If you and your partner think a romantic night is reserved for Valentine’s Day, or requires a store-bought card, stale chocolates, or an expensive dinner, then this post is for you.
The most romantic gifts aren’t gifts at all, but experiences. This means trying something new and different is the best way to spice things up and create unforgettable experiences.
So ditch the cheesy Hallmark cards, and take your date night to the next level this year with the following 10 complete date night ideas that you’ll never forget. Each includes a new hobby or activity that you can try just this once, or continue as part of your relationship after the big night.
1. GRAB SOME VINYL RECORDS
It’s probably been a minute since you’ve listened to anything outside of Spotify – and that’s actually perfect for your next night as a couple if you decide to head to the record store. The smells, flipping through giant records, discovering new music – it has all the makings of a great date night.
Collecting records is certainly a hobby, but if you do it correctly, it can also be an experience. One that can quickly become something for you and your partner to do regularly. And sure, you can purchase records online, but we think half the fun is going to a record store and perusing for gems.
You’ll find some weird music together; in our experience the weirder the better. But you’ll also find some amazing tunes that would have never made it as recommendations on Spotify. And this is how great conversations, memories, and fun hobbies with your partner blossom.
So don’t be lame and do this hobby by ordering records online, go to a local record shop, and you won’t regret it!
Recommendation: Crosley Record Player
Since you’ll be buying the records in person, all you need is a record player. And in our opinion, there are no better record players than Crosleys. Crosley is hands down our favorite brand because of its beautiful mod aesthetic and high-quality sound. Plus, they don’t just play records, it has Bluetooth so you can cast music as well.
The light blue standing player in the image above is taken from our living room, and that model is called the Crosley Dansette Bermuda Turntable. If you like the look and idea of that, but not the price tag, check out the Crosley Cruiser Plus. It’s more portable and smaller, but lacks the same sound as the standing player.
You can’t go wrong with a Crosley. It’s a great sound system and piece of furniture, and soon to be the center of what you gather around for your latest couple’s hobby.
2. MAKE CANDLES TOGETHER
Can you think of anything more romantic than lighting candles? It’s hard to top that, but we think making candles together before lighting them takes things up a notch.
Making candles is a fun experience because it doesn’t take 8 hours to do, it’s maybe a few hours of easy steps that you can fill with wine and conversation with your partner – perfect for a date night don’t you think? If you want a sneak peek at the process, check out our How to Make Candles tutorial – it’s 9 steps in total.
Plus, playing chemists and designing the colors and scents of your candles is all the fun. And maybe you two will work on designing a romantic scented candle for the evening? Who knows where that could lead to…
Please don’t be a date night cliche and purchase store-bought candles – instead, make your own.
You’ll have a blast and ultimately get to try something new together. In case you need further convincing to make candles, be it a special night together or just a regular Wednesday, we’ll leave this article here for you.
Recommendation: SoftOwl’s Candle Making Kits
This one’s easy – just grab a candle making kit off Amazon or Etsy. We used to have a long list of kits we’d recommend, including our own, but at this point, we only recommend one and that’s SoftOwl’s Candle Making Kit.
We only recommend this kit because it’s such a high-value exchange – get all the details and visuals on our product review of SoftOwl’s Premium Soy Candlemaking Kit. The completeness of the set for the price and quality is unmatched online. I mean just look at everything in the image above – you even get a melting pot which is definitely unique.
You’ll have enough wax for many romantic evenings, plus it has 10 dye blocks and also includes 7 fragrances, but 4 are best suited for a romantic candle, including rose, jasmine, vanilla, and cinnamon. With 7 fragrances you can easily create thousands of different smells, and create one incredibly unique candle that’s only for you and your partner.
3. BOARD GAMES AREN’T BORING
Prepare some light food, grab amazing drinks for the night, throw on some background TV and dig in for the night or weekend, because you and your partner are going to compete… in board games.
Board games are more than passing time – it’s also an opportunity to bond. Taking turns, making strategies, and proving who is smarter once and for all… sort of kidding on that last one. But really, you’ll laugh and create new memories along the way.
The best part is that board games are great for weekly or monthly dates, and it’s one thing you can do that doesn’t involve staring at a screen. Not to mention, they’re entertaining for couple’s activities.
Our next-door neighbors join us monthly for Smallworld (the favorite game in our house) and it’s always a ton of fun. We’d recommend sticking to a strategy-based game for date nights, as they tend to create more conversation and entertainment than games based solely on luck.
There are varying shades of difficulty for strategy tabletop games, so don’t be intimidated by strategy as the name of the category. It’s just a nerdy way of saying that thinking is more involved than luck.
