We’re here to help you shop your heart out in the run-up to Valentine’s Day. To help you spark a connection on the road, at home and behind closed doors, here are 15 gifts that made it onto our hit list, no flowers required.
One-of-a-kind
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Commission a custom illustration to commemorate your relationship from Élana Camille Creates Paper & Design. This hand-drawn illustration can capture a moment or memory you’ll want to display prominently in your home. For last-minute shoppers, a high-res digital version will be e-mailed to you before the 8″ x 10″ print arrives shortly after, or you can let your partner select the photo and go through the design process together.
Couples Custom Fashion Illustration, from $215, through elanacamillecreates.com
Wanderlust
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Make packing for spontaneous weekends away easier with the Monos’ Metro Weekender. Available in a range of colours in nylon and vegan leather, this bag lets you pack 72 hours of must-haves with plenty of space for extra sweet nothings you buy together on the road.
Metro Weekender, $300, through monos.com
A moment in time
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Whether you want to use the Insta-Natural mode or the Insta-Rich mode, Instax Mini Evo has 10 filters to flatter your loved one and a built-in printer so you can save your memories now and later.
Instax Mini Evo, $249.99, through chapters.indigo.ca
Bon Appétit
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Food writer Bre Graham transforms the everyday ritual of cooking into something special with her cookbook, Table for Two. The recipes make mealtime approachable with deliciously uncomplicated dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, including several “easy to impress” recipes for a handful of herbs omelette, prawn and pistachio tagliolini and an easy-to-bake madeleines recipe for the amateur pastry chef.
Table for Two: Recipes for the Ones You Love by Dk, Bre Graham, $33.99, through chapters.indigo.ca
Better plate than never
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Upgrade your table setting for date night by switching everyday dishes with a brand-new set from Fable. The stoneware, hand-finished in Portugal, makes you feel like you are dining at a high-end restaurant, adding a bit of romance to mealtime for couples that enjoy cooking (or ordering in) at home.
Base Dinnerware Set, $270, through fable.com
Sweet dreams
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Give your partner the gift of a better night’s sleep in a brand-new set of sheets from tuck. Available in neutral and playful colours like sage and lilac, the Crisp Collection is a percale weave designed to help you sleep cooler, even with your loved one beside you.
Tuck The Crisp Sheet Set (Queen), $219, through tuck.ca
Frame it in gold
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If you’ll need something to display “there’s a ring on it” either now or later, treasure the moment in style in LIVOM’s Metal Picture Frame, designed with a built-in stand to place it on a shelf, table or even your desk.
LIVOM Metal Picture Frame, $30, through livom.ca
Crafty couple
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If your loved one enjoys a DIY project, let them customize and personalize at home with the Cricut Joy. This machine makes monogramming everyday items or decorating with decals a project you can do together. Plus, if you’re hoping to create a handmade gift for next year, this machine will be the gift that keeps on giving.
Cricut Joy Machine, $199,99, through staples.ca
A warm embrace
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When you can’t be there to snuggle your loved one in person, Bearaby’s organic cotton-knitted weighted blanket might be the next best thing. This stylish oversized knit blanket is proven to promote sounder sleep and will make you feel like you’re enveloped in a hug all night. It also looks great draped over the foot of your bed when you’re awake.
Bearaby Cotton Napper, $309, through bearaby.ca
Set the mood
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Fill your home with love and a scent you enjoy together with an all-natural soy wax candle from Verre Lune that you can pop in a refill again and again with their favourite blend or try something new every time. For a full-bodied citrus scent, the Grove transports you to Sicily (without The White Lotus drama) with a bright, uplifting and refreshing blend of blood orange and bergamot.
Verre Lune Grove Candle, $58, through verrelune.com
Sound escape
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Give your partner the gift of uninterrupted sound with the AirPods Max, equipped with active noise-cancellation technology and 20 hours of listening with one single charge. The headphones are available in five colours (including a romantic two-toned pink), and Apple also offers free engraving to add a personal touch.
Apple Airpods Max, $779, through apple.com
Natural and sensual
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Spice up your love life with long-time bestselling Province Apothecary’s Lover’s Kit – which combines two non-toxic oils to heat up everyone’s mood. The kit includes a Lover’s Oil, made from 10 essential oils for a heightened massage experience that will leave skin feeling warm and moisturized, and a Sex Oil, made without synthetic fragrance and four certified-organic plant ingredients, including vitamin E and fractionated coconut oil, making it safe to use all over the body.
Province Apothecary Lover’s Kit, $44, through provinceapothecary.com
Out and about
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Monogram the handle of Monte & Coe’s Everyday Tote Bag with their initials to have the perfect bag for romantic picnic dates and daylong escapes. This versatile and durable tote features luxury Italian wool and vegetable-tanned leather ethically handcrafted in Toronto and Montreal.
Monte & Coe Everyday Tote Bag, $750, through monteandcoe.com
Your missing piece
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This floral and graphic double-sided puzzle designed by Liberty London is an interactive activity you can do together this Valentine’s Day. For an extra surprise, give this gift disassembled so that your partner can slowly discover this intricate image is as you build it piece by piece.
Galison Liberty London Maxine Double Sided Puzzle 500pcs, $35.99, through puzzlescanada.ca
The game of love
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Learn something new about your partner this Valentine’s Day by playing Uncover Me. This interactive card game is a therapist-informed approach to having conversations using situation-based relationship questions. The cards were developed in consultation with sex and intimacy and trauma sensitivity therapists to use prompts to learn how your partner may react to moments of affection, tension and all of those heart-to-hearts in-between you might encounter in a relationship and are designed to bring you closer together.
Uncover Me: A Card Game For Couples, $36, through playreviive.com