DP's birthday....inspiration needed

[riojatheboat]

DP really spoilt me for my birthday in Nov and I am struggling for ideas for his that wont cot the earth! I am currently on mat leave with 4.5 month old DS and only receiving SMP so finances are tight!
I need some ideas for low budget gestures, something he will remember...any help would be great.

*cost the earth

Birthday presents in my family recently for various males have included bird of prey experience (handling the birds ) approx £30, driving experience approx £100 and flying lesson not sure of price.

Does dp have any special interests?

Date jar? However many you can think of/can commit to but they needn't be expensive. I put in things like feeding the ducks, film night in etc. He withdraws whenever he wants a date.

Basket of favourite foods? DP got an ex-wine box full of chocolate for Christmas.

Does he have any particular interests?

For dp's birthday (and thanks to recs from kind MNers) I got him a pile of foreign language horror DVDs - they only cost a few pounds each but he was really pleased with them.

And for Christmas, I did him a running hamper - some things cost a few pounds - eg gloves and hat - but most were just a pound or so (energy bars, horrible blue drinks, reflector things etc).

How about some homemade cheese biscuits and some 'nice' cheese, plus pickles etc? And a homemade cake, of course.

If this is your first dc then I'd be tempted to make gifts that involved ds. I did this when money was really tight and dh really appreciated them. My son was 6 months old and we made a birthday card with several photos of ds in different poses and wording along the lines of: on your birthday daddy, sit down and take it easy, I'll look after everything while you enjoy your big day, I love you! Photos included ds grinning wildly, sitting down, looking at the computer, holding a feather duster and finally a beautiful picture of dh and ds together.

The card was autographed with a painted hand print and a made by ds logo on the back.

We also organised painted hand prints on a mug at a kids pottery studio.

His final present was a helium happy burthday balloon which ds loved to watch his dad bounce along the ceiling.

Total cost was about £15 and my dh loved it. It's been the first birthday card he's ever kept and he uses the mug every day.

He is a massive Spurs fan, really loves his football. He's really into music and films but has both Spotify and Lovefilm subscriptions already.
I like the idea of a mug with DS handprint and also candlelit picnic, I'm sure anything where we get to spend a tiny bit of quality time together would be more appreciated than any bought gifts. Thanks for all your ideas

Dh made me a fab photo album for Christmas - it charted our first 10 years together, with pictures, little quips and stories that brought back loads of memories. He did it on photobox. Its quite a big book, hard cover, with about 60 pages or so I think.

Cost-wise, he said would normally been about £80, but he got a Groupon voucher for it so paid a lot less. Personally, even at £80 I'd still think it was a great gift for the money!

Doh! Posted too soon!

I meant to say that you could also do an album yourself for next to nothing, and add in things like handprints frm DS etc, little mementos from holidays/ days away etc that you have... we've done this a few times over the years for significant holidays, for my Mum's wedding and for a friend's baby's christening - always goes down well and doesn't have to cost much at all

I like the photo ideas but we are having some professional ones done next weekend with dp's other 2 children.
We are quite a way from the Spurs ground and dp has just bought a stadium tour for him and his eldest son in May so that's out too!