V-day gifts from the heart | Collab with Anya Marie

Happy Friday, beauties! You guys know for the most part how I feel about Valentine's day. Sure, it's a wonderful idea to share love with those you love. But, isn't that something we should be doing every day of our lives? But, it is an awesome excuse to show some EXTRA love, whether it be a significant other, a family member, a close friend, etc. Valentine's day isn't just for couples, and if you need some encouragement on this, check out my friend Elaini's amazing post about Valentine's day. Even if you don't need the encouragement, just check out her page anyways, she's amazing and inspirational, and she's listed as one of my favorite bloggers on my side bar as well.

If you feel the need to show someone you love them, here are some awesome homemade gift ideas so you can keep it cheap, but spread the love. My friend Anya Marie is doing another collab with me for this post. If you guys remember, we did a collab at the end of January for non-beauty favorites, and we had so much fun that we thought we'd do it again! Her blog is linked here, and she'll be doing a guys and gals gift guide on her blog, so check her out as well!  We are stoked to be doing another collab together. She's a total doll, you'll love her blog.

1. Open When letters // One of my favorite ideas for such a loving holiday is "open when" letters. I'm sure you guys have heard of these spread all over Pinterest, but in case you haven't, the basic idea is that you write a series of letters for when someone is feeling a certain way, to cheer them up, reassure them, etc. For example, "open when you're sad", and you can write about a time you had together that you know will make them laugh, or make their heart pound. You can include photos, experiences, jokes, wrapped gifts, that part is all up to you! This is so thoughtful and personal, and tailored to the person that you give it to. This is such an awesome idea for those long distancers too!

2. Personalized pottery // I love this idea because you can make something you know the person you're giving it to will love. It's practical, thoughtful, and homemade, what's better than that combo? And, my favorite part? Paint on the bottom "Love, ___. V-day 2016", as an extra memory. My mom made me a mug with the name of my blog on it for Christmas, and painted "Love, Mom, Christmas 2016" on the bottom, and it almost brought me to tears. If they're a tea-lover (like you know I am), make them a mug! You can simply paint it their favorite color, or you can paint a funny joke or saying on it, whatever is going to make that person smile.

3. "These are a few of my favorite things" package // This is my favorite gift idea for any holiday. A little care package with a shmorgashborg of the person's favorite things, with little notes on everything. When Jason and I had our first Christmas together, I created a giant box full of things like this. Chocolate sauce so he could make chocolate milk, Swedish Fish (his favorite candy), Apple Cinnamon febreeze for his room, with little notes like "to make your room smell like you could eat it". It's a gift that shows you care and that you really know the person, but it keeps you from going overboard on your bank account.

4. Candy bar poster // This is another gift idea I used years ago. For Valentine's Day, I went to the dollar tree and picked up a bunch of candy, and a gigantic piece of bright pink posterboard. I spent under $10 and I was able to make a really awesome gift. The idea is to tell a story, or write a letter, inputting the candy bars as some of your words. Some examples are "I love you because we are total *insert box of NERDS* together" and "I'm sorry I didn't spend a whole *insert PAYDAY candy bar* on this gift, I hope you still love me", etc. Just glue the candy bars onto the board where you need to insert the words. They get an awesome gift, and some sweet treats!

5. Pamper pack // We all have stress in our lives, and a great way to relieve that is by taking some time for ourselves. Now, this differs for everyone, so you can tailor it to your loved one whether it be a homemade batch of cookies, some bath bombs, etc. And, you can make it v-day related by adding food coloring to basically everything, pink dye to your cookie icing or pink food coloring to your bath bombs. Some other awesome pamper ideas are homemade sugar and salt scrubs for those with aches and pains! Bath bombs, sugar scrubs, salt scrubs, and cookies, are all so easy and cheap to make. There are v-day related ones all linked above!

I hope you all enjoyed this last minute v-day gift ideas post! Make sure you go check out Anya's corresponding post, and let me know what your gift ideas and plans for your Valentine's day are in the comments down below.