10 Sweet & Sensible Valentine Gift Ideas for your beloved Reb
By February 14 of my daughter, Lanie’s, Senior Year of high school, we were in full blown freak out mode over her decision to attend Ole Miss. I don’t mean we were panicking, I mean we were extremely excited. HYDR! and Hotty Toddy! were mysterious new lingo this Yankee found herself Googling in her free time when I wasn’t obsessing over dorm room decor or fretting over Sorority Rush. Valentine’s Day was the first “holiday” that I was able to use as an excuse to pull the trigger and buy a few college-related gifts for my girl. Being the sensible mama that I am, many of the gifts had duel purposes for her upcoming high school grad party and were functional for her dorm room too. I hope you find these suggestions helpful regardless of what school your precious little birdie is flying out of the nest to.
Lanie with her Ole Miss gear and dorm room goodies.
Let’s just start with the obvious… an Ole Miss License Plate Frame. Click to Buy - Ole Miss License Plate You know they want it. They’re either going to spend an hour of their hard earned wages on it, or you can show them some love by getting it for them for Valentine’s Day.
I purchased the gold cart on Pottery Barn Teen. They don’t sell it anymore, but I included some similar and less expensive options on my Amazon List. Here is an example:
It’s small, but useful. I was hopeful it would be used for bathroom storage in one of those fancy Contemporary Residence Halls, but as it stands, it hold candy and treats in a tiny corner of her Crosby Dorm Room. I also used this cart to display high school photos and memorabilia at her grad party.
White and Gold Make-Up (or Desk) Storage. IYKYK - The desks in every Ole Miss girl’s dorm room are magically transformed into top notch influencer-worthy make-up and hair stations. There is no room left for iPads, textbooks, or pens. Those stay in their backpacks or get lost in their dirty Twin XL bedding. I purchased this holder at Pottery Barn Teen but included some cute options on my Amazon List, as well.
I made that little silhouette picture of our mutt, Rip(His name- he’s not dead. He’s a pup and is my closest companion now.), on the most marvelous site for photography. It is called MPIX. I highly recommend it for all of your professional printing needs. I’ve used them to make everything from Christmas ornaments to large acrylic Senior Portraits. They’re fast and the quality is phenomenal.
Rip was also displayed at Lanie’s High School Grad Party and he sits on her bedside shelf in Crusty Crosby too.
The photo album is something I’m going to create an entire blog post about. I’ve been printing ChatBooks for several years now. I like to think of them as family yearbooks. I always buy Lanie one so that when she has her own home someday, her childhood memories will follow her. She didn’t take her albums with her to Ole Miss. That’s laughable as she has zero room for anything in that tiny little jail cell of a room, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen her showing off her books to friends or flipping through the pages on her own. They’re special. I create the books on their app on my phone by selecting pics from my camera roll or Instagram. It’s quick and the books are fantastic.
The AirTag was gifted because we took a Spring Break trip to Europe her Senior Year and we used it to track luggage as we hopped by planes and trains to Italy, France, and Spain. BUT, those little things have plenty of good uses if your kid is prone to losing their backpacks or keys or Lord knows what.
Make-Up … These girls are professionals and have been better at putting on their face than me since they were 12. They have an abundance and must be replenished. Boy option - Spongelle for Men is on my Amazon List.
Candy! Here me out on this subject. This candy was obviously included because it was Valentine’s Day but… PRO TIP - I have bought a sh*t-ton of candy for these girls to keep on that gold cart since they moved in to Crosby. They have lots of friends coming and going and it’s nice and welcoming to have a stocked candy cart.
Jewelry Dish - I included these little dishes from Etsy for every girl Lanie graduated high school with, so I got her one too. It was fun to purchase for Arkansas, Kansas, Mizzou, Arizona, Auburn… the list goes on.
Lastly, I included a bunch of stuff you could easily ship off of Amazon if your Reb is a BOY and/or already a student at Ole Miss. This will be my first Valentine’s Day apart from Lanie, so it’s my first opportunity to ship her a care package. Check out the fun CraveBoxes and other options here:
