With Pippa Middleton’s wedding yesterday, and the flood of loved up snaps infiltrating mainstream media today, quite frankly we feel a little bit warm and fuzzy inside and although Valentine’s Day has come and gone this year, there’s never a wrong time to show your main squeeze that you’re still very much in love with them. Everyone is expecting a gift on the day of love, but of course the best way to really surprise someone is to do something for them when they’re least expecting it. The best part about doing something special for the one you love is that it doesn’t really have to be that expensive. In fact, some of the most heartfelt and sentimental gifts are ones that are costly not in money but in time, effort, and consideration. So whether it is for a birthday, anniversary or just to say ‘I love you’, here are a few crafty gift ideas you can use to stoke the fire:
1. Make a Custom Greeting Card
Greeting cards from the store can become a bit played out and unappealing. There’s no real personal effort involved and there’s something incredibly corny about giving someone a card that has already been gifted to thousands of other people. Plus, half the time those generic greeting cards recycle lines and use cheesy humor that we would all be better off without. The best solution is to use an online card maker to create something no one else has ever seen before. So much sexier than a quick whatsapp right?
2. Give an Origami Gift
Even if you don’t know how to fold any origami shapes or creatures, learning how to do it is easy and it can be a fun hobby to pick up. And if you like to throw dinner parties, this is also quite a fab way of making name place settings. Plus, there are so many romantic and humorous things that can be done with origami, so it’s an art form worth checking out if you’re into giving crafty gifts. It seems that one of the reasons why origami makes such a great gift is because you can look at the finished product and tell that some effort and thought went into folding it.
3. Custom Clothing and Hats
Personalisation is all the rage this season. We have hit up loads of press days and are collecting a seriously impressive set of swag of personalised goodies. From jackets to tees and make up bags, embroidered or personalised gifts are the thing for the season. Sewing or knitting a piece of clothing or hat for your significant other is a great way to give them something to hold onto and wear that will remind them of you for years to come. Contrary to the popular stereotype, this isn’t just a tip for woman either. Custom T-shirt printing is a good idea for men who want to surprise their women with a special piece of clothing that you can’t find anywhere else.
4. Pottery
Pottery is such a sensual art form, not only in the action of crafting the smooth clay, but also in the curvaceous shape of the finished products. Plus, there’s practically no limit to what you can make with it, from coffee cups and mugs to bowls, vases, and everything in between. You could even just browse sites like Etsy for inspiration in this department. In fact with loads of pottery cafes springing up, why not make it a date night activity and make something for one another, cheesy but cute!
Add a Special Personal Touch
Regardless of which one of the crafty ideas you go with above, don’t forget to make the gift uniquely customized to the personality and preferences of the recipient. Try to add nicknames, inside jokes, quotes, and anything else that shows you’re paying attention. A truly crafty, custom gift will be so obviously tailored that it would literally be awkward for it to be given to someone else.