Yaaay Valentine’s day! A day to celebrate love! If you’re here, you’re probably a fan of it, and looking for something meaningful or handmade you can give a loved one. If you’re not a fan I am sorry. These are still great ideas for other gift-giving times of the year.
As I get older, I realize how sentimental and ‘experience’ or handmade gift ideas often trump material, store bought items (though, not always 🤣). There is something to say for knowing how much thought someone put into a gift! Most of these ideas can be applied to spouses, grandparents, children, etc. You’ll see what I mean!
The list goes in order of small feats to larger, or least effort to maximum effort.
Cards or Letters
You just can’t beat a handwritten note. If you’re at a loss for what to gift someone you love, what about writing them a good ole’ fashioned love letter? Think about alllll the things you love about them, include favorite memories, and you’re good to go. If that’s not your thing, I bet you can come up with a punny (see what I did there) hand-drawn card. Even if you think you are a terrible artist, I guarantee they will appreciate the gesture. You could also include a favorite printed photo of the two of you!
Photobooks
Taking that photo idea a step further, what about creating a custom photobook filled with your favorite memories with them? How sweet would it be to go through these with them? Our family always does yearbooks for Valentine’s day because usually by February I have the previous years book complete and ready to order. If you need more ideas for gifts you can do with photos, click here.
A treat yo-self day
You can take this in several directions. You can go the more breakfast-in-bed route or offer up a day of no obligations (if you are gifting to your partner, that makes more sense, lol). Planning a literal spa-day for them could work, or just plan a low-key fun day together. You obviously know your person best.
Help them learn something new
Have they ever mentioned wanting to learn something new? What hobbies do they currently have? Online learning is becoming very popular, and there are tons of affordable online course for everything from crocheting to photography to running a small business. If you need help choosing the right online course, read this post! My photography course, Manual Mode for Moms is open for enrollment every May and December, for example! Gifting a course isn’t necessarily handmade by you, but it is made by someone else and is a super thoughtful gift!
Travel Plans
For Christmas last year my husband kept saying he didn’t want anything, and then I missed the window where I even could order anything to receive it in time. Instead I planned a short, inexpensive trip over a weekend I knew he had off of work and had been hoping to travel anyways. Planning trips can be exhausting and complicated, so I think it is a great thing to gift someone (especially if you are planning to also pay for said trip for them, lol). Obviously, be cautious of timelines and work, but if you’re confident your traveler would like a pre-planned trip to be on the calendar, this is a great idea!
Also if you are by some chance a spouse reading this I would like to take this opportunity to speak for all mothers of the world and say we would never turn down a night (or two) in a hotel all alone. 😬😂
More ideas?
For more ideas specifically for moms, check out this post with the best last-minute mother’s day gift ideas which are also applicable to other times of the year.
