If you’re trying to come up with a personalized and thoughtful gift for a loved one – whether for Christmas or any other occasion – I have a great idea for you! If you’re like me and enjoy perusing Pinterest, you may have seen people who create a year of dates for their significant other. Some give ideas for each month, while others go and buy tickets and gift cards to go along with some of their ideas so they are mostly ready to go.
DIY Date Night Book: An Easy Gift Idea for Anyone Special In Your Life! #ontheblog #DIY #datenight Share on XI used to look at these all the time a few years ago, but I wasn’t dating anyone (I’m still not) so I decided to tweak the idea and make a Mother/Daughter Year of Dates for my own mom. I gave this to her two Christmases ago and we loved it so much, I did it again last year…and I’m doing it again this year. She knows what she’ll get every year, in terms of it being 12 dates, but she never knows what those will actually be so it’s still very much a surprise if you want to make this a yearly tradition!
When I first started this, I went on a search for Date Night books and I found the perfect one! It’s a book made up of envelopes, and each one has the name of the month. When I bought this it came with idea cards – I just used those for someone else’s gift – and I put my own ideas/gifts into the envelopes. Now I have this lovely book that I simply refill every year. I got mine from Jenny Lynn Paper on Etsy. Right now she’s not selling any of these, but she has other great ideas if you want to check her out – and you can always message and ask about Date Night books! I give this to my mom every Christmas now, but it would make a lovely Birthday or Mother’s Day gift too!
Since my mom reads my blog, I can’t share my date ideas for 2018, but I can tell you some of the things we’ve done in the past!
We saw the Broadway musical A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. We love musicals so this was a fun outing for us!
I had two tickets to AMC Theaters and another coupon for a free popcorn. This was for the month of May, so we ended up seeing the movie Snatched – as it dealt with a mother and daughter!
We went to a spa and got ourselves a relaxing pedicure! Here are my toes with a pretty purple color.
Another musical! This one was Disenchanted, which my sister and I had seen in New York on Off-Broadway. It’s a hilarious musical about the Disney princesses after happily-ever-after. My mom really enjoyed this one too!
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Now, maybe you’re thinking: how do I come up with 12 ideas? This book might say Date Night, but obviously the dates can be any time of the day – like when we got our pedicures! As for date ideas, try and think of things that you and the recipient already enjoy and then perhaps add in some things that you’ve never done but would like to do! This could be seeing a play/musical, getting a spa treatment, going to a new restaurant, going to a community event like a festival, make your own ice cream, etc. You can always look at other date night ideas on Pinterest and go from there!
What really helps me figure things out is by looking at websites that offer deals, like Groupon and for Cincinnati folks, CincySavers. I’ve definitely utilized these websites to help save money because I really like having as many things ready to go beforehand. Last year I probably had about half and half: half just ideas written down and half things that already had tickets or gift cards included, to make things easier! For 2018, I’m really hoping to have something included for every single month; whether that’s a full ticket or just some money included to help with costs. Of course you can do just ideas and worry about the monetary costs as each month arrives. Plus, there is nothing wrong with finding cheap or free things to do like going to the park, playing in the snow, having a movie and/or game night, etc. The idea is to spend time with whoever you are gifting this to – not to break the bank!
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Finally, if you can’t find a Date Night book like mine, or simply don’t want to make your own “book”, then I suggest searching Etsy for fun envelopes! You can get 12 envelopes, fill them up with ideas, and then put them all in a nice box or bag that your recipient can keep throughout the year! Some fun ideas I found on Etsy are these 12 Teeny Tiny Envelope Note Card Set, 10 Handmade Calvin and Hobbes Envelopes, 8 1904 Wizard of Oz Upcycled Book Page Envelopes, or these 10 Alice in Wonderland Envelope and Card Set. Besides the first option here, these all have less than 12 envelopes – but you can always double the order or message the owner to see about adding for an extra price!
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Voila! A fairly simple (if you want it to be) gift perfect for any friend or family member that you hope to spend more time with. Again, I’m sharing this now if you need a great Christmas gift, but it’s not just for the holidays! After all, you can start the year whenever you want. If you’re interested in making your own Date Night book, don’t go shopping without using your Ebates account so you can get cash back at places such as Groupon and Etsy. If you don’t have an account, feel free to use my affiliate link (I get cash back when you make a qualifying order, and if you spend at least $25 somewhere, you automatically get $10).
