Valentines Edition: Show Appreciation For Your Loved Ones

Valentine's Day is commonly a day where people will celebrate their romantic partners and exchange gifts. However, the holiday isn't reserved just for those in a relationship. For example, my parents would give my brothers and I a box of chocolate and valentines cards every year. Here are some ideas to show some love/ kindness to the people in your life. They can be versatile and customizable for different types of relationships running from gifts for your children to gifts for a best friend or significant others.

• Send them a baking mix. An example is cake-in-a-mug. Here is a good recipie: http://themondaybox.com/2013/03/29/3-2-1-cake/ . But really, most people just love food.

• Make a 52 Things I Love/Appreciate About You card deck. I made one for my husband a few years ago when we were engaged. It's pretty easy, if you can brainstorm 52 things. I just typed mine, printed and cut each line out, and pasted them onto each card. You could even assign each card a week. This is a good tutorial: http://peppermintcreative.com/blog/2011/01/52-things-i-love-about-you-deck-of-cards-album/

• Blow up balloons and write positive messages on them. Next, sneak into the person's room/house and leave the balloons there. Obviously, only do this if you regularly have permission to be in this person's room/house (i.e. parent's house, roommate's room).

• Go oldschool and give out valentines. The cheesiness is bound to make your recipients smile. 

• Spend time with your loved ones. Visit your parents, pamper your best friend, hang out with your siblings, plan a day for your significant others. The more time you spend together, the more memories you are bound to make.

• Dedicate a song on the radio. The trick to this, of course, is to make sure the other person is listening to the right station at the right time.

• If the recipient has a hobby or type of product he/she likes, then a subscription box may be perfect. Subscription boxes are often geared towards people with an interest (e.g. ties, cooking, comics), are filled with products within that interest, and are sent out once a month or so for a fixed amount of months. For example, I bought my husband an arcade block from Nerd Block since he is a huge gamer. This was much easier than me trying to figure out what games and accessories he had or liked.

• Love coupons have been done. I have made a ton of them, especially in high school, when I was short on money. However, it can be pulled off correctly, if you use a nice template and don't mind if the recipient actually cashes these coupons in. An example of a coupon for a friend with children could be a night of babysitting. A vintage-style template I like is available here: http://derekmdesign.blogspot.com/2011/02/love-coupons.html

• Buy someone a coffee/hot chocolate/some treat. Sit with them and enjoy each other's company.

• Find a poem that emulates your relationship with them or reminds you of the person. If you like, print or write out the poem and decorate it before giving it to the person. My husband, while we were in high school, asked his best friend to write a poem for me. My husband then wrote it out on colored paper and decorated it. He would also sometimes draw things for me. This is an excellent choice if you have artistic talent, or can trace and color well.

That's all the gift ideas I have for now! Please share any gift ideas you have below in the comments section! Happy Valentine's Day!