When Dexter was born, I was worried that I wouldn't be a good enough mom, so I read tons and tons of books and blogs. When Rosalina was born, I was worried that I would be too busy running around with two kids, leaving my marriage in the dust. Then I found thedatingdivas.com website, which provides tons of free ideas for keeping the romance alive with date nights and love letters. What a great resource! So I've been busy for the past two months working on a massive series of "Open When" letters in time for our anniversary.
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| Source: The Dating Divas |
- Color printer
- $7 paper trimmer and scissors
- Glue stick or double-sided tape
- Pens (I got a pair of gold and silver ones to spice things up)
Here are the ideas that I used for each envelope label, in case you're interested. If the item didn't fit in the envelope, then I just wrote a short note saying what the gift was and where my husband could find it.
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| Source: The Dating Divas |
1) Open When... You need to know how much I love you
Materials: jar from the dollar store, miniature Reese's Pieces, blank circle stickers from the grocery store
How To: Write short blurbs of what you love about your guy (e.g., "your big heart," "you make me laugh") on the stickers, and then stick the stickers on the candy. Place the candy in the jar and label it "50 Reasons Why I Love You" (or in my case, 40 reasons because the candy bag only came with that many).
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| Source: Romance Novel Yourself |
2) Open When... You need a good laugh
Idea: Star in Your Own Romance Novel (Alternate Idea: Bitstrip Comic for Couples)
Materials: picture file of your SO
How To: Upload a picture of your man on romancenovelyourself.com, and you make make him into the star of a romance novel! (I seriously snorted to myself when I saw the final result.) Print out the image and seal it in the envelope.
3) Open When... You could use a little pep talk
Idea: Word Cloud of Praises
How To: Go to wordle.net and create a free word cloud of all your favorite characteristics that you love about him. The bigger you'd like a certain word to appear, the more often you should repeat it in the text you enter.
4) Open When... You are feeling lonely
Idea: Thinking of You (Alternate Idea: Missing U Card)
Materials: camera, picture editing software or Microsoft Word, printed out photos (optional)
How To: Take 4-5 pictures of yourself (may be helpful to have a friend or tripod) doing various chores or activities. Use the photo editing software to add a thought bubble on each image that says "You" (or maybe even your husband's name) and print them out as photos. In my case, I used Microsoft Word to add the thought bubbles and arrange the four photos in a grid on a single page. Then in the middle of the photos, I put a banner that says "Thinking of You" and printed it out on a regular 8.5" x 11" sheet.
5) Open When... You want to reminisce
Idea: The ABCs of Us
Materials: binder ring or ribbon, hole puncher
How To: Print out and cut the ABC "flash cards." Punch a hole in the corner of each card if you're going to put them on a binder ring or ribbon; I got lazy and just used a binder clip. Write down a favorite memory about your relationship for each letter of the alphabet. For example, for the letter "P" I wrote down "Pumpkin spice was the color of the walls of our first apartment together."
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| Source: The Dating Divas |
6) Open When... You want me!
Idea: 25+ Sexy Love Letters
How To: I'm not really good at being flirty with K, so I needed some help in this area! I chose the first letter called "Checking You Out" where it looks like an old library checkout card and you write down various dates when you were, well, checking him out. #^_^#
7) Open When... You’re worried
Idea: God Is a Light unto My Path
Materials: waterproof LED flashlight
How To: This one I made up. I wrote "Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." on a pretty card, and then bought a nifty little flashlight to go along with it. I was totally surprised how much he loved it!
Materials: waterproof LED flashlight
How To: This one I made up. I wrote "Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." on a pretty card, and then bought a nifty little flashlight to go along with it. I was totally surprised how much he loved it!
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| Source: The Dating Divas |
8) Open When... You’re upset or angry
Idea: Clever Candy Sayings for Almost Every Occasion
Materials: your husband's favorite candy
How To: This one I kind of assumed that he would be angry at me, so I picked an "I'm sorry" note that went along with my husband's favorite Ice Breakers ice cubes gum. Turns out he opened it when he was mad about work, so it didn't really make sense but oh well!
How To: What better way to help your husband fall asleep than give him a custom crossword puzzle full of romantic or memorable trivia that only he would know? Use clues like "City we were married in" (easy) or "Rosalina's birth weight was ___ lbs, 2 oz" (hard, hehe).
Materials: your husband's favorite candy
How To: This one I kind of assumed that he would be angry at me, so I picked an "I'm sorry" note that went along with my husband's favorite Ice Breakers ice cubes gum. Turns out he opened it when he was mad about work, so it didn't really make sense but oh well!
