Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. During such a happy time of joy and appreciation, it only makes sense to give gifts to others, so if you’re strapped for gift ideas, consider some of the following.

Family:

Because family members are such important figures in one’s life, it may be difficult to find a proper gift for them that reflects their special position in our lives. Good gifts are given with thought and love, whether they are items that your family member has had an eye on for some time, or something that you know they’ll like based on their personality.

However, the greatest gifts that you can give to your family are not store-bought.  Rather, homemade gifts can show your appreciation by presenting a gift that was created by your own hands, rather than merely a box of name-brand chocolate or a card.

What, then, are good gifts to make on your own?  One option is to take them by surprise with a home-cooked meal.  If they are usually busy, they will definitely appreciate something to lighten their load and take their mind off of work.  Another gift to consider is rather than buying chocolate, to make some of your own!  After all, what is Valentine’s without chocolate.  

Friends:

If family is the white rice, then friends are the other ingredients that spice up the

metaphorical food bowl of life. It’s important to give back to the people who add color to your life.

One common gift for friends during Valentine’s is obligation chocolate, given to affirm and strengthen relations.  While this is a good option, it feels a little impersonal with all of the options out there.  Instead, try to go for a gift that is a little more specific to each friend.

The best gift for a friend is one that commemorates the time you have spent together and the memories that you have made; one that represents your friendship and how much they mean to you. This could be a gift that commemorates something you did together, from a picture of an event, or a souvenir from a theme park that you visited together, to ticket stubs from a concert you went to together.  

Romantic:

Valentine’s Day wouldn’t be complete without giving a gift to that special someone. As the day of the year most closely associated with couples, some may wonder what would suffice as a gift for that special someone. However, finding the perfect balance between hackneyed and abstract can be challenging, as many common Valentine’s ideas have been driven into the ground. What to do?

In this case, why not gift flowers? Instead of purchasing a generic bouquet of roses, pick up specific flowers with meaning from the local florist. There exists an entire language within flowers, with meanings ranging from purity to health to good fortune. Some lesser-known flowers that would make a great gift or addition to another gift are the Ambrosia, a symbol of reciprocated love; the Dandelion, a symbol of faithfulness and happiness and the Orchid, a symbol of beauty and love. There are hundreds of flowers with different symbolic meanings; pick one that most accurately reflects the message you want to portray, and it will surely be transmitted to the recipient.