If you’re hoping to save money this Valentine’s Day, while still giving a special gift to an even more special person, DIY is your best option—for countless reasons and for countless people. Nowadays, Valentines Day isn’t just about a fancy, candlelit dinner with your hubby. It’s about showing everyone in your life a bit of extra love and affection. Not only are DIY gifts easier on your wallet, but they also are more heartfelt and creative. So, this year, do your partner, family, and friends (and your savings account) a favor by going the crafty route:
Mini Scrapbook
What You Need:
- Printed Photos (Of You and Your Loved One(s))
- Glue
- Scissors
- Cardstock Paper
- Decorative Items
- Binding of Your Choice (Ex: Hole Punch and Yarn)
A scrapbook is like a photo album, but better. Ornate and personalized, a scrapbook displays your favorite memories in a tangible and reflective way.
Go through your photos and save your favorite moments with the person for whom you’re gifting the scrapbook to a USB. Once you’ve selected about 50 photos, head to your local photo developing store to print. While waiting on your pictures to develop, head to the craft section and choose cardstock paper in various colors and sizes of your choice. (Choose enough to accommodate your photo layout. For example, if you want to put 10 photos to a page, you’ll need five pages. And be sure to get an extra couple of pages for a cover and an end.) Feel free to pick out any stickers, lettering, stamps, or other decorative items you’d like to include in your scrapbook. (One ornamental idea is to grab extra cardstock for a background layer behind each photo. This looks much nicer than simply gluing a photo straight to its page. It also helps the photos to pop!) Make sure you have scissors and glue, and a way to bind your scrapbook (i.e. a hole punch and yarn or a sealer of some sort).
Once you’re home with your photos, you can design your book accordingly. The options are endless: You can place photos randomly or in a storyline. You can layer photos over one another, or place one per page. You can cut out sections of photos, or use the entire 4x6. You can doodle on the pages or write poetic captions. Etc. The more time you spend capturing moments with your loved one, the better! Be sure to include a cover page and a closing page, with some sort of handwritten sentiment!
Bath Bombs
What You Need:
- 2 Cup Citric Acid
- 4 Cups Baking Soda
- 4 Tablespoon Cornstarch
- 2 Oz. Coconut Butter
- 10 Drops Lavender Oil (Or Essential Oil of Your Choice)
- 2-4 Drops Food Coloring (Pink or Red!)
- Spray Bottle of Witch Hazel
- Rubber Gloves (Optional)
- Heart-Shaped Silicone Molds
- Miniature Cloth Bags (Optional)
Everyone loves a fizzy, aromatic bubble bath! Whether it’s a bath for two, or a bath for your single best friend, it’s sure to be extra relaxing with these lavender-scented, heart-shaped concoctions.
Before you begin, put on rubber gloves. In a mixing bowl, combine cornstarch, citric acid, and baking soda. Stir thoroughly with a whisk or fork, until the texture is smooth. Melt the coconut butter, and add it to the mixture, along with the food coloring and essential oil. Continue to stir. Using the Witch Hazel, spray the mixture a few times. Continue spraying until the mixture begins to hold shape when pressed together. Take out clumps of the mixture and press them into your silicone heart-shaped molds. Sit aside to dry for 12 hours. After 12 hours, remove the bath bombs from the molds and put away for another 24 hours to dry and harden. Once time’s up, you’re ready to wrap your bath bombs. We recommend tying them in a miniature cloth bag with a drawstring!
Fruit and Veggie Pun Basket
What You Need:
Your Choice Of:
- Pineapple
- Beets
- Apple
- Pear
- Berries
- Peach
- A Jar of Olives
- Tomatoes
- Melon
- Bananas
- Orange
- Hemp String
- Small Gift Tags
- Large Basket
This clever gift doesn’t require much creation, but it does require creativity. Once you’ve selected your foods, you’ll attach tags with handwritten puns to each, using your gift tags and hemp string. Not witty? Don’t worry, we’ve put some one-liners together for you:
Here are some examples:
Pineapple: “I pine after you.”