If Monopoly or Battleship came to mind when you read board games, you need this more than anyone.
Recommendation: Small World
There are so many directions you can go with board games, and what works best for you and your partner is going to hinge on shared interests. In our house, fantasy-themed games tend to be home runs, but that may not be for you.
Okay, so this is not a game based on romance, but Small World is definitely a game that will spark conversations you’ve never had before.
The premise is to conquer more territories and collect more coins than other players, as you rotate through a unique combination of fantasy races and special powers.
The special powers and races are combined at random, so you can end up with a hilarious and interesting combination like Flying Orcs or Seafaring Ghouls.
Unless you have a toddler running around, each game lasts about an hour and a half, leaving more than enough time to sip wine and chat throughout.
4. PRETEND TO BE SOMMELIERS
Nothing says sophistication like a game of wine tasting! And believe it or not, the less you know about wine, the more fun this game becomes. The object of the game is to see if you can guess the region (terroir) and type of wine that each bottle is from, without reading it off the label.
To set it up, both you and your partner have a role, but first, grab a few bottles of wine – it’s best to stick to reds or whites so the game is more challenging. With bottles in hand, do the following:
Partner 1: (Partner 2 doesn’t look at the bottles)
- Uncork bottles, and cover them in brown paper bags.
- Tie the top of each bottle and paper bag with yarn or jute rope – so you can’t see the bottle inside but still pour the wine when it’s time.
Partner 2: (Partner 1 doesn’t look at the bottles)
- Do the shell game with the bottles and mix up the order that your partner handed them to you.
- Grab a marker and write a number on each bottle – so if you have 3 total bottles, number the bottles 1 through 3.
- Agree on the reward for the winner of the game – the person who guessed the most regions and types of wine.
Next – grab a couple of glasses and some notepads. Get ready to sip some wine and talk through each bottle together. Talk about the wines or anything you like, just have fun and enjoy the moment.
In the end, unveil each bottle together and see who won. This game is difficult but really fun. You may talk wine the whole time, or forget about it altogether – either way, it makes for a great date night, and is something that you and your partner can continue as a hobby should you like.
What You’ll Need: World Tour Variety Wines
You’ll want to either stick to one color of wine, or have a bunch of different wines, where you just plan on having a sip of each. However you collect wines for the occasion, just make sure you do so in a way that makes it difficult for you to guess which is which.
If you have three wines to start and one of them is white and the other two are red, then it’s pretty easy to ruin the game right there.
If you’re looking for ways to make the regions and varieties of grapes more challenging, grab this World Tour Variety Pack. It’s a ridiculous deal with 15 bottles of wine – letting you taste grapes from around the globe, and makes for a fantastic way to pretend you and your partner are sommeliers on the big night.
You can also find a mix of random grapes from around the world from the same company, it includes 12 bottles that are also priced insanely low.
5. MAKE SOAP TOGETHER
Looking for the perfect date idea? Why not try making soap together? Not only is it a fun and creative hobby that can keep the sparks alive, but you’ll also get to enjoy some quality bonding time learning different techniques and experimenting with unique ingredients.
Plus, it’s a heavy-handed hint that you and your partner should hop in the shower or tub later on, for testing the soap out of course.
And if you find that it’s not a great hobby to do together, you’ll be able to make gifts for yourself or others with homemade soaps that are as luxurious as they are romantic!
Recommended Kit: ZenseMe Soap Making Kit
To make soap, you’ll follow similar steps to candle making, and even have overlap with materials like essential oils. So if you decide to try making soap, it’d be rather affordable to add candlemaking supplies so you and your partner could try an additional romantic hobby with relative ease.
New Hobby Box used to sell soap-making kits, so there’s an air of snobbery when it comes to evaluating other soap-making kits. But that’s good for you!
Currently, there’s only one kit that’s been tested and received the New Hobby Box stamp of approval – it’s the ZenseMe Soap Making Kit, available on Amazon.
The packaging of this kit really doesn’t do it any favors, since it looks more like something for making Creepy Crawlers or neon gummy worms. But if you can look past that, you’ll find it includes everything you need for out-of-the-box soap making.
This kit makes shea butter, which is incredibly soft and great for your skin. That also means that you simply melt the block of shea butter to form your soap base, which is different from the full process of making soap, where you would use lye.
Maybe that’s a good thing though, because lye is extremely dangerous to work with – the only reason to bring it up though is to make sure you know this kit is not making soap from scratch, but that might be easier for a nice romantic night to kickstart a hobby.
If you find that you both love soap-making, then you can advance your skills and try techniques that create soap from scratch.
