Ideas for Inexpensive Valentine Gifts - Celebrating Valentine's Day on a Budget

You don't have to spend a lot of money to get your Valentine a treasured and meaningful gift. In fact, you can find the traditional (and traditionally expensive) Valentine gifts at a discount if you know where and when to buy. Plus, there are lots of inexpensive gifts to which you can add your own sentiments to make them truly meaningful.

Here are six tips for finding affordable Valentine's Day gifts:

1. A dozen red roses is one of the most romantic gestures you can make (on Valentine's Day or any time of the year), and you don't have to pay a lot if you know a few secrets. One way to get your Valentine's roses at a discount is to order early. Several of the major online florists offer as much as $10 off your Valentine bouquet if you pre-order your bouquet by the end of January (for delivery on Valentine's Day). No matter what time you order your Valentine's bouquet online, make sure you look for a coupon code first. You'll find 10% off coupons year round, and you can find surprisingly inexpensive Valentines packages by shopping around.

2. To reduce your costs still further, pair a simpler floral purchase with a personal sentiment. Purchase a single red rose, add a small box of fine chocolates, and combine it with a card in which you write 10 to 20 (or 100) reasons you are grateful for your Valentine.

3. You aren't required to send roses. What is your loved one's favorite bouquet? She'll appreciate that you know what her favorite flower is, and you may be able to save some money on a less traditional floral gift.

4. Purchase seeds or bulbs and a few decorative pots so that she can grow her own favorite flowers. Include a card with the sentiment that your love will continue to grow just as the flowers do. When you give a growing plant, instead of cut flowers, you ensure that the recipient will be able to enjoy the gift for longer than a week or two.

5. The prospect of creating treasured memories together can be just as romantic as a bouquet of roses. If your budget is tight, rent a couple of romantic movies and order pizza for Valentine's Day. The trick to being romantic is in the personalization that you bring to each gift. The most romantic gifts are those that say, "I spent time on this gift" and "I enjoy spending time with you."

6. When you are looking for inexpensive gift ideas, think outside the box. If your loved one likes to keep a diary, for example, present her with a beautiful new journal and a nice pen. Sign the inside with a romantic quote.

The trick to making any gift romantic is to make sure to pair your gift with words from your heart. A romantic card with a handwritten, heartfelt sentiment is, in itself, one of the best gifts you can give.

Jamie Jefferson writes for Susies-Coupons.com and Momscape.com, where you can find coupons and discounts for the latest and best flower coupons and jewelry television coupons.

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Homemade Valentine's Day Gifts - Six Easy Ideas for Making Your Own Romantic Gifts

Have you ever wondered why we are led to believe that the best Valentine's Day gifts are also the most expensive? In my relationship, we value our time together most of all. And we are on a shared budget, which means any extraordinary extravagance is a shared burden.

The truth is, Valentine's Day is big business. Too often, retailers want us to believe that we need to spend lots of money on traditional Valentine's Day gifts in order to properly prove our love to one another.

This year, let's make a stand for the heartfelt, sentimental, simple gift. Homemade gifts carry the message to your loved one that she is worth not just your cash, but your time, energy, creativity, and thoughtfulness.

Here are six ideas for simple but romantic homemade Valentine's Day gifts.

1. Make a scrapbook. This is one of the easiest gifts to make, and if you plan ahead, you won't even have to touch a glue stick if you don't want to. Many of the online photo processing sites have systems in place where creating a sentimental gift is as easy as dragging and dropping your favorite photos into pre-made templates. Some of them will even provide the romantic quotes to go alongside them.

If you would rather make a more traditional scrapbook yourself, the scrapbooking industry has made that easy for you, too. Purchase a simple mini book kit from your local craft store and cut and paste your favorite photos inside. The most romantic of these mini scrapbook albums or photo books will include personal sentiments, such as "Ten Things I Love About You," "My Favorite Memories of the Past Year," or "You're My Perfect Valentine Because..." All you will need to do is fill in the blanks.

2. Make a scented candle. Your local craft supply store will likely have a kit that makes it a cinch to create a beautiful homemade candle. If you make sure to follow the instructions in the kit carefully, it's an easy process, and you'll be able to customize your homemade candle with dyes and scents to make a gorgeous creation. Make sure to pair your gift with a thoughtful sentiment in a handmade card.

3. Make a Mix CD. Burn a CD of your loved one's favorite music.

4. Make your Valentine's favorite meal. Plan a romantic homemade dinner with a nice bottle of wine and some candlelight. Make sure your loved one's favorite songs are playing in the background.

5. Bake it up. Bake a batch of your partner's favorite sweet treats and wrap up a box of the homemade confections. These will remind your loved one of you, so they'll be much more romantic and personalized than a store-bought box of chocolates (and less expensive, too).

6. Make a Memory Jar. Fill a jar with slips of paper that detail your favorite times of the year, or even your favorite memories of your relationship from the beginning. Create a card that instructs your loved one to read one new slip of paper every day.

Even if you opt for a store-bought gift this Valentine's Day, make sure that you include your personal sentiments on a card. You can easily create a meaningful and romantic gift just by writing down what's in your heart.

Jamie Jefferson writes for Susies-Coupons.com and Momscape.com, where you can find coupons and discounts for top gift merchants, including Harry and David coupons and Snapfish coupons.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jamie_Jefferson