Homemade Gift Ideas for Valentine’s Day

While Valentine’s Day continues to be one of the most popular romantic holidays in the calendar, it is not unusual to find some dissenting voices claiming that the whole thing is a capitalist conspiracy, feeding on mindless consumerism and commercialization of something as personal as love. The easiest way to bypass such arguments – without getting drawn into them – is to exchange gifts which cannot be bough in the market at all. Once Valentine’s Day is celebrated with personal gestures, the question of undue commercialization need not arise at all. So here are some great homemade gift ideas for Valentine’s Day to keep the conscientious objector in you or your partner, happy.

A scrapbook

Put together a scrapbook for your sweetheart is one of the most meaningful gifts you can present o your partner on Valentines’ Day. Paste photos from times you went out for picnics, celebrated birthdays or clicked snaps of each other for the fun of it. Don’t forget to include in the scrapbook love letters, romantic messages scrawled in your partner’s handwriting or even post-it notes reminding one to pick up a favorite dessert or a bottle of wine for the other on their way to a date. Also create captions and write your own comments throughout the scrapbook. The best part of this gift is that it can be added to during your relationship as you continue to create memories together.

Get creative

If you are the artistic type, decide on a homemade gift that will make use of your particular talents. For instance you can gift your partner a painting if you have a knack for dabbling in water colors or oil pastels. Or if you can wonders with wood and a chisel, how about making your girlfriend a jewelry box in which she can keep her pearls and emeralds. On the other hand if you are good at knitting or a whiz with the sewing machine, you can create anything from the outright fancy to the downright practical. Likewise if you’re a techie, why don’t you gift your lady her very own website with the latest interactive features or compile a DVD of your guy’s favorite songs by downloading them from the internet.

A homemade dinner

A romantic dinner at a fancy restaurant is not only overdone but can actually involve a whole lot of hassles right from non-existent reservations to lousy service. on the other hand, knowing that you have taken the time and effort to rustle something up this Valentine’s Day for your beloved is sure to make him/her ecstatic and can just as successfully figure as a home-made gift idea. You need not stress out yourself with a five course spread – just stick to a simple menu consisting of an entrée, main course and dessert. Don’t forget to create the right ambiance though – with fresh table linen, glowing candles and soft romantic music playing in the background.

Treats to nibble on

A simpler variation on the above Valentine’s Day idea would be to bake cupcakes or cookies for your partner yourself and have them attractively arranged in a basket or an airtight container if you intend to ship them. Cupcakes are in fact one of the easiest desserts to prepare and usually everyone has nice memories of them from childhood. Use pre-mixed cake batter or make the batter from scratch using an easy recipe. Present them to your sweetheart after dinner or munch on these while watching DVDs of romantic classics. on the other hand if you are planning to celebrate Valentine’s Day together as a family, baking Chocolate Chip cookies is a gift idea that is sure to be a hit with everyone and what’s more you can get the kids to help you make it too. Additionally it can make the perfect home-made Valentine’s Day for a partner in a long distance relationship.

A sensual evening

On the other hand if you want to get things steamier, how about offering a sensual massage to your partner this Valentine’s Day? For this you don’t need to buy a fancy massage kit; instead you can use whatever aromatic lotion or oil you have at home. In order to create a romantic ambiance, simply light a few candles around the scene and have some soft music playing in the background. If you and your partner are partial to frolicking in water, you can use the same idea to run a warm bath with some nice-smelling bath salts. The whole idea is to have an intimate time while indulging each others sensual side as well.

A bunch of love coupons

If you want a homemade Valentine’s Day idea that is both practical and romantic as well, you can rarely go wrong by with a bunch of love coupons for your sweetheart. These could range from a hundred kisses or you preparing your partner’s favorite dessert to even helping out with a chore that is normally your partner’s job. Don’t forget to make a great show while presenting them to your loved one and remind him/her that they come with an expiry date and so they should not take forever to redeem the coupons. Your partner will not only be thrilled at receiving them but deeply touched to find that you have thought of all his/her favorite things.

Plan ahead

For a different take on Valentine’s Day gifts, plan activities for the future that will be romantic time together. The present could be tickets to a new play, a picnic basket with a note about using it during the upcoming summer, or a spa gift certificate for couples’ treatments. This is a particularly good idea when Valentine’s Day falls midweek and you cannot take an evening out on a working day. Moreover your partner will be relieved to find out that he/she is not expected to do anything special for you on this very day. At the same time your gift will tell him/her that you are thinking about your future together and you can be sure he/she will anticipate the moment when you can be together with great relish.