Posts Tagged ‘valentine’s day’
Valentine’s Day 2010: Coffee Gifts
This Valentine’s Day, I crossed Cupid with caffeine to give several coffee gifts to my wife. If you know a coffee lover, consider these gift ideas.
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While Senseo single-serve coffee offers 15 varieties, it’s missing some of our favorites. JavaPodz brings indulgent raspberry chocolate and blueberry cobbler flavors to our Senseo coffee maker. | |
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My wife enjoys coffee almost every morning. So these cotton “I need coffee!” PJs from PajamaGram are a perfect match for her wake-up routine. | |
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Nothing perks up a wrist like coffee beans. Artist Amy Pfaffman casted molds of real coffee beans for this silver bracelet from Uncommon Goods. | |
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According to Starbucks, “when coffee dreams, it dreams of chocolate.” Their dark chocolate espresso beans rounded out Cupid’s coffee theme. |
Tags: chocolate+candy, clothing, coffee, for her, gift ideas, jewelry, valentine's day
With Valentine’s Day three weeks away, it’s time to think outside of the chocolate box for guy gifts. Women may be tempted to give sentimental tokens on February 14, but most men prefer playful or practical gifts. (See the Seven Guidelines for Guy Gifts.) Consider these 10 guy gifts to celebrate Cupid’s big day.
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Victorinox Swisscard. Arm your guy’s wallet with a credit-card-sized multi-tool. The SwissCard includes a letter opener, scissors, tweezers, a magnifying glass, 3mm and 5mm flat-head screwdrivers, two Phillips screwdrivers, a LED mini light and an integrated ruler ($20 from Amazon.com). | |
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Mr. Beer Premium Edition Home Microbrewery System. Have your Valentine home brew and bottle his own batch of beer. With just four steps, this kit is great introduction to the craft of beer making ($40 from Amazon.com). | |
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6-month Netflix Gift Subscription. Introduce your guy to Netflix (or extend his current subscription). He gets DVDs in the mail or he can instantly stream movies to computers, game consoles and other devices ($54 to $102 depending on the plan, from Netflix). | |
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Buckyballs. Rolling Stone’s 2009 Toy of the Year. This set of 216 magnetic spheres can forms countless shapes. Give your Valentine this highly addictive gadget/puzzle ($26.31 from Amazon.com). | |
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Popcorn Palace. Send him a Valentine’s Day one-gallon tin filled with Chocolate Drizzle Caramel Corn and Gourmet White Cheddar Popcorn ($25 from Popcorn Palace). | |
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Gigantic Sweet Hearts Fortune Cookie. Create your personalized fortune message in a Nerf-football-sized fortune cookie. This treat is dipped in chocolate and coated with candy hearts. I loved the cookie received as an eighth wedding anniversary gift ($30 from Good Fortunes). | |
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Coffee Tote. Make sure he has java on his next junket. This black canvas tote holds a stainless steel vacuum flask for piping hot coffee, two insulated mugs, a small container for cream, two stainless spoons, and a napkin ($56 from Uncommon Goods). | |
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Cricket Laptop Stand. Make life with his laptop easier with this ergonomic stand. The Cricket props up any laptop computer nine inches for more comfortable viewing ($40 from Relax the Back). | |
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Slingbox PRO-HD. Set the TV free. Slingbox allows your guy to watch his DVR, cable or satellite TV on the go. This nifty device streams his favorite shows to a laptop or smart phone ($264 from Amazon.com). | |
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Personalized Steak Branding Iron. The mark of a real grill master. Order your guy’s initials for this iron, seared into a wooden gift box ($47 from Texas Irons). |
Tags: chocolate+candy, coffee, food, gadgets, games, guy gifts, movies, tools, valentine's day
If you’ve been struck by Cupid’s arrow, Valentine’s Day means a gift to your beloved on February 14. And for some, a mini-Valentine’s Day returns in the fall as Sweetest Day, the third Saturday in October. Find gift ideas from these blog posts covering both romantic holidays.
- Valentine’s Day 2010: Coffee Gifts (2/14/2010)
- Valentine’s Day 2010: 10 Gifts for Him (1/24/2010)
- Happy Sweetest Day 2009 (10/17/2009)
- Giving Personalized M&Ms (3/7/2009)
- Happy Valentine’s Day 2009 (2/14/2009)
- Choice Chocolates for Valentine’s Day (2/1/2009)
- Love is in the Mail for Valentine’s Day 2009 (2/1/2009)
- Happy Sweetest Day 2008 (10/18/2008)
- Sweetest Day is Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008 (10/13/2008)
- Valentine’s Day 2008: Step by Step (2/14/2008)
- Valentine’s Day 2008: 12 Gifts for Him (2/2/2008)
- Cupid’s Crystal Ball: How Will America Spend Valentine’s Day 2008? (1/30/2008)
- Happy Sweetest Day 2007 (10/20/2007)
- Sweetest Day is Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007 (10/15/2007)
- Giving Flowers (7/14/2007)
Tags: gifts by occasion, sweetest day, valentine's day
M&Ms have new meaning for me: Marriage & Memories. Late last month, I watched a college friend give her hand in marriage. And for the wedding favors, the couple gave the chocolate candy that melts in your mouth and not in your hand. They chose pink and white M&Ms to match the wedding theme colors, personalized with their names and the wedding date.
Visit MyMMs.com to customize the classic candies. First, pick two colors from 20 options. Then create a unique message on each color (two lines, eight characters per line). MyMMs.com prints one side of the candy; the other side carries the signature lowercase “m” you find on all M&Ms. It’s like text messaging via candy.
And if you’re sending custom M&Ms to your love, play off that urban legend about the green M&Ms as an aphrodisiac.
You also can upload a photo and have a your giftee’s face appear on M&Ms. I recommend choosing a single face for each M&M design because the candies are only one centimeter wide. The resulting image looks a black-and-white sketch, so avoid photos with shadowing on the face.
Allow about two weeks of lead time for your custom M&Ms. For one 7-ounce bag with personalized messages, you’ll pay about $17 plus $10 shipping. The unit price drops as you buy more bags ($14 per bag for two bags; $12 per bag for three bags). For faces on your M&Ms, you’ll need a minimum quantity of three bags for $13 per bag.
For the ultimate packaging, order the custom M&Ms with a cast-iron gumball candy dispenser with a glass top.
Tags: birthday, chocolate+candy, gift sites, photos, sweetest day, valentine's day, wedding
This year, Cupid gave bottles of wine and ballotins of chocolate. First, I chose the “Mondavi’s Cellar Selection” from Wine Country Gift Baskets. Four bottles of Robert Mondavi wine came in a gift basket stuffed with goodies like cinnamon cashews, bread twists, crackers and spicy snack mix. I’ll admit the sheer green ribbon adorning the basket doesn’t follow the red hues of Valentine’s Day. But the two red wines among the four bottles make up for it.
Next, I gave my wife the best wine opener on the market, Le Creuset Elegance Chrome Lever Model Screwpull
Finally, chocolate is a must for Valentine’s Day. I ordered online a 36-piece ballotin of Candinas chocolates. Candinas follows the Forrest Gump philosophy: “My momma always said, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’” Unlike other chocolatiers, you won’t find a map to each Candinas chocolate in the box. Candinas makes different batches of chocolates each day, a delicious chaos that makes a map impossible. These chocolates are heavenly, and we’ve learned to appreciate the mystery. And Candinas makes the chocolate fresh with no preservatives; it’s good for only 10 days. We’re up to the challenge.
Tags: chocolate+candy, food, for her, gift baskets, gift ideas, indulgences, valentine's day, wine