One last note, the silicon molds included in the kit are really ornate and beautiful. But if you wanted to try other shapes and molds, you could use any sort of silicon mold for making ice, popsicles, cupcakes, cookies, etc. – like a mold for a heart made of roses.
6. LOOK AT YOUR FUTURE TOGETHER
What better way to bring a bit of excitement, intrigue, and mysticism into the world of date nights than by exploring the occult? Make an evening out of it and head somewhere peaceful and calming – the park or your living room will do just fine – with some aromatic incense for setting the mood, and candles lit for the final touch to ambiance.
Then, get ready to spend some time interacting with your partner as you take turns reading each other’s tea leaves or flipping through tarot cards! Your curious minds will be stimulated as you try to interpret the possible meanings behind all sorts of symbols, while also deepening your connection as you explore what the evening has in store.
We have an amazing tutorial that will walk you through the inner-workings of tasseography, so if reading tea leaves together sounds like a romantic idea, be sure to head over to our guide.
Who knows? You may even come across some valuable advice or insights that could steer the course of the relationship for the better. Or better yet, you may find that magic is something you and your partner want to spend more time with.
About Tasseography
There are many directions you can take magic – and if you think that means pulling rabbits from hats, then you may want to start with the first recommendation.
But before we get to that, we wanted to talk a little about the path we are recommending for your date. The date is focused on tasseography (also referred to as tasseomancy), which is a form of divination and an important part of practicing magic.
Tasseography is a broad topic that boils down to identifying shapes and symbols of tea leaves or coffee grounds and interpreting meaning from them.
The previous tasseography kit from New Hobby Box focused on a few parts of this practice, and it was a beloved kit from our community. All three recommendations cover tasseography in full, so they’ll be helpful on setting up an effective night for you and your partner.
1. HOW TO STUDY MAGIC – BOOK TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE OCCULT
How to Study Magic by Sarah Lyons is one of the best reads out there for content related to magic. It’s a hilarious, engaging, interesting, practical guide to magick (you’ll learn in the book why everyone hates to spell it that way.)
The book has sections on chaos magic, spell books and grimoires, ceremonial magic, witchcraft, and more.
The cool part is she walks through every step of how to do components of each. For instance, if you thought divination might be the right path, you can of course use tarot cards, but she also shows you basic ways to use a standard deck of playing cards to answer questions for you.
Whether you want to approach this with serious intent or just have some fun, this book is versatile in making your experience with the occult valuable either way.
2. THE CUP OF DESTINY – CUP FOR READING TEA LEAVES
This tasseomancy cup is one of the easiest ways to read your fortunes since the cup helps you break down many shapes and symbols you’re looking for in your tea leaves.
The Cup of Destiny is great for your date night if you have no intention of doing homework ahead of the activity, but still want to give it a try. Make sure you have tea leaves or coffee grounds at the ready though because this kit doesn’t include either.
3. TASSEOGRAPHY KIT – CUTE AND EFFECTIVE TASSEOGRAPHY KIT
Aside from missing a teacup, this kit is the closest thing to NHB’s old tasseography kit – even the book is the exact one that was sent in the kits. It comes in a beautiful wooden box, a simple guide to symbols, the tiny but thorough and renowned Tea Leaf Reading book (we have purchased hundreds of these over the years), a few types of teas, and a spoon.
Just grab a teacup for this Tasseography Kit and you’re ready for your date with destiny, and your better half.
7. MAKE A FANCY CHEESE PLATE
For the perfect cozy date, why not try making cheese from scratch? You and your special someone will get to learn a new skill together as you experiment with different recipes and techniques.
While cooking together is always a recipe for romance, making ingredients appear out of thin air takes it to a new level.
Plus, you’ll be able to create delicious artisan cheeses that are sure to add a touch of romance to any occasion – and it’s a perfect match to pair with wine as you both make something delicious. It’s a fun and easy way to spend time together, and something you can master progressively.
You can make a wide range of cheeses with just a few simple ingredients. Have a look at the steps involved in making ricotta or mozzarella from the New Hobby Box cheesemaking tutorial. See, you can do that, right? All you need is the right kit.
What You’ll Need: Make Your Own Cheese DIY Kit
The Make Your Own Cheese DIY Kit from Grow and Make is a complete kit for cheese making (you’ll only need to get milk.) While this isn’t the exact kit used in NHB’s tutorial, it’s admittedly a better option because of what it comes with, such as rennet tabs, an incredibly thorough guide, citric acid, etc.
It even includes the basket mold – which is a difficult item to find in kits, or at least to find at a reasonable price. You can make a wide range of cheese from this kit – goat chevre, paneer, mascarpone, ricotta, and of course mozzarella. So you and your partner have a ton of options this for one night, but you can also try making a new cheese on 5 other dates if you enjoy it!
