔ Potting Bench: My mom loves to garden, so when I saw her huge Amish shed was full to the brim with bric-a-brac piled haphazardly, I decided my gift would be to clean out that shed, and build a corner of it as a potting bench. When everything was cleared, organized and clean, I set up an old dresser and 2 stools under the window for light, and organized all her potting and gardening supplies within arms' reach. She really liked that!

Preparation-Free Ideas:

• Treat mom (and the family if you can) to the movies
• Take mom on a picnic
• Help her with her garden/scrapbook/other hobby
• Take her out for a manicure or spa treatment
• Buy her a crown and button and balloons (everyone likes feeling special)
• Clean her house
• Force your dad ot take her out dancing
• If she wants to stay in, make it a movie or game night! Make popcorn, mix some drinks, and pop in one of her favorite movies (my mom loves the Road To movies with Bing, Bob, and Dorothy - so do I!), or if there are enough people willing, play a few board games.