There were a few occasions, usually birthdays, where I used to make my girlfriend something special instead of spending money. We sort of had a tradition where on Christmas I would spoil her with very expensive gifts in the $400-700 range, and on her birthday I would often get something much less expensive (if I even bought her anything at all).
I would always write her a very lengthy, romantic letter, and a few times I made some sort of arts & crafts projects for her. One time I put a package together for her, with a letter titled "100 things I love about you". In the letter I included a very detailed list of all my favourite things about her. I also included a few pages of funny drawings of some of our favourite memories, along with a few paragraphs describing those events and how much I cherished them. I often included real pictures of us inside the package, or purchased an inexpensive, but nice picture frame and/or photo booklet to put all the pictures in. A craft like this can take hours and hours to complete depending on how much time you put into it, and how many memories you guys have together (usually depends how long you have been together). This is also a guaranteed success! There is no girl in her right mind who wouldn't melt over a romantic gesture such as this
Even though it is cliche, it is very true when people say "its the thought that counts". A gift that you have put hours of your own time & thought into creating and putting together will be far more effective than running out and dropping $800 on a new purse. Atleast with the type of girls that I usually date..
She won't be getting a iPad before me lol
