Valentine’s Day is coming, and The Journal is posting a list of 10 ideas to help celebrate the day. The list is going up early because most of the ideas don’t involve much money, but may involve a little extra time.
This list is compilation from different sources; we’ve expanded on most, and a few are originals.
The Love Jar
The Love Jar is, simply put, a jar filled with love notes. It can be made more festive with some ribbon around the jar and the notes written on different colored post-its or pieces of construction paper. If you have the time and inclination, the slips of paper can be cut into the shape of hearts.
The purpose of the Love Jar is to be a gift that keeps on giving. The recipient of the Love Jar can dip into on days when they need a little emotional boost, a little reminder of how much they are loved. That being said, each note should reflect a reason as to why you love them. It’s a Love Jar – not a Job Jar.
Music Mix
This is always a nice gift that can be shared. The music mix, whether for an MP3 player or burned on to a CD, can be a collection of the person’s favorite songs – or a collection of songs you both like.
The gift can be made a bit more special by creating a CD cover with some photos and a playlist….Add a bottle of wine, some cheese, chocolate, and enjoy the music.
Valentine Box
The Valentine Box is a collection of little things. Some might actually be practical, and others frivolous.
You can find a lot of cute inexpensive items at the dollar store or the drug store. Make up a collection, wrap each in some tissue paper, and put them all in in gift wrapped box….and include a card.
Take it a step further and include on the card why you chose each item, this can be both funny and sentimental. If you include a DVD of your favorite shared movie, explain why; if you include some toe nail clippers — recount the story behind it :-).
Write a Poem or Letter
Do not type it, unless you have such bad chicken scratch for handwriting that it’s illegible. Write it out by hand if you can.
A poem is nice, but a love letter is just as nice. Don’t make it the length of a Tweet, and don’t make it something meant to be shared on Facebook. Write an old fashioned love letter that someone will save and treasure.
A love letter does not always have to be romantic, so this gift idea can be used for close friends or even family members — just an opportunity to remind them they are loved.
Do a Public “I Love You”
One of life’s biggest fears is making a fool of yourself when you are in love — embrace it. Play the fool and let everyone know how crazy in love you really are. Make a big sign out of poster boards and hang an “I Love (name)” in front of the house or in the front window.
As the image accompanying this article shows, sidewalk chalk can be another simple method to say I love in public.
If you are out to dinner, or out in the mall, or even eating in Burger King, get down on one knee and just tell them how much you love them. This one is only for married guys! Single guys, don’t get down on one knee unless you mean business – even if it’s to look for a lost contact lens!
Public “I love you’s” are silly, funny, and – who really gives a damn what anyone else thinks when you are in love.
Time in a Bottle
This is really a gift that is intended to give you some fun time together. It can be fancy or fanciful. Make up a gift box with a bottle of wine, pack a couple of wine glasses from the kitchen cabinet, add some fancy chocolates or a couple of Hostess Ding-Dongs, Fig Newtons – doesn’t matter…Throw the digital camera in there too so you can take some pictures. Make up your own Valentine’s Day card and place it in the box.
It’s a bit silly, wrapping up stuff from around the house, but Valentine’s Day is about saying I love. So, over the bottle of wine and two Ding-Dongs, you should be able to have enough time together to say I love you, and why. Take it a step further with a pad of post-its and write down some of your favorite memories together, fold them up and stick them in the bottle — make sure you finish the wine first.
Picture Book
You can make this yourself with inexpensive supplies from Staples. Collect photographs and write a little something to go with each one, memories of the day, why you like that particular photo, or just why you love them.
Bind the pages together to make a book — you can utilize those binders they use for book reports if you need to.
A love story does not need a beginning, middle and end, it just needs some love in it.
Ralph Kramden’s Valentine’s Day Celebration
Having fun and being happy is where love starts, so why not go back to the beginning, back to what existed before love bloomed.
The basis of love is having fun and being together – so go bowling. Sounds unromantic? Maybe. But romance is what romance does, and bowling can be a goofy night out having fun.
Wine Tour
Go on a wine tour. Not in California, and certainly not in upstate NY in the dead of winter – go on a wine tour at home. Buy a few bottles of wine, whatever the budget can afford, but pick the wines from different places you might one day want to travel to.
If you’ve traveled to special places, get wines from those regions. But it’s actually more fun getting wines from places you’ve never been. Print out a picture of the area and make a small note card saying where it is, what you would like to do there, and what you would like to do to them — ooh la la.
Chocolate Stuffing
This idea is for folks who might not have a special someone to celebrate, but still are looking for a reason to celebrate. Have a chocolate party with friends, or even just yourself. Indulge in a love of life, it’s all good…