There are a few good reasons to consider buying a vintage or antique gift for mom this year. For one, it's a change of pace from the tried-and-true standards you may have relied on in the past. For another, buying used, recycled or upcycled items is, by its nature, eco-friendly and helps lower your carbon footprint. Indeed, antique dealers and owners of secondhand shops have long embraced the culture of sustainability.

I’ve always been drawn to antiques for their historical value — in other words, the stories they tell. I collect them as a way of satisfying my curiosity and of honoring the past, as well as avoiding being part of throw-away culture. And, yes, my mother will be getting a vintage gift for Mother’s Day. If you follow my lead, I guarantee your mother will be surprised and delighted by your thoughtfulness and originality.

Antique stores and malls are the most obvious places to shop for antiques, but they are not the only ones. Check out thrift stores, secondhand shops, flea markets, estate sales, auctions, yard sales, and church jumble or white elephant sales.

Antique malls are a great way to visit multiple vendors in one spot, and there are several nearby and even more within about an hour's drive. In downtown Butler, at 140 S. Main St., is Mystique Moon Antiques & Artisans, which houses 50 independent vendors under one roof, according to co-owner Patty Schorr.

Schorr and her husband, Kevin, opened the venue several years ago but expanded when the building next door — the site of the former Fudoli Music and Repair Center — became available “when Mr. Fudoli retired,” Schorr said. The vendors there are a mix of sellers of vintage clothing and accessories, furniture and collectibles; artists; upcyclers; and makers of handmade goods.

Wagon Wheel Antiques on Route 8 in Valencia consists of four buildings over 6,800 square feet that are home to more than 20 antique dealers. It is known to be frequented by set designers from area film and television productions who are looking for authentic period pieces — furniture, décor, appliances and clothing.

Lastly, it’s worth a drive to Volant to the Schoolhouse Shops at Leesburg, which houses 28 antique dealers in an old elementary school building that still has many of its original features and classrooms.

It’s always good citizenship to support local businesses, but by no means should you overlook shopping online. As a starting point, I recommend Etsy. The online marketplace sells handmade and vintage items and it's also where you'll find many cleverly upcycled and repurposed products. The site is estimated to have some 50 million product listings.

That number still dwarfs eBay's listings. The online auction giant is a treasure trove for finding all types of antiques — available through a bidding process or by using its Buy It Now feature, which with certain listings allows you to bypass bidding and purchase instantly.

Another site worth mentioning is Ruby Lane, which is smaller than both eBay and Etsy. But because it is a niche platform that focuses exclusively on antiques and vintage collectibles, there you’ll be well placed to zero in on the exact items you seek.

While a one-of kind decorative antique is always a lovely idea, I sometimes prefer to give gifts with some degree of functionality as well. So think about your mother's hobbies and the things she likes to do.

If your mother loves gardening, consider buying a few vintage planters, pots, vases — any type of garden pottery. Avoid buying a set or matching pieces. Instead, look for items that complement each other — either by style, such as Art Deco or Mid-Century Modern, or by color. For example, look for three or four pieces that differ from each other in height and shape but are all in shades of blue and green, perhaps, or earth tones — whatever would suit mom best. The coordinating colors unify the collection while the disparate silhouettes keep it visually interesting.

Vintage pottery can be found all over and in ample supply, so you'll have no problem finding what you are looking for, whether shopping in person or online. Prices vary widely — from $2 at a yard sale and up, with many pieces falling in the $10 to $40 range — so it’s easy to fit this idea into any budget. Look for names such as Royal Haeger, Hall, Upco, Hull and Shawnee. Most of all, when in doubt, buy what speaks to you.

A vintage plant mister makes an attractive and useful gift for the gardener. These were often made of cut crystal or colored glass — pale green and cobalt blue are common hues — with chrome or brass sprayers. Some misters were made of solid brass, or with opaque white milk glass instead of transparent. Pick something that matches your mother’s style or her outdoor garden motif. Make sure the spraying mechanism is still in working order. (price: $15 to 45).

Vintage picnic baskets — especially ones with a wooden lid and carrying handles — make great carryalls for mom’s gardening tools. They are easy to tote to different areas of the yard and garden and afterwards serve as storage – with style!

Cast iron figures of any kind will weather well in an outdoor garden, rain and wind only improving the patina over time. Keep an eye out for old statuary, fountains, tiles from long-lost buildings, and even a garden gnome if mom would approve. Macrame plant hangers were popular in the 1970s and could work well on an enclosed porch or greenhouse.

I recently ran across a nifty upcycled product by Lindsay Brown. She repurposes antique flatware pieces by turning them into unique garden markers/identifiers. The mix of ornate patterns brings a quirky elegance to gardens and brightens pots full of soil and herbs. (Sold at her Etsy shop TheWoodsyWay; price: five for $21.75).

