Newf Brand Notes

There’s only a week left until Valentine’s Day. Have you already bought or made your special someone a gift…or are you procrastinating? If you don’t have a gift yet, how about trying one of these ideas. Everything is under $50 with varying degrees of skill needed! And since the weekend is coming up, you’ll have a bit of time to gather supplies and finish up a great gift.

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. Then I filled the box with 365 hearts – one for each day of the year (don’t forget 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 quotes here on romanticlyrics.com and here on lovingyou.com (the latter are even divided into categories!)

Make your Valentine a garden heart - Does your special someone love to garden or be outdoors? Lowe’s Creative Ideas website 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 his or 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

Take the day off together – Maybe it’s been a while since you spent some real time together…or maybe not. Either way, maybe you both want to just take this day as an excuse to stay at home, turn off the phone and 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! If you still need to get the products, don’t forget that we’re offering free shipping until Valentine’s Day!

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. If you’re with someone, donate your time together…and if not, maybe you’ll find the man/woman of your dreams there!

We’ve got more ideas for you in the articles section of our website. Click here to read them all!