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February 18, 2013 · 3 Comments

The Perfect (Easy!) Date Night Jar

DIY Projects

Have you ever gotten into a date rut with your spouse?

I know that for Corey and I, it’s so easy to fall into the same old routine and forget to branch out and try new things. We get so caught up in the day-to-day that we don’t think to plan anything unique, and when date night rolls around we always fall back on the good ol’ dinner-and-a-movie routine.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with a plain ol’ date (a night out is a night out, amiright?), but sometimes it’s fun to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. One of the most memorable dates Corey and I have ever been on is when we accidentally found ourselves in the middle of an intense scavenger hunt race that we totally weren’t prepared for – we’ll never forget the hilarity of that day!

Since it can be so hard to come up with ideas on the fly for fun things to do, I decided to surprise Corey with a date jar that would do the thinking for us.

Ever get stuck in a rut on date ideas with your spouse? Here's an easy way to make a jar full of ideas for those nights where you just can't decide what to do. The post includes 30 ideas for dates, so the thinking is already done for you!

I started by glitter-ifying an old mason jar with some Mod Podge – just spread it on, sprinkle on the glitter, and shake off the excess (then add an extra layer on top to seal it all on there).

Once my jar was pretty, I grabbed some large popsicle sticks and did some brainstorming.

Ever get stuck in a rut on date ideas with your spouse? Here's an easy way to make a jar full of ideas for those nights where you just can't decide what to do. The post includes 30 ideas for dates, so the thinking is already done for you!

Once I had a nice list of date ideas, I categorized them – there are a billion different ways you could divide them up, but I put mine into three categories:

1. At-home dates that require little to no planning or money
2. Dates that require leaving the house and don’t cost more than about $50
3. Big dates that require more extensive planning  and more money

Once I had my list of dates, I designated a color for each category – light pink is for the stay-at-home dates, dark pink is for the cheaper leave-the-house dates and purple is for the more expensive dates.

I bought some large popsicle sticks and colored one side of them with the category colors, then I flipped them over and wrote a date idea on them.

Ever get stuck in a rut on date ideas with your spouse? Here's an easy way to make a jar full of ideas for those nights where you just can't decide what to do. The post includes 30 ideas for dates, so the thinking is already done for you!

After that? I tossed them in the jar and called it a day.

Seriously. Easiest gift ever.

I’m so excited to dive into this little jar – it’s a great way to get us to step outside the box a little bit with our dates and it encourage us to try new things. And hopefully it will break us out of what “what do you want to do?” “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” rut!

Here’s a list of the dates I used for the jar. Some of them are Austin-specific, but the majority of them can be done just about anywhere.

Stay at home dates ($)

  1. Create a new signature cocktail
  2. Take a walk to the park
  3. Watch a movie we’ve never seen
  4. Grab a bottle of wine and have a game night
  5. Grab fast food for dinner and rent a movie
  6. 1000 piece puzzle and pizza
  7. Cook dinner with completely new recipes
  8. Lay in the backyard and look at the stars
  9. Play video games together
  10. Try out a new television show

Going out dates, little planning ($$)

  1. Buy each other gifts from the dollar store
  2. Go watch the bats downtown
  3. Go to a drive-in movie
  4. Go try a new restaurant
  5. Go to the dog park
  6. Go see a movie at the dollar theater
  7. Hit up a few thrift stores
  8. Dinner/movie (Corey’s choice)
  9. Dinner/movie (Amanda’s choice)
  10. Hit up some garage sales

More expensive dates ($$$)

  1. Visit a winery
  2. Go explore a new part of downtown
  3. Go see a movie at Alamo Drafthouse
  4. Get a hotel room downtown
  5. Shopping spree at the outlet mall
  6. Go to Six Flags
  7. Go camping
  8. Try a fancy restaurant we’ve never been to
  9. Go antiquing in Gruene, TX
  10. Go spend the day in College Station to reminisce

Ever get stuck in a rut on date ideas with your spouse? Here's an easy way to make a jar full of ideas for those nights where you just can't decide what to do. The post includes 30 ideas for dates, so the thinking is already done for you!

Ever get stuck in a rut on date ideas with your spouse? Here's an easy way to make a jar full of ideas for those nights where you just can't decide what to do. The post includes 30 ideas for dates, so the thinking is already done for you!

I can’t wait to see how testing out these dates pushes our limits and encourages us to be more creative when we have time to spend together. Going on unique dates is always a fantastic way to bond with your spouse, and it can create some lasting memories!

What are your favorite out-of-the-box date ideas?

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Erin says

    February 18, 2013 at 8:16 pm

    This sounds so familiar…lol
    Although, this weekend happened to be my birthday so luckily I didn’t have to do any planning. And if you guys are looking for something somewhat adventurey my boyfriend surprised me with indoor skydiving this weekend at iFly. It would probably fit into the last category but it was definitely something out of the ordinary and way safer than the real deal! haha

    Reply
  2. Jessica says

    February 18, 2013 at 9:21 am

    I love valentine’s day and still skipped over most of the vday posts. LOL.
    Love this date jar! So cute.

    Reply
  3. Lauren says

    February 18, 2013 at 8:18 am

    Love #10 on the expensive list! 🙂 We have that “what do you want to do” rut and this sounds like a great idea to change up date night!

    Reply

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Overwhelmed by DIY? Let's do it together! I'm Amanda, and I live in the suburbs of Austin, Texas with my husband and two sons. I've taught myself how to make simple updates to help make my house a home, and I want to show you how to do it, too. Click here to learn more about us.

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