5 Handmade Gifts To Amaze Your SO With On Your Anniversary
Handmade gifts always beat something you buy because it becomes something personal, something thoughtful. So rather than buying your partner the generic necklace or watch, go for something that takes a little bit more time but will have them smiling for weeks. All you need for these gifts is some free time.
1. Open When….
These are great sentimental gifts that your partner will love. The premise is you write letters that fit a certain time or situation. So your first letter will probably be entitled ‘Open When… It’s Our Anniversary’ and you can write about how great your time has been together and your favourite memories.
The longer the letter the better because it shows them how much they mean to you, that you are willing to sit there and keep writing. You ever heard your partner say ‘there aren’t enough words to describe how much you mean to me or how much I love you’, well these letters are as many words as you need.
You can write as many as you like, about as many random topics or situations as you like.
Some topics to get you started include:
- Open When You’re Angry
- Open When You’ve Made Me Angry
- Open When You’re Hungry (a great opportunity to put their favourite chocolate bar in the envelope)
- Open When You’re Happy
- Open When You’ve Had A Bad Day At Work
- Open When You’re Missing Me
- etc.
The list is endless, you can keep going and make it as personal as you like. But it’s a great present to give because it keeps on giving. These letters could last him all year if he’s patient with them.
2. Memory Lane/Scavenger Hunt
This can be done however you like it really. The focus is on memory lane, bringing back the memories you’ve shared over the time you’ve been together.
You can do this as simply a box that showcases all the momentous you’ve collected like the picture below, or you could create a scrapbook that details the journey you’ve been on together.
Both have been done multiple times, there’s nothing wrong with doing a scrapbook, they are a treasured present. But, if you want to do something different, something that they will remember, then why not change it to a scavenger hunt!
What I mean by scavenger hunt is that rather than placing the memories in a book, you set them out around the house or local area. You then give your partner clues on where to go to find them.
The first clue could be ‘Where did we go for our first date?’, he then has to go to that place to find his next clue. It’s a fun alternative and more of an adventure. It also tests his knowledge of how much he remembers of your relationship, so make sure it’s clues he will know otherwise it’ll be a very slow scavenger hunt!
3. The Box
I’ve just said box because it’s up to you what you put inside. I know this present won’t be all handmade but the thought behind it will still be the same. Some ideas you can do with your box choose a specific colour, his favourite colour perhaps, and then base the gifts around that colour.
Say his favourite colour is green then you can do a box like below. If it’s blue then you can include Salt and Vinegar Pringles instead. The items inside don’t have to be expensive or extravagant, they can be obscure and cheap if they’re random sweets. But he will be laughing as he goes through the box seeing what you thought of.
Your effort and thoughtfulness will shine through.
Or you can make sure it’s all his favourite things so you know he will definitely enjoy it. Again they don’t have to be expensive gifts, just showing you remember all those bits of information about him will be enough to show your love for him.
Or if he’s a guy that appreciates the dad jokes, the puns, why not play along with it and make him laugh with your own puns. Get some sweets and chocolates, even a watch, and go crazy labelling them with cheesy puns.
(e.g. Wrap a watch round an apple and tell him it’s the new Apple watch!)
4. 365 Jar
Another classic handmade gift for your anniversary for your SO. This is a jar filled with memories, reasons that you love him and song lyrics sometimes.
It’s a gift that they will always treasure because when they’re feeling low they can go and pick some of the notes out of the jar and smile at all the random things you’ve written down. Perhaps you wrote you love that he always grabs your butt at every opportunity, or that he falls asleep in 2 seconds flat.
The more personal you can be for your partner the more meaningful the present becomes. So get started on your notes, it takes a while to get all 365 done.
5. The 5 Senses
Like the box, I realise not all of these presents will remain hand-made. But the way you are presenting them beats just a little trinket bought from the store.
So we have 5 senses, and we are trying to find a gift idea for all 5!
Sight can be some lingerie for yourself, or you could have found a nice shirt for him. It depends which you think he’ll appreciate most.
For taste, you could bake his favourite meal or dessert. Whether you make this into a full blown dinner, candles and romance, or putting a cake in a box to present the gifts all together is up to you. Just make sure that he doesn’t shake any of his presents so the cake will stay intact.
You could make a CD of all his favourite songs for sound. Perhaps he has a long commute to work and a CD with all his favourite songs to play would be an amazing gift for him. Not everyone has Spotify or the battery to play songs from their phone constantly.
Smell can be a candle, perfume/cologne or even a plant of lavender perhaps if you guys are big on gardening.
Finally, touch could be a cuddly toy, blanket or somebody oil for a massage or two.
