52 Great Romantic Ideas

With Valentines day almost upon us I thought we would bring you some creative romantic ideas.  Not just because it is nearing Valentines Day, but because I am a hopeless romantic and believe that everyday should be a day of love.  365 Romantic ideas would make for an awfully long read, so have decided to add 52 of the most romantic ideas we could find, one for each week of the year.  Try them out and for at least one day of the week, make the love of your life feel extra special and remind them of exactly how much you do love them.

1.  Write your partner a love letter or poem on one sheet of paper. Glue it to thin cardboard, cut it up into puzzle-shaped pieces, then mail all the pieces. Or, mail one puzzle piece per day!

2.  Buy a lottery ticket. Give it to your partner with a little note attached: “I hit the jackpot when I married you!”

3.  Make a custom certificate for your lover. (You can get blank certificate forms at a stationery or paper store.) Here are some suggestions: A certificate “For Putting Up With Me Over the Years,” an award for “The World’s Best Wife,” a ribbon “For Hugs & Kisses Above and Beyond the Call of Duty.”

4.  Initiate a spontaneous dance party. While you're cooking or going about other daily rituals, turn up one of your shared favorite artists and start grooving. Even if he tries to rein in your silly side, the moment he comes over to curb your running man can lead to a sweet, intimate hug and kiss.

5.  Take a walk down memory lane — visit some of the special places from your early days of dating.

6.  Make a scrapbook with photos, mementos, and little notes from you lives together. Then sit down together and relive those memories.

7.  Pretend you’re going on a first date — show up at the door with flowers, all dressed up, with your car washed and cleaned, looking spiffy. Recreate the first time.

8.  Write “I love you” in the steam on the bathroom mirror after he takes a shower.

9.  Write a poem. Then use Google Translator to translate a poem into either French or Italian. Then handwrite it out with the translation on the back side. Or better yet, greet your partner at night and read it to them with passion and then hand them the translation.
10. Make a CD with a few songs that are meaningful to your relationship, then tell him/her to play it on their way into work.
11. Surprise her at work and take her out to lunch, maybe take-out food in the park or maybe to a little diner, for a midday romantic interlude.
12.  Put together a little gift on his/her pillow: chocolate and a note that says “Your love is like chocolate: sweet and delicious.”
13. Cook a special love meal of your partner’s favorite foods. Play his favorite music and turn the lights low for a romantic dinner.
14. Send a text message or email that says “I love you!”
15. Mail a card and inside write down the top 10 things you love about your partner.
16. Give him a picture of you for his wallet that says “I love you.”
17. Leave a love note in her car telling her to have a great day.
18. When your partner least expects it, give him a great big kiss, even if it’s in public!
19. Go see a romantic movie, sit in the back row, hold hands, and cuddle.
20. King for a Day/ Queen for a Day. Declare that you will dedicate a particular day just to your partner to do whatever they want. Maybe start with breakfast in bed.
21. Buy a tree and invite your partner to plant it with you explaining that this tree represents the love between you both that will grow over the years.
22. In the midst of talking about how your days went, the chores that need to be done, etc. interrupt and say “I have something important to tell you. I love you and here’s why.” Then list 5 things (or more) that you really appreciate about your partner. Finish with a kiss and say, “Ok, so you were talking about the water heater.”
23. Write an old fashioned love letter and mail it. Be romantic and lavish. Have some fun with it.
24. Place an ad in the classifieds declaring your love. Then take the newspaper, wrap it in a bow, and put a little note on it saying what page to look on.
25. Blindfold surprise. Blindfold your partner and drive them to the place where you had your first date, and have that date all over again!
26. Do something romantic and spontaneous, like picking a flower and giving it to her right on the spot.
27. Make a small postcard sized love collage. Then cover it with clear packing tape. Write a love message on the other side and mail it!
28. Play hooky together. You work hard. Now today take a day to work easy at just sharing some fun time together. Call it an “I love you day.”
29. Make little “I love you” posters with either crayons, markers, collage, paint, whatever. Post them in surprising places: the bathroom, the wardrobe, the car, under her pillow, on her pillow.
30. Create a small website or blog dedicated to your partner. Write a short love message each day for a month…or forever.
31. Be super kind for a whole day. Act like you would with a new love, a child, or a frail person. Show lots of kindness, generosity, and love no matter what for a whole day.
32. Take an interest in your partner’s interests. For a woman it might be watching a football game with your guy. And for men it might be going to see a chick-flick. Do it with a spirit of enthusiasm and love. Have fun.
33. Sneak up behind her and give her a hug when she doesn't expect one.

34. Forward old e-mails/letters from each other again. Or print them up and get them bound into a love letter book.

35.  Plan a weekend away. This is seriously really important. Just take her somewhere nearby, or maybe a few hours away. A bed and breakfast for the night does wonders for the soul.

