Every year, millions of pounds/dollars are spent on St. Valentine’s Day, but many of us hate the traditions, aside from the commercialism, the hiked up prices and the stupidness of only showing your loved one your feelings for one day in the year, we thought we’d do something alternative. So here are some (we guess last minute) suggestions for non-traditional Valentine’s Day ideas.
So instead of buying these try our variations:
Flowers
Instead of a Dozen Red Roses for £25 this week only!
A bunch of black tulips, midnight purple or even white, a house plant, anything really, in fact buy a cactus – it doesn’t take much care and they live forever, maybe longer than the relationship!
Just try to buy something that is not red!
Love Hearts –
Instead try a realistic shaped Heart (follow this tutorial on how to draw one here)
A Love Heart is just an overly simplified drawing of a real heart, without the valves and pumps on the top, but really without these it is just a piece of dead flesh, so to really say I Love You, include the arteries that pump the blood into the organ of love!
Food
Instead of a box of chocolates in a heart shaped box, try a Real Heart Chocolate Blackberry Valentine’s Cake (as seen above), dripping with delicious blood (Blackberry syrup!)
If you’re not a Veggie, you could try A Hart’s Heart! (not pictured). Buy hearts from your local butcher and add it to dinner for two.
If you are a animal loving non meat eater, then try the Blackberries Heart from our Blackberry Jam making post where you put the berries in a muslin bag and squeeze all the juice out (Bob’s favourite)
Chocolates
If Valentine’s Day is your excuse to indulge in a chocolate feast, then we won’t stop you, but really a hear shaped box of Milk Tray isn’t going to cut it these days.
So try these alternatives.
First off the home made version; Buy a block of rich, dark chocolate (Green & Black’s or the like). Boil a pot of water and put a glass bowl on top, then break up the chocolate into the bowl and slowly melt the chocolate (this really doesn’t work as well in the microwave!), then dip fruit in the melted chocolate – some fruit really doesn’t work, but strawberries, bananas and pears do)
Gluten Free
Try Rescue Chocolate for a ton of Gluten Free/Dairy Free chocolate and all profits got to Animal Welfare Charities (ALL Profits!) Alternatively check out Go Dairy Free for every chocolate you’ll ever want and make yourself sick in the process!
Of course there are strange people out there who don’t even like Chocolate (yes we said – strange!) So if your Valentine is one of these, then we suggest you dump them, maybe…
Try a Raspberry Sorbet instead, here we will even give you the recipe!
Champagne
Really Champagne isn’t that romantic, it’s just fizzy wine, from one singular valley somewhere in France. But a Valentine’s Rosé is and what better than a Freixenet Rosé in a crystal, cut glass bottle, this has to be the ultimate luxurious drink for Valentine’s Day and the gift box version is only £12.
A Table for Two
Valentine’s Night in a restaurant can be a stressful affair, sitting right next to another couple trying to be romantic and sweet listening to them coo and squeak, can be annoying and cringy. So simply make dinner together, what’s their favourite meal, make it with her/him/X.
A Soppy Card
Quite simply – Make your own, it’s going to be more romantic than a Paperchase bad pun card, isn’t it? Even if it’s a stick figure holding a love heart it’s ‘The thought that counts’ and the time spent folding the piece of paper over and scribbling a picture and message inside has got to be time better spent, in fact draw the real heart from the tutorial above.
Attention for 1 day –
The biggest problem with the whole day is that it’s the excuse to only pay attention to your other half on one day in the year, well except for their birthday, your anniversary (unless they are born on Feb 14 and you got married on their birthday, then that’s a really well planned out way to only have to pay attention to them one day a year!).
So simply and obviously be there all the time for each other and thank your other half each day for what they do. Also you could pick a random day and celebrate your own Valentine’s Day on March 14th, of May 9th, September 22nd who know!
And if you are single this Valentine’s Day, then just do all of the above but for yourself and it’s a Friday this year, which means the hangover/ stomach ache from over indulging won’t mean calling in a sick day!
So Enjoy whether you are single, or in a couple (or a polyamorous quintuplet!)
Have fun and come back next time for another random post from Climbing Moss. Until then, Byyyyeeeeeee!
Climbing Moss 