My friend, Jim, on his blog, Wrinkled Man, wrote the following short poem/thought on 2.05.2010:
Love without money only goes so far. Money without love goes bad.
It seems an appropriate poem to start this piece on affordable red-themed gifts for Valentine’s Day. I got to thinking about Valentine’s Day gifts because of the link to a post on BlogHer.com about gifts for men. I made a couple of suggestions on that post and that got me to thinking.
While Valentine’s is a “made-up holiday” as my mother puts it, .I enjoy it I always try to do something creative in my gift-giving, making sure the color r e d is involved. (This is usually in addition to preparing a special, romantic dinner.)
I’ve now been married for five years. In those first years, I bought the usual things for my husband:
- Red boxer shorts (silk one time, cotton another)
- Red pajamas
- Red flannel shirt
- Red sweater
- Red socks (uh, no, I wouldn’t do that to him!)
I have begun brainstorming gifts for him this year (many of which would also be appreciated by women – especially reasonable women like me who don’t have to have expensive gifts but do ask that the gifts are thoughtful and appropriate for me). But, I digress. Here’s my brainstorm of red-themed gifts for Valentine’s Day. They are very affordable and while they may not be the main gift, they are certainly great accompaniments to it.
- A brilliant red bottle of Relax Cool Red Wine.
- Jar of red M and Ms or red licorice or any other red candy.
- Red velvet cupcakes (or a whole cake)
- Red union jack suit.
- V-8 juice (or tomato juice).
- Red tea kettle accompanied with an assortment of red teas
- A caboodle of Heinz’s and other ketchups.
- Photo-album bound in red leather (or pleather or cloth) with some photos of you.
- A red picture frame – bonus if it’s shaped like a heart.
- Red ink pad and assorted stamps (heart shapes, initial, cupid, etc.)
- Red bandana (love men wearing red bandanas – add a utility belt for good measure).
- An assortment of red juices: cranberry, cherry, pomegranate, tropical punch.
- Red candles.
- Hot sauce – an assortment.
- Roget’s Thesaurus (it nearly always has a red cover).
- Red markers, stickers, etc. (for your little man, i.e., a young son).
- A jump rope with red handles to get the heart-rate going.
- A red wig (for you – woman – not him, although he might appreciate it).
- A red and white checkered tablecloth on which to enjoy a picnic lunch that you’ve prepared (later, when this winter weather breaks or have the picnic indoors).
- A whole-mess of red beans and rice!
- A love poem penned and read by you (okay that doesn’t count just ’cause read in the past-tense and red sound alike).
You get the picture – there’s a whole world of red out there just waiting to be eased into this theme. And the most important gifts of all is an acknowledgement of love. In theory we do this in some way every day, still, it’s nice to get a gift and it feels lovely to be acknowledged on this holiday.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
Another Valentine’s Post you might enjoy: Cupid is Stupid. You may also like this post, Gifts Do Not Equal Love & Other Observations about Holidays.
Great article. Really like the customizable tshirt. Pretty funny running around with a tshirt that your loved one designed! The other ideas are great too but I simply like the tshirts best.
This brings back soooo many memories! Loved the ideas but would love to add one, and that’s a personalized photo jigsaw puzzles by The Missing Piece Puzzle Company. They have a Heart Shaped puzzle that you can design or one that’s pre-designed for you for Valentine’s Day. http://www.themissingpiecepuzzlecompany.com