Gay and gayish Valentine’s Day gifts ideas for your special someone, from something sweet to ‘OMG that is… sweet!‘
By Mikey Rox
There’s a growing sect of society raining on everybody’s Valentine’s Day parade by crying foul on consumerism. It’s a Hallmark holiday, they shout. The candy companies just want your money, they howl.
You know what we say? So what?
Embrace it. Candy is frickin’ delicious, and who doesn’t like a thoughtful card every now and then? Go full Valentine’s Day this year, and throw up a finger to its bitter critics with this list of fab online-easy gifts from your gay heart to his.
Whisk ’Em Away
If you and bae are sweet on adventure, plan a getaway of fun and friskiness. Eat your weight in favorite foods with culinary tours from Avital Tours, Google for availiblity in select cities, or kick back and relax in the comfort of the quaint bed and breakfasts. Gay-run BandBFinder.com provides a comprehensive list of LGBT-friendly accommodations across the country.
Custom-Printed Comic Book
If you’re planning to pop the question this Valentine’s Day, skip all that knee jazz; ask your partner in crime to tie the knot with you by creating a custom comic book. YourComicStory.com will design a story from scratch using your memories and other personal details, the last page of which will reveal the big ask. The book also serves as a conversation piece and keepsake so you can relive the proposal over and over again.
Arrow to the Heart Necklace
A bushel and a peck and a charm around her neck. IsabellaGraceJewelry.com’s handmade, fine silver accent-charm necklace features both your names on separate arrowhead charms – so you’ll always be near each other’s hearts.
DIY Steak & Wine Dinner
Skip the line at your area’s most popular restaurants in favor of a DIY dinner featuring perennial Valentine’s dinner staples: red meat and red wine. Snake River Farms offers three decadent Wagyu beef gifts that arrive with everything you need to whip up a chef-quality meal in your own kitchen.
Present it on Lagostina’s new Nera Hard-Adonized Collection, available at Macy’s, and wash it all down with our red-wine recommendations: Angela Estate’s award-winning 2013 Pinot Noir, Hazelfern Cellars’ 2014 Williamette Valley Pinot Noir, or Van Duzer Vineyards’ 2013 Homestead Block Pinot Noir. To cap the night off, order a bottle of bubbly from PersonalWine.com that you can have hand-engraved to commemorate the special occasion.
Messages With Meaning
Cards and flowers are old V-Day standbys, but you can add more flair to the tradition with mail from Punkpost, an app-based service (iOS and Android) that sends left-of-center greetings featuring wink-and-a-nod wishes. You could also send the Captain Kirk and Spock “I love you/I know” lolo-ology.com’s Star Trek/Star Wars mash-up print; full-on fruit trees from PlantOGram that can be planted outside for years of enjoyment; or a lusty little note written on a spud (yep, that kind), delivered to your beau’s door courtesy of MysteryPotato (shown) Half-baked? Absolutely.
Same-Day Surprises
Even the most committed procrastinators can aim Cupid’s arrow for the bulls-eye. App-based Spoil (iOS) aims to save the day for those who forgot to pick up a gift with same-day delivery of flowers; balloons; booze; and tasty treats, like donuts, macaroons, cupcakes, and cookies.
Big Spoon + Little Spoon Bracelets
Wear your sleeping proclivities on your sleeve with the impossibly cute Big Spoon/Little Spoon leather-wrap bracelets by Article 22. Made in Laos, the most heavily bombed country per capita in history, the bracelets feature detonated metal bomb scraps leftover from the Vietnam War in order to help clear the remaining 80 million active bombs that remain scattered around the country.
Sugarwish Candygrams
Your sugar’s sweet tooth will be sufficiently satisfied with a gift from Sugarwish, an experiential choose-your-own candygram that allows recipients to customize their selections. A wide variety of popular and novelty candies are available – like mini Swedish fish, Bit-O-Honeys, candy necklaces, M&M’s, caramel creams, and gummies galore – that you can gift in 4 oz. bags of two to 16 or opt for a candy dish, complete with four full ‘fills’ of their favorite candies.
Original Grain Watches
More than anything else, your better half would prefer the gift of time. Give it this Valentine’s both figuratively and literally with help from Original Grain Watches. Available in men’s and women’s styles, these handsome pieces feature reclaimed wood and steel for a chic urban-meets-outdoors profile. In addition, each watch sold plants 10 trees for our planet.
For an in-store experience, drop by our preferred retailer GCB in the Ansley II Shopping Center for great gifts. You can also check out our Valentine Underwear Guide.