Summer 365 Valentine's Day Gift Guide

By: Lauren Nearpass

How to create the best Valentine’s Day Camp Care Package!

Here at Summer 365, we love camp (obviously!) and we love love! Since Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, we’re combining two of our favorite things to make the ULTIMATE camp-loving gift guide. Whether you’re on the hunt for the perfect way to express your undying devotion for your summer love, bromance, or your group of gals, look no further because Summer 365 has got you covered!

As we all know, Valentine’s Day is all about showing the most important people in your life how much you love them! While you and your camp friends might be miles apart…you will always be together at heart. So browse below and find all of Summer 365’s best ideas on how to show the (camp) love.

Coordinate Bracelet

Want to know you’ll always be connected to your camp besties or summer love? These bracelets from Coordinate’s Collection are a definite way to their heart. All you have to do is plug in your camp address/zipcode (we all know those by heart!) and VOILA, your camp’s coordinates are engraved for all to see! Even better, personalize the inside of the bracelet with a special message or your camp name. It’s basically a sophisticated friendship bracelet! These special pieces also makes for a great birthday, batmitzvah, or sweet sixteen gift for your best camp friend.

T-Shirt Blankets

It’s no secret that every camper-at-heart has a drawer full of their old color war, bunk, and camp t-shirts waiting to be made into a cozy blanket. It’ll keep your bestie warm during those cold winter months and will definitely be the talk of the bunkline come July and August! Our friends at Project Repat will hook you up with the most authentic and awesome gift ever!

Tiniest Care Package Ever

Every camp person loves getting a care package in the mail. Send someone a miniature surprise on Vday! Be silly, romantic, or witty and whimsical. The lucky recipient will remember the fantastic sight of their World’s Smallest Package from Leaf Cutter Designs.

Camp Vibes Only

Gift your camp lover a gift that will let them wear their heart on their sleeve, literally, and fashionably tell the whole world know they live 10 for 2. This awesome exclusive Happy Camper line is available exclusively through Everything Camper.

Postcards or a Handmade Card

Everyone loves mail. Doesn’t matter if you’re at camp or at home. So show your camp friends the V-Day love with a handmade card or with Postagram! This awesome app let’s you create your own personal postcards from your camera roll, Instagram, or Facebook with special pictures, messages, and designs. Best part… it sends your postcard in the mail the next day! Go ahead and surprise your campies with the truest form of camp love possible!

Photo Album / Collage

Whether you decide to keep it old school and make a photo album scrapbook from scratch OR use a cool website like Mixbook or app like Chatbooks, the gift of memories is an amazing Valentine’s Day choice. You are sure to bring both laughs and tears while taking a trip down memory lane. As camp alumni, we at Summer 365 find the greatest joy in reliving our favorite camp moments via pictures! We know all former and current campers do as well, so bring a huge smile to your friends’ faces with such a thoughtful and awesome gift!

Want to give a gift to yourself and show your walls at home some love? Go to Social Print Studio to print photos and assemble them into a heart collage (instructions from Dormify).

The Original Arm Party

We wear them all summer long and well into the autumn months and are devastated when they eventually fall off. As of Valentine’s Day there are only 134 sleeps until camp. It’s time to refresh any camper’s wrist with new thread and officially begin the countdown to summer 2015! This is a perfect gift for parents to get campers going away for the first time this summer customized with their camp name or zipcode.

Girls’ Night Out – GNO!

This gift is for all the ladies! Teenagers, college, post-grad, and beyond! In our opinion, one of the best ways to fill your Valentine’s Day Weekend is with facetime. No, we don’t mean facetime as in iPhone/iPad FaceTime (although it’s great for our far-away friends!). Gather up your gals and hit the town for a GNO. Organize a crafty event at a place like Make Meaning, which hosts parties for both young campers and alumni of all ages! It’s for sure to be a highlight of your V-Day this year, creating memories on top of memories with your camp sisters.

For your ELITE Bro’s!

There is no better way to represent your summer home than with camp colored clothing. For that special boy – the other half to your summer bromance OR your special man – gift him with pairs of Nike Elite Socks in camp colors. He’ll rock them everywhere, showing off his awesome camp spirit while thinking of you the entire time. Summer 365 agrees with Nike when it comes to this gift – Just Do It.

Gimme S’mores!

We LIVE for summer s’mores and can’t seem to get enough. If you are die-hard campers like us, than you can’t seem to get s’mores off your mind either. So why not give the gift of s’mores to your camp bff? It gets them in the mood for camp AND takes care of that Valentine’s Day sweettooth! Check out the smorbox from our foodie-friends, Smorstix, who have created the most perfect chocolately-marshmallow-graham cracker combos for your summer-loving friends! Or create a campfire in the kitchen and make homemade s’mores treats…tons of ideas here or on our Pinterest board!

Sing it Loud, Sing it Proud!

Who doesn’t love singing their hearts out in the dining hall? Or the bunk? Or at the lake? Or basically anywhere on camp? Like we said before, summer 2015 begins 134 days after Valentine’s and it’s time to step up the camp spirit. Get your bunkmates hyped up by created and sharing the ultimate summer playlist. Spotify has all our favorite tunes and provides easy to make and share playlists. This will for sure bring many smiles and awesome dance parties!

Camp Lanyards

Getting the keys to your first car is quite possibly the most exciting part about turning Sweet 16! Go ahead and congratulate your camp gals or guys with the ultimate driving accessory… a personalized camp lanyard. Not only will they look fly in their new car but so will their keys. And let’s be honest here, it’s extremely important to always accessorize oneself in camp gear.