Don’t
let commercialism get you down about Valentine’s Day. If you get wrapped up in “this is just a
holiday to boost card sales,” you miss an opportunity to express your love in
creative, sweet ways to your spouse, your children, your parents, or other
loved ones. Instead, ditch the day-of
dash for a box of chocolates and opt for a pre-planned treat sure to entice
that “I love you” right back.
Your
gift doesn’t have to be edible, so think outside the heart-shaped box. Take a deck of playing cards and a permanent
marker, and delve into why your Valentine is loved. Use the king or queen of hearts as your top
card, and write “52 Reasons Why I Love You” across the middle. And then use each card as a love note,
outlining one-liners about big and small reasons you love this special gift
recipient. You could also print out a
photo page that says “I love you because:” with a big blank line underneath
it. Frame the page, and use a dry erase
marker on the frame’s glass to write your fill-in-the-blank message and be able
to change out the reason. This could
offer up a gift that keeps giving.
Look
up online recipes for making your own unique gifts, like a scented hand scrub
that only takes a few simple ingredients.
Fill up a small mason jar with your concoction, and add your own custom
made label to the lid. Or take different
kinds of candy and fill up your own jar and add a custom label or tag that
offers a play on words, like a jar of gummy worms that says “I’m hooked on
you,” or a jar of all one color of candy or gumballs with one standout piece in
a different color with a tag that says “You’re one in a million.”
For
the kids, make the morning memorable with red and pink helium balloons filling
the kitchen at breakfast and serving heart-shaped pancakes or an egg dish with
some pink strawberry milk. Send them off
to school with the Valentines theme in their heart-shaped sandwich cutout,
dipped strawberries, and some red and pink confetti in their lunchbox.
To satisfy their (and your) sweet tooth, opt
for gifting themed cupcakes, homemade cookies, cake pops, pretzel rods dipped
in chocolate and then colored sprinkles, or marshmallow rice treats with red
and pink candy pieces mixed in. Sweet,
but not standard.
Explore
your options for offering up loving gifts that took a little thought and a
little time to tell your Valentine why you would pick them all over again.
DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star January 19th.