8. MAKE WINE TOGETHER
What pairs nicely with a romantic evening? Wine of course! Making wine or champagne might sound intimidating, but it can be surprisingly straightforward – and certainly a lot of fun! While you won’t get to drink the wine you make the same day, you can just as easily buy some at the store for research and inspiration, as you work your kitchen vineyard together.
Once your wine is ready a couple of weeks later, you’ll then have an excuse for another date night as you taste-test the fruits of your labor.
What You’ll Need: Fontana Wine-Making Kit
Fontana has a ton of different wines you can make, and every kit is beautifully designed and delicious.
While we’ve linked to Fontana’s cabernet sauvignon kit simply because it’s our favorite grape, the company offers whites, reds, and blushes as well.
The crazy part of each kit is how much wine they actually make – and that’s regardless of whether you choose a pinot grigio, merlot, or any of Fontana’s dozens of wine-making kits – all of them will make 30 bottles.
So if you plan on having a bottle for every date night once a week, this kit will cover well over half the year of wine you’ll need. So get ready to imbibe on your romantic night of making wine and enjoying each other.
9. DESIGN CLOTHES FOR YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER
Date night is the perfect opportunity to put a little extra effort into making everything special. If you and your significant other are looking for an eco-friendly craft that doubles as a romantic gesture, try eco-dyeing and eco-printing clothes.
Using dyes derived from natural sources, you can create stunning fabric designs together – the ideal gift for yourself or your partner! Plus, with so many sustainable materials available on the market, you can feel good knowing that you’re doing your part in protecting the environment while having loads of fun.
It’s great for colder weather since scarves tend to be the most common item used for eco-printing. So if you give this a shot during the winter, after your gift has had some time to dry, you’ll be able to show off what you’ve made. We’d recommend doing this with an added twist:
Show up to the date night activity with one partner bringing an item of clothing for the other, and vice versa.
Challenge each other to either design something they’ll love to wear or design it in a way that expresses your feelings for them. See if you can match up the dye job to your partner’s personality – it could reveal something unexpected.
Recommended Kit: NorthernDyer’s Eco-Printing Kit
If you’ve never eco-printed before, the cool part is that most of the materials will come from just outside your front door. You can add leaves, flowers, mulch, pine cones – any sort of natural item will do the trick.
But you’ll also need a kit with alum and a few other natural materials to make sure everything dyes to the fabrics correctly.
We recommend NorthernDyer for this – it’s a fabulously designed kit, that includes a few beautiful reds for the romantic in you – of course by way of roses. The kit has everything you’ll need for the date – even one scarf.
10. WRITE A LOVE LETTER IN CALLIGRAPHY
Is your love story missing a little panache? Step it up this date night and get creative with your declarations of adoration – that’s just a complicated way of saying you should learn the art of calligraphy together. Instead of generic cards and chocolates, how about sending a personalized message that won’t be forgotten? Not to mention it’s the perfect date night.
By sharing an activity, you’ll have fun together – and then you can finish off with some romance as you hand your partners your love letters written in stylish cursive writing.
Have you ever written calligraphy before? If not, New Hobby Box has a thorough guide on 8 foundational strokes to calligraphy – it will give you a good idea of how things will come together for your love notes. Although, the kit we recommend also includes a fantastic guide on writing calligraphy.
Favorite Calligraphy Kit: Speedball Complete Calligraphy Kit
We recommend a few different kits for calligraphy, and over the years, the kits have changed as better offerings come and go. But the following kit is always in the mix because it’s a great set that includes all the items you’ll need, and the price is extremely reasonable.
It’s a beginner’s calligraphy set from Speedball. This kit is perfect for your date because it includes more than one pen, including the traditional oblique pen.
While it does have paper for practicing, you should purchase some heavier stock paper to write your love notes to each other – something a little more personal and lasting. So go on, set the tone for a memorable date night and reignite the flame with calligraphy!
10 HOBBIES FOR COUPLES TO TRY
Hopefully, these 10 hobbies for couples created some new ideas for you and your partner to try for your next date night. But the best part is that everything you’ve read about today can be done any other time of the year. That’s the great part about hobbies and discovering new activities to do with your loved one – they aren’t just for big occasions like Christmas or Valentine’s Day. You can explore the world of hobbies at any time and find something that suits both you and your partner perfectly.
So embrace these few suggestions and have fun trying out something new! Whether it’s collecting records, playing games, calligraphy, or eco-printing, you’ll be sure to have a great time and make some beautiful memories together.
Happy Hobbying! <3