The Fourteen Days of Valentines

Look, I'm not kidding anyone when I try to act like I can blog about everyday things and make it interesting enough for people to read.  SOOOO, I'm giving that stuff a backseat, and starting off with something I can actually do.  Talk about Crafts.  I love crafts.  I love anything that's handmade or anything that's original (or tweaks something original) and I also like giving people presents.  Fortunately, the calendar affords me a day to mix all of those things together for the person I love most. That day? Valentine's Day.

Last year, a good friend of mine did "The Fourteen Days of Valentine's" for her boyfriend.  And I was enamored with the idea.  I thought it was an adorable way to make your significant other feel special and have fun at the same time.  So, I swore then that when next year rolled around I would do the same thing.  And I did.  For those of you who are not familiar (and who can't glean much from the name), the  Fourteen Days of Valentine's is when you present your partner with a small gift on the fourteen days leading up to Valentine's Day. (Feb. 1- Feb 14)  The tradition, as far as I can see is to incorporate what you're giving them into a line for the day.  A common example (via Pinterest) is "I've got a CRUSH on you" along with a bottle of Crush Soda.  See, Clever!  Punny!!  And cute, to boot!  You can find these ideas ALL OVER the interwebbings (Google search, Pinterest search, etc), they are everywhere.  If coming up with creative, clever puns isn't your forte (don't fret!), there really are options everywhere.  However, me personally, I prefer a more personal touch.  (Not to mention, I know my boyfriend incredibly well..)  So, I came up with my lines and gift ideas mostly on my own.  I'll list them here and then give you some helpful hints throughout the blog! Enjoy!

Day One: I pick you to be my Valentine.

This one was one of the not-so original ones.  BUT, whatever!  My boyfriend plays guitar, so this seemed like a perfect, practical way to kick things off.  Plus, it makes sense to say "I pick" on the first day!  He loved it.  And these were his favorite type of picks.  

First Day tips: If you want to do a variation of "I pick," you can do something like "I chews" (present gum, tobacco, etc, I don't know your life), or something like that.  However, this is not necessary, you can really do anything on the first day. I just like these ideas for a linear feel.

Day Two: No one holds a candle to you.

My boyfriend and I are candle fanatics, so I debated endlessly how to tie a candle into this.  It started off with "You light up my life" but that seemed a bit cheesy and overdone for my taste.  I was standing in the candle aisle at Walmart and it just occurred to me "No one holds a candle to you." It was a wonderful epiphany, and it remained one of my boyfriend's favorites.  

Want to do a candle variation?  This particular gift provides A LOT of options.  Depending on the candle fragrance you buy, you can tie the title into your tag line.  For example: "I'm berry happy you're mine." Along with a strawberry or blueberry candle.  You can get really creative with those.  And of course, you can use the "light up" variation.  The light up variation can also encompass incense or just a plain old lighter!  Lots of options!

 Day Three: I'm soda-lighted you're mine.

It reads like, "I'm so delighted you're mine" but if your partner is a soda nut like mine, this is definitely an option for you!  You can keep the same tag line and insert any soda, or change the line depending on the soda (ex- Mountain Dew "I love the things you Dew" Budweiser, "I'm so glad we're buds").

Not a soda fan? That's fine too!  You can incorporate any drink, alcoholic, non-alcoholic, water, whatever.  Use words like refreshing in your tag line, and viola!

Day Four: You're my hero.

I admit, this one was a bit of a stretch.  But, I knew I wanted to paint my boyfriend a bat signal, I just needed a way to tie it in.  Thus, "you're my hero" was born.  My boyfriend and I love the Chris Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy.  And the new bat logo.  So, I hand painted this canvas to look like that, it also mimics the shirt that I made myself for the Dark Knight Rises Premier.  This one is special because it's an original piece of art.  You can do anything like this, if it suits your taste.

Variations- Hero:  Not a Batman fan?  That's okay.... I guess.... you can insert any superhero logo.  Not an artist?  Are you really not an artist?  Does it matter if you are?  Chances are your partner will love anything you make for them because you will, no doubt, put a lot of effort into it and they will appreciate you working so hard for them.  If you still don't want to play, you can always buy superhero merchandise or movies, or comic books, etc.  It's totally your call.

Want to do art without a hero?  Go for it! You can theme the tagline after whatever you do create, or go with a general "Our love is a masterpiece" or something to that effect!

Day Five: Olive you more than anything.

This is him!! At Olive Garden!  Haha.  This one was fun, because I was able to enjoy it too.  You can skip the giftcard and just take your partner out to eat.  I wanted to tie in Olive Garden, because we both enjoy it so much.  You can use the same tagline to present your partner with olive oil, or olives, or anything else olive related.  