36. Talk a lot about good memories, scary dreams and what’s to come while lying down together before sleep.

37. Give your lover a dozen roses—with a creative twist. Give eleven red roses and one white rose. Attach a note that reads: “In every bunch there’s one who stands out—and you are that one.

38. Arrange a picnic – either in your living room, a place with a pretty view or in an interesting place (grassy knoll in the middle of a roundabout?) Laying out a picnic instantly makes any dinner a little more fun!

39. Go stargazing in the backyard or at a local conservatory.

40. Hold her hand, stare into her eyes, kiss her hand and then put it over your heart.

41. Write a fictional story about how you met/fell in love, etc. and give it to your lifemate.

42. Learn to say sweet things in foreign languages, including sign language.
43. Tuck a package of her favorite sweets into her purse. Tape a note to it that says you love her.

44. Leave a note for him to meet at his favorite bar or club. When he arrives, do some fun role-play and pretend you are meeting for the first time.

45. Designate a place as "yours" -- your favorite restaurant or bar -- and frequent it together often.

46. Feed each other dinner. Or better yet, dessert.

47. Put a little gift in a toy treasure chest (you can find them at party supply stores), and hide it in the house. Leave a trail of clues.

48, Around Valentine’s Day, buy a whole bunch of valentines. Give them to him/her at random times throughout the year.

49. Ask for a coin to toss in a fountain. Then say, “Actually, never mind, my wish already came true—I have you

50. Go a whole week without saying anything negative or critical—and pay compliments at every opportunity.

51. Talk about her right in front of her: Tell other people why she’s so amazing (or him)

52. Don't forget to buy gift for each other (large or small) for no reason other than to say I Love You.

For gift ideas for any occasion visit World of Hampers - Gift Baskets, Personalised Gifts - Novelty Chocolate Gifts and more....

Are You Paying A Fair Price For Gift Baskets

I recently read an article about how large supermarket chains were selling gift baskets and hampers that cost three times more than the individual items.  The writer of the article calculated the cost of each product sold in the said supermarkets as opposed to buying a gift basket filled with these products.  The writer however did not allow for the fact that the products she had priced already had already been marked up by the supermarket, and if she had calculated the price at the cost to the supermarket, not the consumer then these large supermarket chains in effect made more than three times the amount of the gift basket than the individual products would have cost.

Now all businesses need to mark their products up, if they weren't making profit they would not be in business, but there is a big difference between making a profit and greed.  Having said that on the other end of the scale you have home based businesses that charge too little for their gift basket creations.  I am sure as the consumer you may be thinking how can charging too little be relevant to you,

Think about it this way, if something went wrong, would the seller be able to afford to put it right.  Many sellers particularly in home based businesses, consider themselves to be hobbyists and do not add a markup to their baskets, but in many cases they have not covered their costs.  When you consider the cost of the basket, contents, wrap and bow in most cases the seller is selling at a loss, because they have not covered all of these costs.  Even if a seller was breaking even on the sale of a gift basket, the minute there is a problem that needs to be fixed they are already losing money.

No business can survive by just breaking even as they have not covered their running costs and do not therefore have the funds required to put problems right,  Let us say the gift basket you ordered arrived with you damaged, or worse still, got lost in the post.  The seller would have to honour the sale by sending out a replacement basket.  If they are just breaking even then the funds to create and send another basket would have to come out of there own pocket, and this is one of the reasons that many small home based businesses do not survive.

You as a consumer need to know that the company that you are dealing with has the resources to survive particularly in the case of small home based business.  If home based businesses are not covering their costs and end up closing down, you would find it difficult to get a replacement basket out of them should there be a problem with the basket they sent you.

For these reasons you need to know what is a fair price to pay for a gift basket.  You do not want to be paying the extortionate prices that large supermarket chains are charging, and neither do you want to risk purchasing low cost gift baskets from a home based business that is not covering their costs, and will therefore not be able to deal with any problems should they arise.

Ideally a small gift basket filled with quality products should cost you in the region of around £20 - £30 depending on the products provided.  Should the contents of the basket be of higher quality then the price should reflect this.  A small basket filled with items that can be purchased on the high street should cost in the region of £15 - £20.  These prices do not include any packaging or postal costs and would reflect the price should the basket be collected.  If the gift basket should be sent by courier then you can expect these prices to rise to the region of £20 - £35  This is to cover the cost of packaging including the box and packing materials, and this does not include the cost of delivery, which is additional. Obviously the larger the basket the higher the price.

So when you next look at purchasing a gift basket you should expect the prices to be in the region of £20 for a smaller basket to £50 and upwards for a larger basket.  Again this would depend on the size and contents of the basket.  Spa baskets tend to cost more as good quality skincare products can be quite costly.  Go for a basket that is priced to high and you will feel ripped off,and if you go for a basket that is priced too cheaply you take the risk of problems not being solved should they arise.

For baskets that are fairly priced please feel free to visit our website www.worldofhampers.co.uk

Article written by Jayne Groenewald - Owner of World of Hampers and Founder of UK Gift Basket Association.