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We may still be feeling the pinch from Christmas, but it’s time to think presents again as Valentine’s Day rears its expectant head. Quite inconveniently, my fiancé also had his birthday recently – so that’s at least three present ideas in as many months, and I must admit, I’m struggling. But I’ve put my romantic thinking-cap on and come up with five affordable Valentine’s ideas – with not a soft-toy or garage-flower-bouquet in sight.
Spell it out
One Valentine’s Day, my friend made her boyfriend’s favourite food – home-made fried potatoes – with special cookie cutters, spelling out “I love you” in the greasy goodness. He was touched. And the idea can be applied to anyone’s favourite foodstuff. Why not make Valentines cookies, fry up a heart-shaped egg, or propose with alphabety spaghetti?
Get hands on
Giving your loved one a massage on Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to cost anything – just dim the lights, put on some of your partner’s favourite relaxing music and get to work. Or make it extra special with essential oils and a bit of help from electronic and hand-held massaging aids. May I recommend the spider head massager – guarantees tingles down your spine.
Art Attack
The best gifts are those which your loved one has put something of themself into. It doesn’t matter if you don’t manage to recreate The Kiss - if you’ve put the effort in, your partner is likely to be impressed. And if stick men really are your limit, you can’t go wrong with a collage or framed photo. Visit Crafting a Green World for tips.
Let your love grow
Flowers are all well and good, but in February in the UK they’re not the most sustainable of gifts. Instead of a bunch of roses, why not order something that will grow along with your lurve? Try the selection offered by tree2mydoor. If you haven’t got an outdoor area, or aren’t particularly green-fingered, how about a house plant or window-box herb garden?
A course in love
Nothing says “I love you” better than your support and encouragement. So if there’s something your partner has been talking about doing for a while but hasn’t got around to, give them a little push and sign them up for a course taster or one-off lesson. Be it in creative writing, pottery or surfing, you may just introduce them to something they’ll love.
IMAGES by Flickr users Claudia*~Assad and Mykl Roventine
Those cookies almost look like ice cream sandwiches. I wonder if anyone sells heart-shaped ice cream sandwiches……
My husband and I have the same problem! We have Christmas, his bd is Feb 11, mine is actually Feb 14, and of course Valentine’s Day! Too bad we didn’t spread it out a little better, although I love having my bd on Valentine’s Day (except we can’t go out to dinner — restaurants are way too crowded, so both food and service suffer).
Valentine’s Day is for losers. I like these cards: http://www.meish.org/vd/
I like Valentine’s Day, but I absolutely have to admit that those cards are funny!
I lurrrrrrrrve the anti-valentines day cards! Esp, ‘at least my cat loves me’ (except, I don’t think that my cat does love me! boawww). I think that cooking is a nice thing to do on val day – I don’t like going out, becuase everyone else is trying ot be romantic and coupley, just way too cliche! Puke! xx
Anti Valentine hmmm….LOL….instead of “Valentine escape”, I did actually have an “escape from Valentine” dinner and piss-up last year. The best ever, I guess….the topic was mostly politics and recent divorce………………. The cards are hilarious and the Valentine cookie is AAAAAA