5 Creative Ways to Celebrate Valentine's Day
Updated: Jan 29, 2022
It's that time of year again. You have survived the holidays and are hunkering down for the rest of winter and.... bam. Valentine's Day appears on your calendar.
We are all familiar with the typical Valentine gifts. Candy, flowers, stuffed animals, and jewelry. You might celebrate with a nice dinner and bottle of wine. It's all lovely and... kinda boring.
This year, push away those winter blahs with gifts and ways to celebrate that will bring some creativity and play into your Valentine's - and your own - life.
1. Have an Art Picnic - Make your time together romantic and creative. Get an old tablecloth or an easily washable one and pick a spot for your creative rendezvous. Bonus if you can do this in front of a fireplace (but you can always light some candles to deepen the mood). Gather some art supplies and go to town. A few ideas to give you inspiration:
Using pencil and paper, sketch each other blindfolded (No really! It's fun and very silly) and make that your Valentine's gift.
Nab some finger paints and a large canvas. Each pick 2 or 3 colors that remind you of the other person and together create an abstract piece using your colors.
Remember magnetic poetry? No? Am I dating myself? Make your own abstract poetry by cutting text out of magazines and newspapers and rearranging words to write sweet nothings to your sweetheart. Glue them to a construction paper heart and read them aloud to one another.
2. Take a Creative Class Together - Whether you venture out to a studio in your community or take an online class based anywhere in the world, there are many, many interesting ideas to choose from. Here are a few ideas:
Saori Weaving. If you have never tried this improvisational style of Japanese loom weaving, you really must. You can learn the basic techniques in about 5 minutes, and then you are off and running. Saori studios exist in many cities, and some have options to weave for an hour or two - and you leave with a beautiful piece of art for your sweetie. It's a pretty amazing experience.
Calligraphy. Spend some time learning the basics of this graceful form and then pen a love note to each other in your new beautiful handwriting.
Bookbinding. It's not as difficult as you might think to make a simple journal. Then you can fill it with all the ways you love your partner using words and images. Now that's a gift I would cherish.
3. Take a Photo Walk - Choose a neighborhood or nature spot to spend a few hours. While it is always fun to discover new areas, you can see a well-loved area through new eyes in this activity. Wander your new area, taking photos along the way. You can capture each other and interesting sights, but to make it more fun, take pictures of what you see from new and different angles. Try to take some that obscure what the picture is actually of. Or maybe take pictures only of shadows or circles or triangles or things that are purple.
When you get home, have each of you print out your 5 favorite photos. Make a collage of them and hang it on your wall to remember your special day together.
4. Create a New Recipe - Have each of you get three secret ingredients and meet in the kitchen. Make up a new recipe using what each of you brought and nothing else - except oil, salt and pepper, and and spices you have in your drawers. who knows what delicious concoction you might discover!
5. Make a Relationship Map - On a big sheet of paper, make a map representing the journey of your relationship to date. Together you can choose the markers that mean something to you - the day you met, your first date, the first time you cooked for one another - whatever feels right for you the two of you. Make your map as simple or embellished as you like. Does the path meander? What colors/pictures/shapes represent each marker? What does the actual path between markers look like?
Make sure to leave room on your map for what comes next in your relationship. You can add things as they occur throughout the year, or make this an annual Valentine's Day tradition and reflect on the year past.
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f other information about creativity and how it benefits our lives. I'd love to send you a free Creative Practice Toolkit as well, and you can click here to get that and join the Newsletter Community all in one fell swoop!
Happy Valentine's Day planning! I hope it is creatively wonderful for all of you.