Different restaurant?  Oh, you can come up with anything!  Bahama Breeze: Loving you is a breeze. Longhorn: I hope our relationship is a long one.  You can get really creative with these!

Day Six: Slide closer to me, Valentine!

Again, my man is a guitar player and he needed a slide, so I thought it was a perfect opportunity to get him one.  

Guitar players unite!  If your partner is a player and you know some sort of gear that they need (strings, strap, case, etc) you can do those as well.

Day Seven: I can't picture my life without you.

Story: My boyfriend and I were supposed to have Valentine's photos taken professionally, but due to some bad weather, we weren't able to.  That was my original plan for this frame, but I had to improvise!  Fortunately, after six years, we've accumulated a lot of photos, so I had a lot to choose from.  For this tagline, you can put together a scrapbook, or a picture frame with multiple frames.

Day Eight: You are my sunshine, and my Silver Lining.

Mine was OBSESSED with this movie.  And expressed interest in reading the book. SO, I thought I would shorten the wait to read it!  The best part of this gift was the reveal.  And this one took the most time to set up.  First, I drew and colored the papers in the picture (the sun and cloud)  I taped the "...and my Silver Lining" cloud to the book and wrapped it, then tapped the "You are my sunshine" paper to the wrapping paper.  This one was his favorite reveal of the whole thing.  If you're familiar with the movie or book (or even the old phrase "Every cloud has a silver lining") then this set-up makes sense and is a very sweet notion.

Pop culture variations:  If your partner is into something else, you are most likely familiar with some aspect of it.  If there is something you can relate to a line or gift, do it!

Day Nine: Thanks to you, I'll never be a....

What was called another great reveal, was really me just scrambling, last minute, to come up with a gift for the day.  Fortunately, my boyfriend mentioned that he lost his copy of this movie and really wanted to find it... and luckily I was able to find this in a sale bin.  It was just a matter of coming up with a line. This one seemed perfect.

Failure to launch?  Look, stuff comes up, sometimes, even when you plan all this far in advance, it just doesn't work.  Just keep your ears and eyes open and fly by the seat of your pants.  You will be able to come up with something.  I thought I had planned all my days, and may have had another option, but just didn't like it.  So, I changed last minute.  It's a good idea, to have a list of multiple options though, just in case something doesn't work out for you.  Be prepared for these things.  But be open to possible new options.

Day Ten: Ten things I love about you.

This one is also not original. Womp, Womp, WAHHHH.  BUT, the ten things are very original.  This is your chance to make your lover feel loved.  You can write on ten slips of paper anything you love about them.  This is your chance to get craft and creative, while making your partner feel good.  You also get to decorate a nifty little container to hold the slips. I used a cherry jar.  But didn't decorate it as well as I had hoped, due to some time constraints.

Day Eleven: You're practically the greatest thing that ever happened to me.

As I share these, I realize just how personal these are.  And I realize that as far as duplicating my 14 days is concerned, I'm not being very helpful.  Unless your partner is a guitar playing, actor, this list is probably just interesting to read (at least, hopefully!).  I digress, since mine are obviously interest-driven, it may be a good idea to strive to acquire things that your partner finds interesting.  Books, movies, toys, necessities, whatever you think they might like!  Try to come up with something that is uniquely them!

Day Twelve: I'm so glad we have each other covered.

As you'll probably see later in this blog, I'm a big fan of baking and cooking.  So, here are some chocolate-covered oddities.  I covered oreos, pretzels, orange slices, etc and decorated them with Valentine's sprinkles.  

Not a chocolate fan?  You can do any sort of fondue or cheese sauce on whatever food you'd like.  You can do nachos covered with cheese or hot dogs covered with chili.  You know what they like.

Day Thirteen: I love the sound of your name.

I hear you.  You're probably saying, "Jamie, you dummy, that's a cup.  It has nothing to do with names".  And you're absolutely right. You caught me, I got off again.  I was supposed to write my different names for my boyfriend on the cup before I presented it, but didn't.  So, he and I are going to decorate cups together soon.  Perhaps, if you're nice, I'll blog our progress along with hints for creating your own Sharpie Mug. :)

Day Fourteen (Valentine's Day): There's no restraining my love for you.

Ah yes.  The day you've all been waiting for.  And this is all you get.  I know.  I'm such a tease.  But you can probably glean what the box contains from the tagline.  If so, kudos.  If not, that's okay, too.  I can't tell you everything.

THE END!

Thanks so much for reading!  I'd be happy to help you with this project, if you want to bounce around ideas or need help!  If you have any questions, please, don't hesitate to ask.  Until next time!!