Valentine's Day Gift: Cook Her Favorite Dish

Most women have a favorite food dish they love. Find an online recipe for the dish or a cookbook that has the recipe. Bookmark the recipe in the cookbook with a brightly colored ribbon. Place the cookbook or the recipe and the nonperishable ingredients in an appropriate container. Add a perishable items right before delivering the gift. Make sure she understands that you're doing the cooking that night.

For example: If her favorite dish is lasagna, the gift would include no cook lasagna noodles, a jar of good marina sauce, a hunk of Reggiano parmesan cheese, olive oil, cheese grater, pot holders, bottle of Chianti wine, fresh mozzarella cheese and ricotta cheese. Place the items in a colander that has been lined with a couple of red checkered dish towels. You'll have fun showing off and she'll be pleased your gift is so personal.

A night out on the town is a great Valentines Gift Idea

Treat your special someone with a night out on the town. Line a basket with gift tissue or straw. Include tickets to a movie, play, or symphony performance that's getting rave reviews. If you're not sure of when you would like to go include a gift certificate that can be redeemed for the tickets. Add a bottle of wine, cheese and crackers and a box of very good chocolates for an après theater snack.

Kindle some romantic magic with Kindle

Kindle is the hottest selling product on Amazon.com and it's no wonder why. Read your favorite romantic book, have the latest bestselling novel on tap, add a little spice to your love life.

Packaging is everything for Valentine's Day gifts

Packaging is everything. Look at how Valentine flowers are
presented. There is lots of red, pink, and white tissue paper,
cellophane with printed hearts, bows and Styrofoam hearts. Use
those same ideas for your gifts. Take a red gift bag with handles.

Place tissue paper inside so it shows over the top. Place a
flowering plant surrounded by cellophane paper in the bag. If the
bag is too big for the plant to show, get a smaller bag, a bigger
plant, or stuff white tissue paper in the bottom of the bag to
raise up the plant. Add curly ribbon and bows. Your $10 plant now
looks like $100.

One more idea: Buy a lovely lush green houseplant at the grocery
store and three red roses. Ask the florist department to put the
roses into separate water filled vials that you can then insert
into the house plant. Add a bow, or hearts, and you have a lasting
romantic gift.

Red and pink are the colors of Valentine's so those colors will be
expensive even if they aren't roses. Choose white flowers and
complement them with red and pink packaging. A bouquet of white
flowers in a red or pink vase is very festive. Or use a clear vase
and a red or pink bow. Another alternative is to wrap the white
flowers in red and pink tissue paper, then clear cellophane and a
bow.

Last minute Valentine Day's gift ideas

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, are you ready? Or are
you waiting for the last minute? If you're the last minute type of
person I have some ideas for you that won't cost a fortune.

Flowers - Even if you could justify the price of a dozen red long
stemmed roses, which cost upwards of $100 for Valentine's, at this
late date you'll be lucky to find any. So what to do? Go to a big
box store and check out the plant nursery. Most likely you'll find
pots of flowers in bloom. Just stick on a big red bow and you're
ready to go.

Another idea is to visit the flower seed racks. Pick an assortment
of flower seed packets that appeal to you. Find an attractive gift
box, place the packets inside on crumpled red and white tissue
paper, include a hand written note that says "Watch our love grow."

If you just have to have roses, buy a live rose plant. Miniature
ones should be in bloom, but you can also find regular rose plants
at a plant nursery or big box store.