9) Open When... You can’t fall asleep
Idea: Custom Crossword PuzzleHow To: What better way to help your husband fall asleep than give him a custom crossword puzzle full of romantic or memorable trivia that only he would know? Use clues like "City we were married in" (easy) or "Rosalina's birth weight was ___ lbs, 2 oz" (hard, hehe).
10) Open When... You’re feeling happy
Idea: Happy Husband Kit
Materials: your husband's favorite snacks
How To: This is probably the most "expensive" gift, but it only requires you to spend $10-15 at the dollar store buying little snacks and trinkets. Print out quotes about happiness to tape on the items and then place them in a gift basket. Voilà, you're done! This is a great idea if your husband's love language is receiving gifts, but you're on a tight budget.
Materials: your husband's favorite snacks
How To: This is probably the most "expensive" gift, but it only requires you to spend $10-15 at the dollar store buying little snacks and trinkets. Print out quotes about happiness to tape on the items and then place them in a gift basket. Voilà, you're done! This is a great idea if your husband's love language is receiving gifts, but you're on a tight budget.
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| Source: The Dating Divas |
11) Open When... It’s your birthday!
Idea: Passport to Love
How To: The idea behind this one is that you create a itinerary where every month you two "travel" to an exotic location. I love experiencing new cultures but it's hard to fly with two kids, so this is a perfect substitute. For example, you can pick Ireland for March (to coincide with St. Patrick's Day) and plan to wear green shirts and visit a local Irish pub. For China, you can put on a martial arts movie and order Chinese takeout. (I have to admit, most of my suggestions involved food of some sort.)
How To: The idea behind this one is that you create a itinerary where every month you two "travel" to an exotic location. I love experiencing new cultures but it's hard to fly with two kids, so this is a perfect substitute. For example, you can pick Ireland for March (to coincide with St. Patrick's Day) and plan to wear green shirts and visit a local Irish pub. For China, you can put on a martial arts movie and order Chinese takeout. (I have to admit, most of my suggestions involved food of some sort.)
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| Source: The Dating Divas |
12) Open When... It’s our anniversary!
Idea: "Just Google It" Card
Materials: 8" x 11.5" sheet of card stock
How To: How cool would it be if you typed in "best husband ever" into Google, and got search results that all mentioned your hubby's name? Well, now you can do just that by filling in the blanks with a pre-made PDF card that has links that look like they come from Wikipedia, the Webster dictionary, etc. Perfect for any web-savvy husband!
Materials: 8" x 11.5" sheet of card stock
How To: How cool would it be if you typed in "best husband ever" into Google, and got search results that all mentioned your hubby's name? Well, now you can do just that by filling in the blanks with a pre-made PDF card that has links that look like they come from Wikipedia, the Webster dictionary, etc. Perfect for any web-savvy husband!
13) Open When... It’s Valentine’s Day!
Idea: Easy Peasy ABC Valentine's Day Card
How To: This is a cute, little card that spells out "I ♥ U" and you can write your own message inside. Just a simple, heartfelt message for your spouse on the day of love!
How To: This is a cute, little card that spells out "I ♥ U" and you can write your own message inside. Just a simple, heartfelt message for your spouse on the day of love!
14) Open When... It’s Christmas Day!
Idea: Stocking Stuffer Coupons
Materials: ribbon, hole puncher
How To: Looking for a last minute gift that any man will appreciate? Check out these Christmas-colored printable coupons with ideas like "Dessert of your choice" or "Guys night out." I ended up removing some because K's not a big fan of massages (weird huh?), but there are some fill-in-the-blank ones too for you to customize.
Whew! It was a lot of effort, but totally worth it. Hope these ideas help you out, whether it's for your anniversary, Valentine's Day, or just because. :)
Materials: ribbon, hole puncher
How To: Looking for a last minute gift that any man will appreciate? Check out these Christmas-colored printable coupons with ideas like "Dessert of your choice" or "Guys night out." I ended up removing some because K's not a big fan of massages (weird huh?), but there are some fill-in-the-blank ones too for you to customize.
Whew! It was a lot of effort, but totally worth it. Hope these ideas help you out, whether it's for your anniversary, Valentine's Day, or just because. :)
2 comments:
Wow, thanks for this - it's awesome! I really want to make this for my hubby.. had something like this in mind for his birthday (Jan 17) but just didn't get to it, so it will have to be for Valentine's :-)
And as for being a SAHM, I quit my job 2 years back with my little girl and started working from home. It's crazy, but doable - why don't you look into finding online writing work to do? Some companies allow you to claim articles to write whenever you have time, so you don't have the pressure of deadlines.
@Naomi - Best of luck getting it done in time! Actually I had a job working from home writing articles, but it became impossible to interview clients and conduct business with a noisy child in the background. Maybe I'm just not as great at time management. :)
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