How to use Mother’s Day quotes in photo books, cards, and gifts

Four ways to add quotes to Mother’s Day cards, photo books, and more.

Check out these inspiring photo projects using Mother’s Day quotes.

Whether they’re inspiring, loving, funny, or short and sweet, Mother’s Day quotes are a great way to tell Mom how much she means to you. It can be hard to express the deep feelings of love and gratitude for the mother figures in your life. So, look to the writings and sayings of quotable voices to say “Happy Mother’s Day” in a unique way.

Once you’ve found a great Mother’s Day quote, what do you do with it? How do you turn those words into a meaningful message to Mom?

Make it something she can hold onto. Start with a design made for Mother’s Day moments:

To inspire your custom cards and gift ideas this holiday, here are four photo project ideas that use Mother’s Day quotes. With the intuitive tools in Mixbook Studio™, customizing Mother’s Day photo books and cards with quotes is super easy. We have step-by-step instructions for all the projects below, along with tips for creative personalizations.

Plus, Mom is sure to love any photo book or card customized with a favorite Mother’s Day quote. In Mixbook’s 2024 Mother’s Day survey, 34% of mothers said they preferred handmade or personalized gifts more than anything else.

How to use Mother’s Day quotes as photo book captions

One of the best—and easiest—ways to use Mother’s Day quotes in a photo book is to turn them into captions. Find a quote that fits with a favorite photo you’re showcasing in a book, and simply add the text underneath using Mixbook Studio™’s text tools.

In our project example, we use the Bright Florals by Cathy Nordstrom theme. The opening page already has placeholder caption text along with floral accents and a large photo frame. The design is perfect for this sweet Mother’s Day quote:

“If I had a single flower for every time I think of you, I could walk forever in my garden.”—Claudia Adrienne Grandi

Here are the steps for using the quote as a caption:

1. Launch the project and drop a photo into the frame.
2. Double-click on the text box underneath the photo. (If the page you’re designing doesn’t include a placeholder caption, select “Add Text” in the Text panel, then click on the page to create a new text box.)
3. Paste or type the quote into the text box.
4. Edit the quote using the tools in the Text panel e.g. size, font, alignment, and color.

Tip: By default, typed or pasted text will use the primary font featured in the theme’s design assets. Other theme fonts appear at the top of the drop-down menu. You can switch to any font you like, but using the theme fonts keeps the design cohesive throughout the photo book.

How to create a unique graphic with a quote

By layering a text box over a sticker, you can create a unique graphic design that showcases a Mother’s Day quote. Most of our Mother’s Day photo book themes include a set of stickers, and you also have access to Mixbook’s entire library of stickers in the Stickers panel.

We created a fun sun-and-quote motif using one of the theme stickers in the Moments of Motherhood Journal and the quote:

“To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world.” by Dr. Seuss

Placed in the corner above a multi-photo layout and colorful background, it turns an already cheerful page design into something unique that Mom is sure to love. Here’s how:

1. Launch the project and drop photos into the frames.
2. Open the Stickers panel and choose a sticker that will make a good background for a quote—we chose the sun sticker from the “theme stickers” collection.
3. Drag and drop the sticker onto the page. Move it into place, and resize the sticker by dragging from the corners.
4. Open the Text panel, select “Add Text” and click on top of the sticker.
5. Paste or type the quote into the text box.
6. Edit the quote using tools in the text panel e.g. size, font, alignment, and color. To add visual interest, we used two different theme fonts for the quote and name.

Tip: Make sure that the text is clearly legible, with strong contrast between the text color and sticker color. You can edit the text color with tools in the Text panel and the sticker color with tools in the pop-up menu.

How to add quotes to a Mother’s Day card

A custom Mother’s Day card is the perfect place to add a quote that tells Mom how much you love and appreciate her. Browse Mixbook’s Mother’s Day card designs and look for one with placeholder text you could replace with a quote, or spaces that could accommodate text. The Watercolor Blue Mother’s Day card has both.

