7 Gift Ideas For Your Valentine

By Layne Whitburn
 
We love love. So when a day comes around totally dedicated to love, we go all cupid-like with excitement.
Make this Valentine’s Day extra warm and fuzzy with a creative gift to show your significant other just how much they mean to you.
Whether your VALENTINE is your lover, best friend, or pooch, here are 7 thoughtful gift ideas to spoil that special someone.

Spa Bath Hamper

Bubbles + wine + your significant other = romance.
 
Custom-make a hamper loaded with goodies for the tub. Think bath salts, essential oils, candles, a body scrub, bath bombs and of course, a bottle of wine.
 
Better yet, make your own luxurious bath salt concoction using just four ingredients.
 
Simply mix 1 cup pink Himalayan salt, ½ cup Epsom salts, 1 handful of rose petals, and 8 drops of eucalyptus essential oil. 
 
Place in a cute jar and enjoy the floral scents combined with healing eucalyptus for a detoxifying and relaxing bath.
 
Love Heart Brownies | Makes 16
Chocolate is a bit mainstream, but we dig it. (Who doesn’t?)
Turn a stock-standard gift idea into a thoughtful one and bake your own treats.
 
These love-heart shaped chocolate brownies taste as good as they look. Think chewy, fudgy, chocolatey goodness wrapped up in lovable parcel.
 
Food is the key to thy heart, right?   
 
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 tbsp. coconut oil
1 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup plain four
1 cup cocoa powder
350 g dark chocolate, chopped
Love heart shaped cookie cutter
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 180C and prepare a large 13-inch by 9-inch baking pan with baking paper.
 
Melt the butter. Add the raw sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and hand whisk till combined.
 
Sift the flour and cocoa powder and add to mixture. Whisk. 
 
Once the mixture is combined, add 200g of the chopped chocolate and stir in.
 
Spread mixture evenly into the baking pan and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chunks on top.
 
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the mixture is cooked. Do not overcook.
 
Take the baked mixture out from the baking pan and let sit on a cooling rack.
 
Use the cookie cutter to create approximately 16 portions. (Keep the excess sidepieces as a crumble garnish for ice cream!)
 
Serve warm with a side of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (optional).
 
Puppy Pillow

There are lovers, friends and then there are dogs. If your furry friend is the love of your life (we get it), don’t forget to celebrate Valentine’s Day with him/her.
 
While a bone or chew toy will always be appreciated, get crafty and sew a love heart-shaped cushion for your favourite sidekick.
 
Well-behaved pups will sleep on it, mischievous ones may chew it - but it’s the thought that counts, right?

Personalised Wine

Not celebrating Valentine’s Day? We get it. Galentine’s Day is so much more fun anyway.
 
Show your best girl pals just how much you adore them with a personalised wine bottle.
 
Custom-make a label reading; “You’ll always be my partner in wine” and stick it on the squads usual Friday night bottle of choice.
 
Cheers to Galentine’s Day!
 
Succulents
In flower language, succulents resemble eternal love.
 
Their remarkable vitality and longevity make them a beautiful gesture of everlasting love and relationships.
 
Compliment the succulent with a poem reading: “Roses are red, violets are blue, succulents last forever just like my love for you!”
 
Engraved Candle

Candle lit dinners are the epitome of Valentine’s Day… but we’ve got a better idea.
 
Forget tree trunks and engrave a candle with the initials of you and your lover inside a love heart.
 
All you need is a plain candle, linoleum cutter, tape, your design traced on a piece of paper, and a gold leaf pen or a gold ballpoint pen.
 
Stick the paper on the desired area of the candle. Trace the design by using the linoleum cutter to cut through the paper into the candle flesh. Remove the paper and fill in the engraved design with the gold pen.
 
Light, and enjoy. 
 
Hug In A Mug

If you can’t decide between making breakfast in bed for you partner or a lazy morning full of cuddles, combine the two and create a hug in a mug.
 
Fill a mug with their favourite bits and pieces. Think chocolate-coated strawberries, a tea bag, cookies, nuts, and other tasty treats.
 
Once everything is devoured, the cup can be used for their morning brew. After all, coffee is the ultimate hug in a mug.