Maybe mom loves flowers more than the act of gardening or lives somewhere without space for planting. Buy her a gorgeous floral-patterned scarf or large handkerchief in silk, cotton or cashmere. They can be worn in a multitude of ways, but people also like to frame them and display them as art. If you can afford to, buy a designer scarf, but if you go that route you'll want to make sure you aren't buying a fake. Go to a reputable dealer or a website that authenticates designer pieces. You'll pay $200 to $1,200 for a scarf by Hermes, and it will be exquisite.

But you can find perfectly lovely scarves for less by designers such as Liberty of London, Jacqmar, Echo, Nina Ricci and — my favorite — Vera Neumann (signed simply as "Vera" on the scarves themselves). Vera scarves are easy to find, collectible and always distinctive and beautiful. (price: $15 to $50)

Through the years — during the 1890s up to about the 1960s — women’s hankies were a popular gift and frequently came in ornate boxes for gift-giving. Thus, today floral patterned and embroidered hankies from yesteryear often can be found in “NOS” condition.

NOS stands for new old stock, meaning the item is vintage but still in its original packaging and most likely in mint condition. It may have been manufactured in the 1940s, say, but has been tucked away in a drawer and never used. Or someone is selling a stash of old stock from a long-ago shuttered department store (hence the term).

I’ve run across a type of NOS item on Etsy several times, and I always pause to admire its attractiveness and reflect on one of the lost arts of the printing industry. For about a dollar each, you can buy unused flower seed labels that were made in France in the 1930s. These labels originally would have been gummed and then applied to seed packets in order to show what type of flowers the seeds would produce. The way the labels were made at that time is very different from today, and that’s why they are special. Each label is an original small lithograph. The colors created with vintage inks are gorgeous, and an arrangement of these labels would look amazing as framed artwork.

If you would rather give a more traditional gift, you can still put a vintage spin on it. Instead of having flowers delivered in whatever the florist has on hand, go in person and ask the florist to wrap up the flowers for you. Then arrange them in an antique tea kettle — I’m thinking of Victorian era metal ones, which are tall, but the possibilities are as endless as there are old teapots. If your mother would prefer the simpler Art Deco-inspired lines and deep, saturated colors of Fiestaware, it’s easy to find one of the many pitchers, carafes and vases the company has been creating since 1871.

Another vintage collectible that pairs well with a bouquet of gorgeous spring flowers is the lady head vase. These vases were popular in the 1950s. The expressions on the women’s faces and their hair and clothing styles evoke the glamour of a begone era. While these vases once were highly collectible and pricey, they have come down in value recently and are very affordable.

Price is mostly determined by condition, and the vases are ceramic. Because they are many decades old, to retain their value they will have had to have been cared for and safely stored. Over time, cracks may have formed, or the delicate parts — such as fingers or eyelashes — chipped off. Sometimes the “ladies” lost their original necklaces and earrings. Just be sure to look very carefully at your vase before you purchase it, and if you purchase it online, ask a lot of questions and request photographs of all sides. (price: $25 to $80).

If your mother is a wine connoisseur, along with a bottle or two of her favorite red, include a vintage bottle stopper as well. Particular favorites of mine are wooden, hand-carved mechanical stoppers made by Anri of Italy.

Anri made these charming stoppers from 1912 until the mid-1960s, and since they are handmade, no two are exactly alike. The most popular stoppers have moving parts. When you pull a string on the one collectors have deemed “the hat tipper,” his arm swings forward, thereby “tipping” his hat. By pressing a lever on the back of “the kissing couple,” their heads turn toward each other and touch, or “kiss.” These stoppers add a touch of whimsy and cost $25 to $50.

Does your mother have a favorite book? Depending on what it is, you might be able to find a vintage edition with a cover and artwork she’s never seen but will love. Or present her with a first edition or signed copy. Abebooks.com — a seller of rare books and special editions — is a good place to look. I’ve managed to find my mother a few copies of “Alice in Wonderland” over the years that have pride of place on her Arts and Crafts era desk.

I leave you with one last Mother’s Day gift idea — irresistibly charming jewelry made by artist Sheri Wollf, which she creates from broken pieces of antique china.

Wolff explained that while helping her father set up an antique store eight years ago, she found herself saddened by the large amounts of "beautiful china" they kept running across, pattern after pattern. "No one seemed to want it," she said. “China (settings) used to be passed down from generation to generation — not anymore."

Wollf said she wanted to find a way to turn them back into coveted objects again. "I developed my own technique for creating broken china jewelry."

Now, instead of collecting dust in the attic, "these items have been transformed into jewelry," said Wollf, who sells them in her Etsy store, TransformedJewelry. (price: $27.72 to $61.15)

She has created jewelry on commission with pieces of broken china given to her from someone’s personal collection. Then the necklaces, earrings and bracelets she made were given to members of that family.

“You can honor women from the past by wearing it near your heart," Wolf said.

Tamara Moore has worked as an antiques and collectibles consultant for the past 18 years.