Valentine's Day Gift Guide: For Him

Don't worry, I didn't forget about the guys. They're the tricky ones to shop for, anyway. Same rules: top ten traditional items turned on their heads, all under 40 bucks each. Have at 'em.

1) With these stainless steel martini glasses, he'll admit he likes theoccasional cosmopolitan. Salute the holiday

in style.

Set of two glasses

$5 at Target

2) Girls aren't the only ones who deserve sexy underwear on Valentine's day. Let him know he's the king of your heart.

Boxer Shorts

$8.50 at Old Navy

3) A flying saucer that also makes juice. He won't know

he always needed one until he gets one.

Juicer

$18 at Pylones

4) These sleek, silver frames make your photos appear to float. Stick a black and white pic inside for a gift that looks great displayed anywhere.

Float Frames

From $19.95 on CB2

5) Ugly Doll: cuddly as a teddy bear, but with more stubble.

Suntan Target Ugly Doll

$20 at UglyDolls.com

6) Keith Haring's water bottle for Sigg is as functional as it is romantic as it is artful. So many birds with just one stone.

Sigg Bottle

$20 at Sigg.com

7) He gives you flowers every year. This time it's your turn. This cactus garden is spiky, and therefore more masculine, I guess.

Cactus Dish

$29.99 (small size) at 1-800-Flowers

8) This flask is cased in a beautiful, buttery, leather casing. Who knew sneaking liquor into a concert could be so classy?

Flask

$34.50 at J.Crew

9) I always say that chocolate is a little bit of a cop out, but add "fondue" to the mix and suddenly, you're freakin' thoughtful.

Romantic Chocolate Dinner

$35 at Max Brenner

10) Boys of any age love Legos. I actually think this is a proven fact. And we all know they love computers, so jog their memory with a little blast from the past.

1GB Lego Flash Drive

$35.99 at AC Gears

Valentine's Day Gift Guide: For Her

Only one week until the big V-Day! Like the idea of traditional gifts but don't want to get all mushy? I understand. Here are my top ten picks for gifts that she'll appreciate getting and you won't feel like a walking cliche giving. One rule: everything is under $40. Go!

1) Your lady is shoe crazy? How did I know? Kill her with cuteness every time you pour a drink with this set of reusable, high heeled ice cubes.

Set of six ice cubes
$5.95 at CB2




2) So you're not the poetic type; no sweat. Pablo Neruda's got your back.

Love Poems by Pablo Neruda

From $8.60 on Amazon

3) Now every time she bakes or cooks for you, it will be made with love, no matter what.


Measuring Spoons
Set of four for $9.99 at Target

4) Give her an initiative to save her pennies for a romantic get-away with you. She'll remember every time she sees this adorable bank.

Elephant Bank

$12 at Urban Outfitters




5) If you feel uncomfortable giving her massage oil, just remember that Julia Rothman designed the label. It's not only sexy, it's ART.

Kissable Massage Oil
$15 at Victoria's Secret

6) You don't have to be at sea to send her a message in a bottle. The old nautical way goes land-bound with this quaint set.

Love Message in a Bottle

$16 at Anthropologie

7) Your heart is hers. Let her know it everyday in a more abstract way.

Caged Stone Pendant

$24 at Free People

8) Candies are so stereotypical, but these Butlers Chocolates are extraordinary, and with packaging by Orla Kiely, your girl will never throw the box away.

Butler's Chocolates by Orla Kiely

£17 (around $26) at John Lewis

9) Flowers die, but this red roses pillow is super comfy and lasts forever. (Also available in felt, and yellow roses. Yum.)

Pillow

$29.25 at Pier 1

10) Give her an apron that she'll actually want to wear--both in and out

of the kitchen.

Apron

$32 at Anthropologie

Paper Roses (NOT the Marie Osmond song)

Whether it's Valentine's Day, an anniversary, a graduation or a 5th grade piano recital, we all seem to reach for flowers as the chosen token of gratitude. Yet, if you're a Practical Paula (like me), you'll stumble upon a few caveats when receiving bundles of foliage : 1) It's not an original idea, 2) They're expensive, and 3) They're going to die soon, anyway.

I'm not totally bashing flowers, here. They can actually be a really lovely gift idea. So, to avoid any of the above issues you'll run into when purchasing professional floral arrangements, why don't you give paper flowers this Valentine's Day instead? They're easy to make, they cost as much (or less) as live flowers, and THEY ARE IMMORTAL. So they'll stay beautiful forever.

You can find them in craft stores or online. Here's an example from Paper Source:

The kit comes with everything you need to assemble the flowers, plus directions! Directions, by golly! Didn't you always wish affectionate gestures came equipped with a set of directions? I know I did.

This kit to the left produces a bouquet of summer Magnolias, so when you're done, they should look like this below:

Lovely, no? The thing I like about this idea is that these will work great on an office desk or another small, crowded surface that needs a little color but does NOT need to be littered with decaying plant matter. And like I mentioned before, they last forever, so your loved one will always posess a little floral reminder of you. Aww.

Not a magnolia person? Here are some other Paper Source flower kit options:




Well, I'm officially obsessed. And did I mention that all these kits are 15 bucks? Not too shabby for flowers that last a lifetime. And Obviously, Paper Source is not your only option. There are a few kits on Amazon and Martha Stewart's website. If you don't feel like assembling this stuff yourself, I recently saw a bunch of ready-made flowers at Pier 1 for like, 75 cents each. Even cheaper than that? How Stuff Works has a tutorial on making flowers out of regular, old paper.

I guess the only issue we're left with is, can you give men paper flowers? Or flowers in general? I say yes, but maybe a Valentine's cactus would be more, err, manly. I'll do my research on paper cacti.

Oh hey, February, what are you doing here?

People do NOT like Valentine's Day. Do you?

I think the hate originates sometime in high school when teenagers start to feel (ugh) feelings and invent unrealistic expectations about romantic, Parisian, Lady and the Tramp-esque dinners on February 14th. Then when that doesn't happen, and you end up making out with some gross basketball player in his parents' rec room until your 11:30 curfew, (or if you were like me in high school, staying in to watch Will and Grace reruns alone), you decide that no sir, V-Day is not for you. Never again will you pay homage to a dumb, cherubic baby with wings and an affinity for archery.

But even at the ripe old age of 22, I actually do like Valentine's Day! I always hark back to the pleasant memory of grade school Valentines: shopping with my mom to pick out the perfect cards, snapping the cardboard's perforated edges into little rectangles and customizing each one for every member of my class, even Yucky Paul who smelled gross and ate erasers. Those were the days.

That's why this year I'd like to try for the 3rd grade approach and hand out fun goodies to all my friends and roommates. Yeah, NSYNC Valentines would be ideal, but I'd like to try a more creative approach. Like these adorable little suckers:


Brooke over at Inchmark came up with this great idea to make tiny candy boxes out of match boxes. Unfortunately I'm not yet creative enough to have come up with a neat idea like this myself, but I think I'm going to try a version of this for my friends this V-Day. I'll probably fill them with dark chocolate, and maybe use a weird/ironic print? Not sure yet, but I'll definitely document and post the process. If you'd like to try Brooke's craft, you can read her directions here.

In the two weeks leading up to the big day, I'll post some more Valentine's Day gift wrap tips and ideas in attempts to extinguish the Cupid hate.