Beets: “You make my heart beet faster.”
Apple: “You’re the apple of my eye.”
Pear: “We sure do make a great pear.”
Berries: “I love you berry much.”
Peach: “You’re a peach.”
Olives: “Olive you.”
Tomatoes: “I love you from my head tomatoes.”
Melon: “You’re one in a melon.”
Bananas: “I’m bananas for you.”
Orange: “Orange you glad we met?”
The list goes on, with variations of your own cleverness. It’s an easy, fun, and tasty gift for your mom, boyfriend, and/or BFF alike!
Libations of Love
What You Need:
- 6-Pack of Craft Beers
- Glue
- Scissors
- Cardstock
- Decorative Items of Choice
Another simple craft gives ordinary brews a makeover! All you need to do is cover a beer box in cardstock and Valentine-themed decorations. Bring this to you’re co-workers, gal pals, Pops, or significant other. Whoever it is, they’re sure to enjoy your loving libation this holiday!
Pinata Hearts
What You Need:
- Cardboard Heart Boxes
- Scissors
- Glue
- Sequins and/or Glitter (Optional)
- Twine or String
- Candy (Duh)
- Streamers
- Duct Tape
- Pink and Red Felt
Who doesn’t love candy-filled piñata? This gift is not only adorable for any friend or family member (especially the young ones), but it’s fun and reaps a sweet reward. Candy!
First you’ll punch a hole in the top of your cardboard, heart-shaped box, and thread a piece of twine or string through. You’ll then tie the string in a loop, so that it can hang from a sturdy nail when complete. Fill the box with candies of your choice, and seal it shut with sturdy tape (preferably duct tape), so that it won’t pop open pre-piñata-beating. Then, cut a slice at the bottom of the streamers that go more than halfway to the top. Repeat this every half-inch or so, to create a fringe-like appearance. Use glue to apply the trimmed streamer to the box. Do this repeatedly, layering the fringed streamers overtop one another, until the front and back of the box are covered. Then, do the same thing along the curved sides of the box.
Once the entire box is covered in streamer fringe, you can decorate however you like with glitter and sequins. Then, cut heart shapes (or whatever cutesy designs you like) out of your felt, and glue them overtop of the streamers. Once all embellishing is complete, you’re ready to present your heart and party!
Honey Jars
What You Need:
- Honey
- Miniature Glass Jars
- Miniature Wooden Honey Dipper
- Twine or Hemp String
- Hole Punch
- Small Gift Tag Labels
This is a super easy gift, perfect as a small token of love for coworkers, a large group of friends, your partner, or extended family members.
All you need to do is simply fill your miniature glass jars with honey. (We recommend a rose or lavender infused honey!) Once the jars are topped off with sweet goo (and the exterior wiped clean), you’ll simply hole punch your gift labels, fill them with handwrittern phrases like “Bee Mine”, and attach them to your jar with string. Don’t forget to tie a cute bow, also attaching the miniature dipper to the exterior for an added touch!
Photo Slideshow
What You Need:
- Old Film Photos and Video Recordings
- Computer
- Some Sort of Video/Slideshow Program
- Us, at Legacybox!
A great gift—specifically for family members—is to create a photo slideshow of old photographs. If you aren’t the best with crayons and scissors, but want to orchestrate something sentimental and thoughtful, this gift is truly unbeatable! Your first step is to send old single-copy photographs and videos to us at Legacybox. We will create digitized formats of these photos and recordings that you can view on a DVD or a USB. (Don’t worry, we’ll safely return the original copy too!) Once you have these digitized formats, you can create a fun slideshow to send extended family members who live far away (or right across the street) via email. If you want to add a layer of craftiness, you can always add your own audio recordings and voiceovers with inside jokes and spoken captions.
DIY gifts aren’t just about making something with your hands; they’re about making something with your heart. This year, show your loved ones—plural—that you care, by putting a bit of extra TLC into your presents. Whether you make a decorative scrapbook or a set of bath bombs—whatever you do this Valentines Day, do it with love!
