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Homemade Valentine Gifts

Valentine’s Day is such a special celebration for all couples - both young and old. It’s meant to symbolize your love for each other and offer you a day out of the calendar which you can dedicate to and celebrate with your loved one.

Unfortunately, just like pretty much every other holiday or celebration with a social aspect to it, Valentine’s Day has been hi-jacked for commercial reasons, resulting in throngs of teddy bears and heart-shaped chocolates, but tending to lose its true meaning.

Thankfully, in spite of this, there’s still a large number of people out there who understand the fact that the 14th of February needs to be about symbolism as opposed to commercialism and, each year, they make a special effort to create homemade Valentine gifts for their beloved - gifts made with lashings of love, and that are unique. These individuals understand that the true meaning behind the Valentine celebration is to show their partner just how much they mean to them - and this they do by dedicating time, care and love to the gift, as opposed to money.

Modern technology has made creating great personalized gifts and items much easier, so you can pretty much go one of two ways when it comes to making homemade Valentine gifts - you can choose the more traditional route or the more modern one.

One traditional idea for a Valentine’s Day gift is to create a special scrapbook for your beloved. This is a relatively easy and affordable gift to make, but the time and thought you put into it will surely be much appreciated by your partner.

The first thing you’ll need do is select which photographs you wish to use, and this is when you can also choose a theme for your scrapbook. Perhaps you’ll pick a few photos of each other taken separately before you met, followed by your meeting and continuing with your days together. Or, if you’ve been together some time, you may prefer pictures taken in places that have a certain meaning for you both - or any other theme you feel would be appropriate.

Once you’ve decided on your theme, collect together ribbons, stickers and mementos you feel would be appropriate to include in your scrapbook. Once these are all assembled comes the task of putting everything together.

With a bit of Photoshop skill, you can create wonderful graphics, and mash together photos, or modify them to show pretty much whatever you choose - it all depends on your own personal style and preference. Or, if you can’t afford Photoshop, the free Picasa download will greatly improve your photos and graphics.

But, maybe you feel making a romantic scrapbook is not for you. Then, how about candles? Candles are very much associated with romantic feelings, and they’re a staple Valentine gift. But, don’t buy them! Instead, make beautiful candles of your own, throwing in that personal touch which is behind this celebration, and which will make your gift unique.

You’ll find loads of DIY candle kits that come with detailed instructions on how to make great candles. How you personalize them, be it with your partner’s favorite color or a special perfume, is completely up to you.

Finally, even if you believe it requires a lot of know-how, creating a special CD or DVD of your loved one’s music or videos of the two of you together, isn’t as hard as it might seem thanks to today’s advanced software. You could make a special CD with songs you know your partner loves, or songs you both like. Or, if you have a web cam or digital camera, why not put together a video?

Homemade Valentine gifts - as with any other homemade gift - are always much appreciated by those who truly love us, because the time, thought and effort that goes into the making of them is recognized and much appreciated. What’s more, they’re also affordable!

By: Brian Wills

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About Author:
Brian Wills is the editor of www.SavvyHomemade.com where, as well as ideas for homemade Valentine gifts and other crafts, you'll discover heaps of wonderful articles, ideas and tips on how to make a variety of homemade things.

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