How to Skip the Commercial Hype on Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day may have been created by greeting card companies as a means of selling their products, but it doesn't mean you have to buy into the commercial hype. There are many creative ways you can celebrate the special day with your lover while avoiding the pressure to buy cards, roses and heart-shaped boxes of chocolate.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Make a Valentine's Day card at home instead of buying a traditional greeting card. Not only will you be skipping the commercial hype, but you will be creating a unique and heartfelt gift for your lover. Be creative and try to avoid heart shapes and cupids. Write a poem in the card or find your own way of expressing your love for your partner.
2. Enjoy a quite dinner at home. Wining and dining your lover does not mean going out to an expensive restaurant. Many restaurants offer extravagant and romantic Valentine's Day dinner menus, but a candle lit dinner at home can be less expensive, easier and more meaningful.
3. Choose to give daisies, lilies or tulips instead of the classic red rose bouquet. The price of roses tend to escalate at Valentine's Day, so skip the commercial hype and select something untraditional. A simple bouquet of hand picked wildflowers or simple daisies says "I love you," just as much as long stemmed red roses.
4. Bake a special dessert to share with your partner on Valentine's Day, instead of buying a heart shaped box of chocolates. Candy makers love to charge you extra for their sweet treats, packaged in red hearts and cellophane, but a homemade cake or candy is just as sweet and special.
5. Give a special and unique gift to your partner instead of diamonds or red underwear. Just because the traditional Valentine's Day gift is something red and plastered with hearts, doesn't mean that you have to participate in the hype. Choose a Valentine's Day gift just as you would choose a birthday gift; something that will show your loved one just how much you care.