By Katherine Tanney

Valentine’s Day is tricky, even if you’re married, but especially if you’re not. Declare it an artificial holiday invented to sell cards, candy and other merchandise and risk making the one you’re with feel slighted. (This is particularly awkward if he or she presents a token of affection to you.) Go all out with dinner reservations and roses and risk being accused of sending the wrong message, i.e. that the one you’re with is “the one” (which is great if they are, but a disaster if they aren’t). How do you find balance? What if you’re involved with more than one person? Do all of them need gifts? What if you want to give something special to “just” a friend? Is that inappropriate?

Well, relax, because Shopperati is here to guide you through this touchiest (hopefully in a good way) of holidays. It’s dedicated to love, after all and like Sheryl Crow says, love is a good thing. Or maybe not. For those who, for whatever reason, are not celebrating this year and have something to say about it, we’ve also included some anti-Valentine’s Day options.

Just Started Dating or Taking Things Slow

If your relationship falls into the above category, Valentine’s Day comes at inconvenient time. You don’t know each other well or aren’t sure where this is going. It doesn’t feel right to ignore the holiday but you definitely don’t want to go overboard. The good news is that sometimes a card presented over a cocktail or café mocha says all that’s necessary. Check out the selection of letterpress printed cards at Hello!Lucky. They’re crafted on vintage Heidelberg printing presses and make lovely gifts in themselves. Complete by adding your own message and transform less into more.

We also like the Victorian cards at Roses & Teacups. After all, the mid 19th century is when love prevailed as the primary reason to marry. Go to the holiday gifts page and scroll down to find a card worth fainting over. Or send an electronic card from any number of web sites. We love the ingenious (and free) “message generators”
at MakeUseOf.com. Not all of them send the card for you, but if they don’t you can copy the link once you’ve created your message and e-mail it yourself.

If you want to get something and aren’t ready to present flowers or jewelry, let Mrs. Field’s come to the rescue with a low-priced, high scoring gift box of delicious cookies. The Seeing Stars 12-cookie tin ($29.99) is decorated on the outside with Valentine’s Day art. It’s a modest, thoughtful, rather sweet way to say you’re glad they’re around. Also spiffy is the Red Hot Tin ($34.99), which comes in a heart-shaped tin and even contains heart-shaped red and pink frosted cookies along with the others.

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