Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to show your loved ones how much you care, but sometimes finding the perfect gift can be a challenge, especially when you’re on a budget. However, it’s possible to find unique Valentines Day gifts that are also affordable. Here are some great gift ideas for men and women that wont break the bank and will show your loved one how much you care. Making the extra effort for Valentines starts with a great gift. You’re in luck because we’ve got plenty of Valentines Day gift ideas for her and him!
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There’s so much to love about Valentine’s Day. It’s a day about honoring love in all of its forms. Therefore, before each holiday of love and romance, we encounter a moment of mental gymnastics in order to choose the right gift, regardless of whether your relationship is new or old. Should you decide to woo them during the love-fest that is Valentine’s Day, allow us to help you nail that Valentine gift-giving occasion with the following ideas. Remember, it’s never too early to start shopping for the one you love.
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Valentine’s Day is a special occasion to show your loved ones how much you care. There’s more to Valentine’s Day then the traditional flowers and chocolate. You just have to think outside the box. The options are endless. From gourmet and spa gift baskets to gifts with books, jewelry and even tickets for special adventures. Here are some Valentines gift basket ideas that you can consider:
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From at least the time of the Aztecs, chocolate has been seen as an aphrodisiac. So we assume that it has been connected to Valentines day for many centuries. However, that isn’t the case. The roots of Valentine’s Day are ancient but still quite unclear. It’s possible it originated in the pagan Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia. Then morphed into a much tamer Christian feast day in A.D. 496, when Pope Gelasius I commemorated a martyred saint, Valentine. Or saints. In the third century, the Roman emperor Claudius II executed two men named Valentine on Feb. 14th, albeit in different years. It’s all rather confusing.
By the mid-19th century, Feb. 14 had become the day in Britain (and the U.S.) on which people expressed their affection by exchanging lavish cards decorated with lace, ribbons and plump, bow-and-arrow-wielding Cupids.
Chocolate has been around for centuries, but not in the tasty bars and tantalizing truffles you’re used to. For much of its early history, chocolate was used as a bitter elixir, often ground up with chili pepper or cinnamon by the Ancient Aztecs and Mayans to make it more palatable . The Aztecs are often credited with making the connection between chocolate and love, or at least lust, when 16th-century ruler Montezuma noticed that his ability to “please the ladies” was enhanced after drinking cocoa. Rumor has it that he drank three gallons of the chocolate-y drink a day to increase his libido. Claims like that make chocolate the perfect V-Day gift.
Food of the Gods
The scientific name of the cocoa tree is Theobroma cocoa in Greek: literally translated as ‘Food of the Gods’. What better way to spoil someone than offering them a treat good enough for Gods? Modern day gifts include chocolate roses, chocolate gift baskets and even boxes of chocolates.
Chocolate offers powers of love
The Aztecs created a beverage named ‘Xocolatl’, containing cocoa, honey and vanilla, which was believed to give special powers and arouse passion. The Aztec king would drink this potion before entering his harem, leading Spanish explorers to conclude that this ‘chocolate’ must indeed give special powers of love.
Chocolate to enhance your mood
Historical anecdotes are now supported by scientific evidence. Chocolate – ‘the love drug’ – contains phenylethylalanine. This releases endorphins in your brain, resulting in the same happy feeling you experience when in love.
The tradition of carving pumpkins, or jack-o-lanterns, began when early Irishmen immigrated to the U.S. According to Irish folklore, Jack was a blacksmith who had tricked the devil on several occasions. When he died, he was denied entry to both heaven and hell with the devil sentencing him to roam the Earth for eternity. In Ireland, people started to carve demonic faces out of turnips to frighten away Jack’s wandering soul. When Irish immigrants moved to the U.S., they discovered that pumpkins were more readily available and made better jack-o’-lanterns than turnips.
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