Tell me – would you make a Date Night book for anyone in your life? Would you want someone to make this for you? What date ideas would you choose? I’d love to know!
This is such a brilliant idea and I love that you do it with your mom!? I would definitely have done it with my mom too. Unfortunately, she’s no longer with me but this brings me so much joy! I hope you have a lovely holiday and happy reading ? xoxo
What a lovely idea to prioritise connection as a couple. Very sweet- thanks for sharing
Such a fun idea! I would love to do something like this with my mom, or my boyfriend.
What a wonderful idea for a NON-stuff gift!
That is such a fun idea, I love the idea of giving a gift that involves time together versus actual things! I’m all about experiences!
Like you, I’m a deal hunter, and if I can help it, don’t want to pay full price for anything. (lol) I need to hold onto cash when I can. Kudos on the Pretty Purple toes, and such a great idea for the Date Night book. Very creative. Happy Friday! Hugs…RO
So cute that you did this for you and your mom! I have those same teva sandals!
What a cute idea!
This is such an awesome idea!!!! I love it. I totally want to do this for my kids next year.
That would be so fun! I hope you get the chance to put it together.
What a great idea! I love the idea of a pedicure and Disenchanted sounds like a funny story! Thanks for sharing!
Can you gift me a boyfriend? Cuz that’d be awesome. 😉
This is such a fun and sweet idea! Sounds like you and your mom get to do some awesome things together 🙂
OMG! This is such a great idea. I should totally do this with my mom. She so deserves it especially this year.
This is the CUTEST idea! How creative!
Fun idea Lauren! I bet your mom looks forward to this gift every year! Thanks for sharing!!
This is such a fun idea, Lauren! I’m going to have to try this!
Great idea! Loving it!
I love going to Musicalsl. They are so much fun. My favourite is Wicked. In London I went to see Wicked and the songs are still played daily! 🙂
Oh I love this idea! I bet your mom loves it too–I would love to get a gift like that! I’m actually doing something similar for my husband, but I used printables from a bundle I ordered last year–so it’s nothing original 🙂
This is such a wonderful idea! And so creative too 🙂
This is an incredible idea Lauren and such a beautiful gesture. I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten older, I really appreciate personalised gifts too, the amount of time and effort spent on making them feels wonderful. This would be perfect for kids and planning outings, siblings and offering to take the children, even a little naughty and creating sexy ones for a partner. You’re brilliant, just love it! <3
This is such a fun idea! I really loved reading about it! I might have to try this out with my mom, I think she would really enjoy it!
I loved that you tweaked it for Mom and Daughter. I would love to do all these things with my girls.
I have never heard about this before, and I absolutely love it! And I love that it’s something you give to your mum every year <3
Now I want to try and think of someone who I could do this for because it's such a lovely and personal idea. And like you said: you don't have to include dates that have a cost attached to them. Games nights, movie nights, dog walking – all of those things are free but also incredibly lovely and thoughtful.
Thanks so much for sharing this post, Lauren! It was so lovely and I really enjoyed reading it ^.^ Also, your dog is BEAUTIFUL!!
I always love the idea of DIYs. It is so totally creative, fun and innovative. This is a fantastic idea just to be different. My loved ones will sure to adore this.
StyleSprinter Blog by Katya Bychkova
You are too sweet! I am sure your mom loved that. This book sounds like something I need in my life, my husband have been having the go out to dinner date night rut, but haven’t done much of anything else!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
I absolutely love this idea!
This is adorable! I saw that cute picture with your Husky on IG and was excited t finally get over here and read about it.
OUTSTANDING!!! Pleases do this post every year so I don’t forget!!!!!!!!
Sure! I’m planning on sharing the actual dates, etc.
This is actually a great idea! I would actually do with my Mum too! Thanks for sharing with #bloggersbest x
[…] few years I’ve been giving her the same type of gift for Christmas: A year’s worth of mother/daughter dates! Each month has a different outing, whether that’s a play, a local event, a movie, pedicures, […]