If you want to make the day of love really special, try thinking a little out of the box. A DIY valentines day gift opens up so many more unique and personalized options for you to give. Plus, they will have a little bit of your time and energy put into them. And maybe less expected than your standard shop bought ideas. Often, the surprise of a unique and heartfelt gift can be the most romantic part of it all.
Salty or Sweet
Making a yummy treat to eat for your partner is always a winner. Now I don’t have anything against a box of chocolates. But it simply couldn’t compare to something like a lovingly home-baked batch of chocolate brownies. Especially for someone with a fussy gut, such as myself. You could go that extra mile and create a sweet treat that also won’t leave your loved one feeling a bit gross after eating it. Anything, from paleo-style salted chocolate brownies to a freshly baked fruit crumble.
And some don’t even have a sweet tooth, yet stores generally don’t cater to anyone not looking for sugar as a gift. If you are making something at home, you could make it more interesting. Try some homemade biltong, using their favourite spices. Or simply experiment by baking an interesting loaf of bread and gifting it alongside their favourite cheese.
A Massage Goes a Long Way
Never underestimate the power of a massage! In this busy life, I find nothing more comforting than the familiar hands of my partner gently massaging tense muscles. And you could still make it something that gets wrapped up and gifted. Think about a gift voucher. You could create little massage voucher cards and pop them in an envelope. Or for an extra pretty visual effect, use soft paper and roll them up with some pretty ribbon holding them closed. Like a sacred scroll.
Personalised Scent Diffuser
For this gift, you will need a pretty holder and some diffuser reeds. Once you have these you will need to get your hands on a mineral oil to use as a medium. A thinner oil, like sweet almond oil, will be the most effective. And now comes the fun part where you can choose a single essential oil or combination of oils to use for your loved one.
Consider even doing a bit of research to find out what might work best for them according to what you think could improve their life. For example, if they battle with anxiety, some gentle lavender oil could help calm the mind. Or if they struggle to get up in the mornings, a minty scent floating through the house could help spark up their system. Alternatively one could also play around with making air fresheners with essential oils.
Date Night Jar
Keep your relationship sparky all year round and create a jar filled with little cards that each has a fun date night idea. Then anytime you want to spend some time together but are simply too tired to come up with anything other than eating out, your partner can dive into the date night jar and see what comes out. The surprise element always adds an extra twist of fun. For this DIY valentines gift, you may need to put on your thinking cap to come up with a little assortment of great date night ideas. But your efforts will pay off! Just remember to think about seasons, you won’t want to go midnight swimming in the middle of winter. So either have one jar per season or simply keep all the activities multiseasonal. To get you started here are some great ideas for around Cape Town.
Little Homemade Trinkets
There is also a variety of cute little DIY trinkets out there that one could make as a personalised DIY Valentine’s day gift. Here are some examples:
- A heart-shaped cardboard bookmark with a cute message: use medium-grade cardboard and double up. You can even play around with using different colours and having some cutout messages or pictures on the front of the top colour.
- A leather keyring simply cut out into a heart or with a love note on it: Many fabric stores will have suede or a soft leather which you could use. Then it’s as simple as getting the rings from the hardware store and attaching them through a hole in the leather.
- Grab something like a T-shirt or pair of socks, get your hands on some fabric paint (which you should find at almost any craft shop), and paint on a message or image of your choice.
- Heart-shaped coasters out of rope. This one is really easy and ends up looking pretty impressive. All you need is some rustic rope and glue. Then you wrap the rope around itself in a heart shape while gluing the sides together.