Help!! I Need a Valentine's Day Gift for my Sweetheart!
Dear Ayla,
There's not much time left until Valentine's Day and I still don't have a present for my girlfriend! Could you offer me any suggestions on what I should buy for her?? Or maybe stuff I could make? I don't have much money to spend because I'm still a student working my way through college...but maybe you could give me some sweet things to do for Valentine's Day that aren't so expensive?
Broke Student in Love
Hi Broke Student,
Thanks for your email! I would love to help you find something to make your girlfriend swoon!
Since you don't have much time left, I've come up with a few sweet things to do for Valentine's Day that you can make yourself. You should be able to construct most of the things on this list for less than $50, with some requiring more skill, effort and creativity from you than others.
The Venereous Shaving Trio
A perfect Valentine's Day Gift
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Take the day off together - Maybe it's been a while since you spent some real time together...or maybe not. Either way, "playing hookie" together is always a great option to celebrate a special day romantically. Turn off the phone, pull down the window shades and do not leave the bed. The best thing is, it won't cost much...except maybe for the food you have delivered during the day! ;-) Plus if you've bought yourselves the Venereous Shaving Trio, you'll want to try out your close new shaves!
Create a box of IOU's and love verses - This can be time consuming, especially if you cut the pieces of paper yourself, but it's a pretty simple gift and comes over very good.
A few years ago I took a large shoe box and covered it with craft paper. Then I cut out hearts on pink and red paper. I used a tracing template so they'd all be about the same size but you can freehand them as well. I stuck a few hearts on the outside of the box as well as an envelope for hearts that had already been used up. I would guess that you can probably buy the hearts at a craft or office supply store also. Then I filled the box with 365 hearts - one for each day of the year (don't forget that if this is a leap year so you'll need one extra to make it until next Valentine's Day!) You could also do one for each month or week...but a huge box of hearts just looked so cool in my opinion that I had to go for broke. Half of the hearts contained an IOU card for things like a surprise picnic, a massage, a night out on the town and a few freebie cards. The other half of the hearts had quotes about love from famous people and other random quotes about love that I liked. Then my husband got to take out a heart every day which would either get him something fun, or would remind him how much I loved him.
Just use your imagination and personalize the cards to things that you enjoy doing with your partner. You can even include things that you might not usually be willing to do. But do remember that if you're not actually willing to do something, you shouldn't include it on a heart. And immediate redemption (or at least later on the same day unless it's something really elaborate) is always a good idea! You can find sweet love quotes here on romanticlyrics.com and more romantic quotes here on lovingyou.com (the latter are even divided into categories!)
Create a card for her with words from your heart - Get yourself some construction paper and reconnect with the kid inside of you who used to love building cards for Mom & Dad in grade school. Write some words from your heart or find a verse online that speaks your mind for you. Go crazy and create a pop-up card for her!
Create a memory book of your love - Assemble photos, mementos and other items into a scrapbook to give to your girlfriend. You can write stories about how you met, your first date, funny moments you've shared and much more. Paste everything into an album or have copies made at your favorite copy shop and have it bound into a book. Need some help filling up pages? Try these downloadable pages from LovingYou.com which include love certificates, sex coupons, little games and more.
Make your Valentine a garden heart - Does your special someone love to garden or be outdoors? Lowe's Creative Ideas web site has a quick tutorial about making this moss-filled heart to give your love a special garden treat to start off spring right.
Speak to her stomach - A lot of people believe the best way into someone's heart is food. Why not make a nice dinner at home for the two of you? Afterwards you can hit up a bar or club to let the fun continue...or just light some candles, turn on some music and make your own magic happen. AllRecipes.com is one of my favorite recipe sites and they have a special Valentine's Day page with menus, ideas to soothe a sweet tooth, food aphrodisiacs and ideas for breakfast in bed. Or try this top-rated Valentine's Day Menu for Two from SouthernLiving.com.
Pamper in ways she'll never imagine - Does she love flowers? Then why not fill her apartment with them? Treat her to a massage (from you or a paid masseuse) and don't ask for any special treatment in return. Serenade her or find someone who can (try looking on craigslist or via local forums) if she loves music. Write a song to her if you can. Make her a CD with all her favorite songs or load up her iPod for her. Set up an elaborate trail of notes for her to follow, each a clue which leads to a new destination...and at the end of the trail, be waiting there for her with an even bigger surprise (champagne, flowers, dinner, whatever will really make her melt.)
Share the love with others, not just yourselves - Instead of worrying about a lavish dinner or just the right way to say "I love you," you may want to do something really generous and donate your time to a local animal shelter, at a food bank or with another organization that you feel passionate about. Sometimes sharing what little you do have with others is the perfect way to get more love back in return that you can ever imagine.
No matter what you end up giving to her, the most important thing to remember on Valentine's Day is not what you spend in time or money, but just that you tell her how much she means to you in whatever way you can. Although it seems the holiday becomes more and more commericial each year, you don't need to feel obligated to go broke buying long-stem roses. A gift from your heart speaks the loudest and you can almost always be certain it will say exactly what you want, in whatever style you desire!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Ayla
