Homemade Valentine’s Day ideas

• Hand-dipped strawberries

-Ingredients:

•1 quart strawberries

•1 (12 ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips

•1 tablespoon butter-flavored shortening

•1/2 cup shelled, chopped unsalted pistachio nuts(optional)

-Directions:

Wash strawberries and thoroughly pat dry. Set on paper-towel lined tray while preparing chocolate. Melt chocolate and shortening in top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir chocolate until smooth. Grasp each strawberry by stem end. Dip strawberry 3/4 of the way into melted chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. Place coated berries on foil-lined tray and immediately sprinkle lightly with pistachios. (Use one hand to dip berries; the other to sprinkle nuts.) When all strawberries have been dipped, refrigerate tray until chocolate sets, about 20 minutes.

• Make Breakfast!

A few easy ideas: French toast, waffles, fruit, scrambled eggs, omelet, or whatever you know he/she will like.

• Burn a CD!

Assemble a list of about 20 of his/her favorite songs or make a list of romantic songs, whichever you want to do. Burn the songs onto a CD and decorate the CD case with hearts and other Valentines Day décor.

• Make a massage “coupon”

A funnier idea, this is sure to make them smile! Using construction paper or patterned paper, make a coupon that is good for one free massage, foot rub, facial, etc.

Box of Chocolates

An overdone gift idea but always a good one when starting out a new relationship or when you are not sure what to get that special someone.

A couple of yummy brands are:

Malley’s Chocolates – prices starting from $5 up to $30

Sarris Candies – prices starting from $5 up to $60

A box of chocolate can be bought anywhere from Wal-Mart to a local drugstore. Even gas stations carry Valentine’s Day chocolates.

Funny/Romantic greeting card

A greeting card is always a simple and easy gift to give. It gives you options to be serious or funny and even somewhere in between the two. You can even get a greeting card that records your own message or plays a special song that you share with your sweetie. Greeting cards are sold at Wal-Mart, drugstores and dollar stores. Prices start out at 50 cents.

Ice Cream cake

Who doesn’t love ice cream cake? Baskin Robbins and Dairy Queen are doing special Valentine’s Day cakes for the holiday. If your sweetie loves ice cream and cake then it would be a great gift idea. Some say, “the best way to a man or woman’s heart is through their stomach.” Prices for cakes start at $10.