Some people dislike Valentine’s Day, other folks relish it, but one thing’s for sure: A lot of people celebrate it! Valentine’s Day is one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the United States, with millions of couples buying chocolate, roses, or going out to a special dinner. But what if you’re bored with the traditional Valentine’s Day routine? Here are ten fun and original ideas to make your Valentine’s Day special and unique for you and your sweetie.
Idea #1:
Plan a Valentines party for those you love. Make it a potluck to cut down on the expenses. Decorate your house with hearts and anything red and pink. Invite lots of people you care about, such as neighbors, friends, relatives, and their children. It’s also particularly nice to remember those who have lost their spouses.
Idea #2:
Make Valentine treats and take them to the pediatric unit at your local hospital, a nearby nursing home, or even surprise your friends who might be spending the evening at home alone.
Idea #3:
Event tickets are a unique gift idea, and are enjoyed by almost everyone. However, these don’t necessarily need to be used on Valentines Day or even shared with you. Consider purchasing tickets for your loved one so he or she can go to a special event that they could enjoy themselves, such as a women’s lecture series or a fishing and camping show. Be sure to get two tickets so they can invite a friend who shares their interest!
Idea #4:
Order dinner in and serve it on your good china. Even better, have a family picnic on the living room floor! Gather candles from around the house and eat by candlelight, and be sure to include the younger members of the family.
Idea #5:
Plan an evening outdoors, doing something like skiing, sledding, or snowboarding. If you have children, go outdoors and build a snow fort in the back yard. Dinner can occur before or after the outdoor activities, and can be something as simple as pizza at home. End the evening with hot chocolate and cookies in front of the fire to warm everyone up again.
Idea #6:
Recreate the “good old days.” Visit your favorite old restaurant, if it is still nearby. If you have since moved away, call the restaurant to inquire if they will freeze and ship your favorite entrees to your home, so you can enjoy them as a special treat.
Idea #7:
Clean things up! Have your loved one’s car cleaned and detailed. Be sure to include a full tank of gas and a new emergency kit, if they don’t already have one. A freshly cleaned car is something everyone can appreciate!
Idea #8:
Sleepover! Host a sleepover for your grandkids to give their parents a much-deserved Valentine’s Day break. Everyone benefits-you get to have special time with your grandkids, plus mom and dad have some time alone to rest and recharge.
Idea #9:
Call in the pros! Give your loved one a gift certificate for a professional housecleaning. Or if you are brave, surprise them having the house cleaned while they are away. There is nothing like entering a spotless home when someone else has done all the hard work!
Idea #10:
Say it all! Make a list of all the things you love about your special someone, including unique quirks and special secrets that only the two of you share. Write everything down in a beautifully bound book, or write each note on a separate slip of paper, and put them all inside a special box. This will likely become one of your spouse’s most treasured gifts.
Valentine’s is such a fun and special time of year for anyone who is in love. Make it really special this year by doing something unexpected. Your loved one is sure to appreciate your thought and efforts, and it will hopefully create lasting memories for the two of you to share and remember in years to come.
Valentine’s Day – Ten Unique and Original Ways to Celebrate
By Ellen Bell
Visit Home Products ‘n’ More for unique Valentine gifts, including Valentine gifts for men. We offer free shipping on all gift products!
It seems like nowadays less and less people trust their partners. With all the new technology coming out to make it easier to check up on your partner and harder for them to detect you doing it then that seems to be too much temptation for some people.
For example, if you were suspicious enough to look on your partner’s cellphone then you could very simply run a reverse cell phone lookup on the numbers using one of the many websites that provides that service. This means you’d have a window into their personal calls and see who they are regularly contacting and then you’ll know whether being suspicious was warranted.
Then there is the internet, it is so simple to take a look at the browsing history on the computer and see what kind of sites they have been on, you can even see what they’ve been typing in to Google etc if the option is checked in your internet explorer (mine are as it makes doing repeat searches easier). With a little bit of knowledge then someone can clear the surfing history though – then you really do get suspicions arising in your mind.
This simple act can cause so much trouble, for instance let’s say that a boyfriend is looking for a ring for his partner to ask for her hand in marriage in some over-the-top romantic setting or gesture. He is more than likely going to go online and search for some inspiration of how to propose in the most romantic way and to look for rings etc. Now if the girlfriend snoops around and he hasn’t cleared the history then she will know what he is up to.
Now if he is thorough and he clears the history but doesn’t let her know then she will be immediately suspicious and probably a lot of fights and upset will be caused by this. Then if he clears the history but tells her he is planning a surprise for her so he needs to do it, then that will solve a lot of the problems, but then she is expecting something!
That may not seem bad, but imagine now if he asks her to accompany him to somewhere they don’t usually go, or do something they don’t usually do, she will then start to think and expect that to be the surprise. So instead of a heart-warming complete surprise, she’ll be constantly on the lookout and she’ll be expecting it, so then it ruins half the surprise!
If you have any suspicions then bring them out into the open, so at least your partner can explain themselves and maybe put your mind at rest. I also think you should both have unique logons to a single computer, so you cannot snoop on each other’s browsing history – then you’ll get much better surprise birthday presents and proposals etc!
Take some time out to explore some fun date ideas so you and your partner can spend some quality time together and build your trust back up.
Check out this fun book!
photo credit: Ian Muttoo photo credit: Mr.Thomas,
The Perfect Basket: How to Make a Fabulous Gift Basket for Any Occasion
I grew up in a family where gift giving was practiced on a regular basis. We did not have a great deal of money. My parents worked hard for everything that they had and everything that they gave to us. I think this is why anything extra that was given felt like a gift. My mother has always been very giving.
As an adult I have tried to carry on my mother’s giving spirit. I buy items when I see them on sale and store them in a closet at home. When it comes time for a gift giving occasion I have a supply of things to give. My favorite thing to do is to develop unique Gift Baskets for the people I am giving to. This is where the small things I pick up through the year come into play. I do not like the pre-packaged baskets because you cannot tell the quality of the items that are wrapped together; also they tend to be more filler than items.
To start my unique gift baskets I find a container that suits the person I am giving the gift too. I have used a variety of things. Sometimes the container is the main gift and other times it simply holds the other items together. The unique gift baskets that I gave my sisters for Christmas were by far my favorite. My two sisters are both master gardeners. They have beautiful backyard gardens. I started my gifts by purchasing sturdy watering cans that would be
the basket for the gift. Inside I placed a pair of shears for cutting flowers, a hand pruner, a hand held spade and rake for potting plants and a mister to apply pesticides. On the handle of the water can I tied a pair of garden gloves that were folded tog ether and fanned out to look like a bow. My sisters loved their unique gift baskets. Having the gardening tools given in the winter time gave them extra hope that spring was on its way.
I have also given the baskets that are filled with personal care products. Instead of buying the pre-made ones I make up my own to stay in the theme of unique gift baskets. This way I can include a person’s favorite scent, or favorite candy or other treat.
Two years ago for Christmas we gave three families that we exchange gifts with a family gift basket. These unique gift baskets included a deck of cards, a card game, dice and rules for a dice game, a box of microwave popcorn, several boxes of movie theater candies, and certificates for movie rentals at the neighborhood video store and a certificate for a take and bake pizza. The container was a flat basket that had a lid so the cards and dice could be stored in it. This provided for an evening at home for the families. It is fun to use your imagination and to put together gifts that people will enjoy because they were made specifically for them.
Here are a few pre-made gift basket ideas that you can purchase online. Just click on the picture.
