Adult Craft

Monthly Dates: A DIY Date Night Gift for Your Partner

🎁 Christmas or Valentine's Day 💌 12 monthly dates 💸 Mostly low-cost dates

The idea

For my partner's Christmas gift I decided to create more of an experience than a physical gift. Each month for the next year, we had a date planned. The majority were low cost, with a few big-ticket months. It works just as well as a Valentine's Day gift.

Materials

A red gift box, a book of month and holiday stickers called A Year in Stickers, a pack of white ornate gift tags, and a pack of kraft cards and envelopes laid out on carpet

What we did

Step 1: Cut the cards in half

I cut each card in half, since I didn't have a lot of text to write.

Step 2: Add the tag and month sticker

I used rubber cement to glue the white tag onto the card, then added the month sticker to each card. Write that month's date on the tag.

Twelve kraft cards, each with a white ornate tag, a coloured month sticker, and a handwritten date such as DIY Ceramic Night, Spa Weekend, and Christmas Market

Step 3: Decorate the envelopes

For the envelope, I added the month sticker to the middle and tried to add stickers as clues to that month's date on the front.

Twelve kraft envelopes, each with a large month sticker in the middle surrounded by smaller clue stickers

Step 4: Seal it with a sticker

I sealed each envelope off with the month sticker on the back.

Twelve envelopes laid out in a grid: some with clue stickers on the front, some turned over to show a month sticker sealing the back, and a few with the finished white tag cards on top

Our 12 dates

Here's what we planned for each month. Most are low-cost, with a few big-ticket months.

  • January: DIY Ceramic Night. I bought the kit off Amazon and also gave it as a Christmas gift.
  • February: Spa Weekend. This also doubled as a Valentine's Day gift. We went to Thermea Spa in Whitby. This was one of our big-ticket months.
  • March: Dinner at Home. We made homemade butternut squash ravioli, simple but fun.
  • April: Movie Night. This was a gamble: what if there wasn't a good movie out? Luckily, Devil Wears Prada 2 came out.
  • May: Cooking Class. We opted for an immersive dinner. It was Banksy themed, with 7 courses where you learn all about his art and eat food inspired by the artist. This was another big-ticket month.
  • June: Jack Johnson Concert. This was a big-ticket month too.
  • July: Picnic in the Park. We went to Cobs and Loblaws for some food, grabbed blankets from home, and had a nice romantic dinner.
  • August: Camping. We planned to go camping, but it became a weekend in Blue Mountain at an Airbnb with the kiddos. Still a great time!
  • September: Billiards Night. This can be anything (bowling, arcade, Activate, etc.), something fun and interactive.
  • October: Comedy Night. We went to our local Second City.
  • November: Paint Night. We went to Crock-a-Doodle. This is a lot of fun, and the art turns out amazing for all levels of artist.
  • December: Christmas Market. Go to your local farm that hosts a Christmas market. We went to a festival of lights.

Result

Twelve envelopes, one date to look forward to every month. It's more of an experience than a physical gift, and most of the dates cost very little.

Some Photos From Our Dates

Someone smoothing a large sheet of terracotta clay on a table during DIY ceramic night, with a rolling pin and a cup of water nearby Homemade butternut squash ravioli topped with crispy bacon, sage, and shredded cheese in a patterned bowl A plate of crispy-skinned fish topped with an edible cubist-style portrait print, from the immersive art dinner A man and two small children standing at the edge of a calm lake on a cloudy day, seen from behind A hand-painted ceramic bowl, yellow with blue dots on the outside and solid blue on the inside A child in a green hat walking toward a glowing red arch of lights at a festival of lights, with Santa seated in the distance

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