Lifestyle

A Valentine’s Day Gift Guide

Sam and I don’t traditionally do much for Valentine’s Day. We don’t usually go out for a big meal (because restaurants hike up their rates with set menus) or buy elaborate gifts. But we do like to give it a little nod. We usually cook something special at home that night and give each other small gifts; flowers or a nice bottle of wine alongside a card. I know that modern Valentine’s Day is just corporate capitalism at its finest, but I find that the last bit of winter drags so much that a day to show a bit more love than usual actually feels quite timely and relieving. 

But for everyone who thinks that Hallmark invented Valentine’s Day, you’re utterly wrong. It was plastered over the pre-Roman festival of Lupercalia, a spring cleansing and fertility ritual that involved young men running around town whipping women with bits of leather. If you got struck, you’d be more fertile that year. You haven’t seen that on a greeting card lately, have you? 

UncommonGoods sells environmentally and worker-friendly unique designs and handcrafted gifts, and tries to promote small designers. Some of the good things the brand does are: 

  • Having a minimum wage 30% higher than the state’s minimum wage and also offers progressive family leave. 
  • It offers modest scholarships to students studying art and design.
  • They donate $1 from purchases to various non-profits on customers’ behalf. Therefore trying to mitigate its environmental impact. 

You can read some more amazing things about the story of the company.

I’ve curated a selection of Valentine’s Day gifts from the site that are fun things that you can do together or share as a couple. (Of course, it’s also tinged with a slight element of “what would I want most” but it is my blog, after all.) And because I don’t think that Valentine’s Day should be about how much money you spend, all my finds are under £20. Some of them are slightly cheesy. But it is Valentine’s Day, after all! So check out some of the Valentine’s Day Gifts you can find on UncommonGoods. 

uncommongoods
1. City Map Glass (£10.27) 2. Succulents puzzle (£11.74) 3. Avocado Tree Starter Kit (£14.76) 4. 100 Books Scratch Off Poster (£13.21) 5. What I Love About You by Me Book (£7.34) 6. A World of l Love You Poster (£18.34) 7. Ticket Stub Diary (£8.80) 8. Recycle a Bottle Plant Nanny Stake (£10.97) 9. Marital Bliss Game (£10.97) 10. With You I’m Home Poster (£13.21)

I was able to find loads of sentimental, but not overtly lovey-dovey gifts. And loads of things that you could do together as a couple. I especially love the idea of growing something as a couple, which is why the recyclable plant nanny and the avocado tree starter kit would be at the top of my list. But if you’d like to stay with something a bit safer, you might want to stick with the Handmade Jewelry category. But personally, I love loads of the Home Decor as well! 

If you don’t like any of my picks and you’re absolutely stuck, you can use Sunny, their new gift guide finder. You enter who you’re shopping for, their age range and their interests and Sunny pulls up a list of cross-referenced goods on the site that your person might enjoy. I tried it with Sam’s details and Sunny pulled up a lot of things that I think Sam would really love! 

Have you ever shopped at UncommonGoods before? What do you think of my picks?

***This post is in collaboration with UncommonGoods but all thoughts and opinions are forever my own.***

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