The Secret to Finding the Perfect Valentine’s Day Gift for the Person You Love

Given that 77% of my readers are guys, I thought I’d give them the subtle heads-up that Valentine’s Day is less than two weeks away. My new tagline is: remembering the holidays so you don’t have to.

Like most people, I don’t care about Saint Valentine [wiki]. I have fallen prey to the Greeting Card Association who have created a Hallmark Holiday and hype V-Day to the point where it is the second largest card carrying holiday after Christmas [wiki]. I think it’s stupid to follow the dictation of corporate entities for when I should buy things for the people I love. Can romance be forced on a certain day of the year? I don’t think so.

It’s a feeling not a price tag.

(photo by Naomi)

But I’m not so stupid to think I can skip the holiday without consequences. No matter how much she might say Valentine’s Day is a stupid holiday that shouldn’t be celebrated, not doing something at all is much worse than doing something. And what’s so wrong with jumping at the chance to have an excuse to tell the person you love how you feel?

Here are some suggests for activities and/or gifts. Post a comment if you have better suggestions. Remember that a homemade gift is always better than store bought except for things like jewelry and lingerie. It’s the thought that counts, but no one wants to wear homemade lingerie unless they have a serious duct tape fetish.

Going Out for Dinner

If you are planning on going out for dinner then NOW is the time to make reservations. It may already be too late.

Most restaurants prepare a fixed menu for Valentine’s Day, so don’t forget to check if that’s an issue for you. HACK: it’s always nicer to go out for dinner 1-2 days before Valentine’s Day instead to avoid the crowds, avoid the fixed menu and have better service.

(photo by zemlinki!)

Traditional Gifts

Sometimes it’s best to play it safe.

• Greeting Card
• Flowers (Roses are traditional)
• Jewelry
• Lingerie
• Nice clothes
• Chocolates
• Alcohol
• Plush Toys
• Going out for Dinner
• Spa Treatment
• Sex Toys
• Scented Candles
• Hotel room / Bed and breakfast

(photo by wasaby)

Non-traditional Gifts

Things to Do

• Make dinner for her (practice the recipe first!)
• Hide gifts around the house with clues to find them
• Sneak “I love you” notes into their lunch before they take it to work
• Proclaim your love on the radio or in the newspaper
• Rent a hot tub
• Have an indoor picnic
• Buy yourself a gym membership to get ready for next year
• Offer to give up blogging :)
• … or rent a romantic movie…

Like one of the 76 romantic movies my girlfriend and I picked out.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Things to Give

• Something very specific to how you met each other and fell in love
  • IE: first movie you saw, CD for concert you went to, etc
• Take sexy photographs of yourself
  • Print them out at one of those grocery store print centers and then destroy the originals
  • May require shaving your back if you’re a guy
• Instructable’s Valentine’s Day gift instructions
• Craft Magazine’s DIY valentine’s
• All Valentine gift how-to’s at Craft Magazine
• Something handmade from etsy.com
• Keepsake box with mementos from your first dates
• Make a card instead of buying one (card instructions here)
• Papercraft pop-up card
• More Valentine’s Day papercraft projects
• Write a love poem
• Make a scrapbook
• Print out romantic images from Flickr
• Origami flowers
• Girl Loves Robot’s mini VDay cards
• Custom “gift certificate” for household chores, sexual favours, etc.
• Sensual massage kit (oil, candles, blindfold, music)
• Take Valentine’s Day cards for kids and write X-rated limericks in them
• Collect your letters/email correspondence and have it bound as a book
• Create a photo album of pictures of the two of you
• Create a poster out of a picture of the two of you
• Commission a portrait painting (probably too late now)
• Homemade baked goods
• Printable awards of Best Kisser, Best Wife, Most Romantic, Best Lover, Most Understanding, etc
• Take a comic strip and replace the words with your own message.
• Mixtape of significant songs
• Custom t-shirt that says “Property of [yourname]”
• Create a jar full of little hearts with endearing messages on them
• Homemade gift basket (Bath items, scented candles)

Anti-Valentine’s (or Vinegar Valentine’s)

Sometimes Valentine’s Day is more fun to mock that to participate in, particularly if you’re single or getting out of a bad relationship.

Gifts That Will Get You in Trouble

• VD, as in Venereal Disease
• Meish.org’s Anti-valentine cards – THESE ARE EXCELLENT
• Sex-Ploytation: How Women Use their Bodies to Extort Money from Men by Matthew Fitzgerald
• A gift you’d like (new laptop, bowling ball, video game console)
• A collection of newsclippings and reports about blood chocolate and blood diamonds and how these two goods are produced by slavery, exploitation and death

Survival Guides for People Who Hate Valentine’s Day

• Surviving Valentine’s Day when you’re single
• Alt.Suicide.Holiday’s VDay Guide

Also, file this under things not to do: write a blog post about Valentine’s Day ideas and then don’t do any of them.

Related Posts

• 76 Romantic Movies for Guys and Girls
• Geek Valentine’s Day Links (Cards)
  
• Ode On a Silicon Yearn
• Perl Love Poems
• Tips for Shopping Online in Canada (and some of my favorite online stores)
• Gift Guide for Geeks
• WordPress.com Contest about Valentine’s Day
  

Idea Sources I Used

• LifeHacker’s list of VDay suggestions for 2006
• Unique Holiday Gift Ideas
• Valentine Gift Ideas at the Romantic
• Lovingyou.com’s Printable Gifts
• Anti Valentine
• Anti Vday

TheGoodBlogs tags: be my valentine, what men want on valentine, what women want on valentine