Short Mother’s Day quotes are often the best choice for cards, such as this one:

"We are born of love; love is our mother."—Rumi

Here’s how we added a quote to this Mother’s Day card:

1. Launch the card project in Mixbook Studio™ and add a favorite photo.
2. Open the Text panel, select “Add Text,” and click in the space underneath the photo.
3. Paste or type your Mother’s Day quote into the text box.
4. Edit the text to fit nicely in the space using tools in the Text panel e.g. font, size, alignment, and color.

Tip: If you don’t see a suitable space on the front of a Mother’s Day card for a quote, try the reverse side of the card—it’s fully customizable, just like the front.

How to layer quotes over photos

With the straightforward technique of layering a text box over a full-page photo, you can create a beautiful page design featuring a quote.

We matched this sweet quote with a full-page photo in our Minimal Baby Line Art photo book:

"A mother's arms are made of tenderness, and children sleep soundly in them" by Victor Hugo

Follow these simple steps to create a similar page design:

1. Launch the project in Mixbook Studio™ and upload your photos.
2. Scroll to a page with a full-page photo frame and drag a photo onto the page.
3. Edit the photo using tools in the pop-up menu, if desired. In our example, we started with a black and white photo and adjusted the opacity to 50% for a dreamy look.
4. Open the Text panel, select “Add Text” and click over the photo.
5. Type or paste the quote into the text box.
6. Edit the text using tools in the text panel e.g. font, size, alignment, color. We used the theme’s primary font—Luella—and switched the color from black to white.
7. Optionally add a sticker from the Stickers panel. We chose a moon sticker from the “theme stickers” collection and switched the color to white (color tools are in the pop-up menu) to match the text.

Tip: When layering different elements on the same page, like photos, text, and stickers, use the “Forward” and “Back” buttons in the pop-up menu to keep the layers in the correct order.

Mother’s Day quote FAQs

What kind of quotes are good for Mother’s Day?

Good quotes for Mother’s Day capture the loving feelings and appreciation we feel for our moms, our kids’ moms, and other mother figures in our lives. They typically express the deep connections between mother and child. Some good Mother’s Day quotes are funny and lighthearted, while others are sweet or sentimental. Choose a quote that matches your Mom’s personality.

Where can I find good Mother’s Day quotes?

Mixbook put together a comprehensive collection of 84 Mother’s Day quotes that includes, among others, loving Mother’s Day quotes, funny Mother’s Day quotes, Mother’s Day quotes for your wife, Mother’s Day quotes to honor grandmas, and first Mother’s Day quotes.

For more personalized Mother’s Day quotes, look up quotes from Mom’s favorite writers or comedians, lyrics from songs she loves, or lines from her favorite movies.

Say it in a way she'll keep forever:

Can I use personal quotes for Mother’s Day?

Absolutely—you don’t only need to quote famous names! How about quoting family sayings, writing down quotes from family members, or taking excerpts from letters or notes written by loved ones?

Ask your kids questions about Mom and write down their answers to use as quotes in a photo book or card. For our 2025 article, “What motherhood means to the women of Mixbook,” we got the following feedback from Victoria: "I love the handwritten gifts where my son fills in the blank with what he feels. "My mom is... [blank]. My mom likes... [blank]."

These kinds of personal quotes can be treasured even more than the words of history’s greatest writers!

How do I use quotes as Mother’s Day messages?

Personalized photo cards, photo books, and other gifts all present good opportunities to use quotes as Mother’s Day messages. You could:

• Replace, or expand, generic messages like “Happy Mother’s Day” with a quote that says so much more.
• Use quotes as captions for photos that match their sentiment.
• Get creative and make unique graphics, layering text and stickers as accents to a photo spread.
• Layer text over a background photo to make an eye-catching combination of pictures and words.

Are you ready for Mother’s Day?

With Mother’s Day approaching, it’s time to put together a card and gift for all the important moms in your life. Take inspiration from the best Mother’s Day quotes, then head over to Mixbook asap. It’s easy to get started on a custom photo project she’s sure to love.

Start her story in something she can hold: