by S. Arrieta
It's the month of love again and what do you have planned on that
special day? Forget about expensive gifts! Love isn't about
that. Here are nine *cheap* but equally effective things you can
do on Valentine's Day for your partner, your family, or anyone
you want to express your love to:
- 1. Put together a compilation of twelve of the most romantic
songs you and your partner both enjoy and love to hear into
a cassette tape of a CD. Go through your CDs and tapes of
love songs and pick those you think are the most romantic for
you and your loved one. If you can't record any of these, you
can go to your nearest music store and find a CD of love
instrumentals. For as little as P250 per CD, this is pretty
cheap! If you want to give your parents something, why not
look for that CD or tape your mom or pop has always wanted
but has never gotten around to buying? That Platters or
Beatles CD or tape could very well be the thing your parents
would need to cheer them up on Valentine's.
-
2. Prepare a special candlelight dinner for two. Nothing fancy,
and the food could be your partner's favorite. So what if it's
paella? Or that beef nilaga that he or she likes? The important
thing is you have prepared something special for the two of
you.
-
3. Call into action those trusty romantics -- Byron, Shakespeare,
and Frost, to name a few. They have written some of the world's
most romantic poems. You can go to your local library, copy
several of their poems. Using one of those artsy computer programs
like Paintshop Pro, add little hearts and some graphics and use fancy
fonts. Print the poems on good quality paper, add a hard cover, bind
it and you now have a collection of love poems you can give your
loved one.
-
4. If you'd rather take the plunge to love without the help of the
poets mentioned above, then by all means write your own love poem,
print it out, sign it, personalize it, have it framed (inexpensive frame,
of course!) and give it to your loved one on V-day.
-
5. Put together a collection of those cheap inspirational or motivational
books (those soft cover ones you can buy in Christian bookstores),
wrap it in one package. With this gift, you'll give your loved one not
only love itself, but the God who is the ultimate source of love.
-
6. If your partner love to listen to a particular radio station, why not
call the station and give a special request? Most radio stations welcome
caller requests. You can request you and your partner's love song to
be played, along with a short dedication from you. Make sure though
that your loved one gets to hear this.
-
7. On the morning of Valentine's Day, get up early and write "I love
you" on the bathroom mirror using a red lipstick. When your partner
wakes up, this will be the first thing he or she will get to see and
this will surely put a smile on his or her face. An alternative to the
red lipstick is to write the words using a shaving cream; or you can
cut out letters and tape them on the mirror (if you don't like getting
messy with the lipstick or shaving cream).
-
8. Make up a three-day Valentine marathon. Depending on when you
want to start it, you can start stuffing surprises in places where
your loved one will be most likely to see it. Let's say on February
12, you hide some heart-shaped chocolates on his/her drawer. When
he finds it, he'll read the note you stuck saying that there'll be another
surprise the next day. On February 13, stuff a valentine card on his
attache or her hand bag. Then on the big day, why not let him wake
up in a room decorated with hearts or any other Valentine motif?
-
9. On Valentine's Day, why not bring your loved one breakfast in bed?
Oh, and while you're at it, why not put a single red rose to go with that?
This Valentine's Day, express your love to the people who matter to
you. You don't have to spend a lot of money to be able to do that. Just
the simple things we enumerated to you would suffice and are just the
things to do to top any expensive gifts!
And after that, continue Valentine's Day everyday.