Mystery Date Kit Ideas?

September 15, 2012 6:20 AM

My good friends are getting married and I'd like to give them 5 or 6 "mystery date kits." What would you put into the boxes if you could only spend about $10 per box and/or use some stuff from around your house?

The idea is that I give them the boxes and they aren't supposed to open them until they're ready to have a date, then they have to do whatever is in the box. I'll write on the boxes how much time each one should take and if it's indoor or outdoor.

I've got some ideas already, but I'm curious if you might have some neat ideas I haven't thought of, so any help would be much appreciated. The couple is in their mid/late twenties, usually up for anything, and we all live in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area (but location specific ideas aren't super important.)

So far, this is what I have:

- blanket fort kit containing some sheets, clothespins and a flashlight.
- a $5 gift card to a coffee shop and a book of Mad Libs.
- a cell phone guided scavenger hunt in Philly (actually already bought this on Groupon for $3 with a discount) and some cash for snacks or drinks along the way.
- a $5 gas card, a disposable camera and a map of a pretty area to drive around and take pictures.

Thanks in advance for your help and please let me know if there's any other info you need from me.

posted by smirkyfodder to Grab Bag (11 answers total)

This is an awesome idea :)

I think you can get some great ideas from this blog post, plus the date night jar itself is something you could make them if you wanted.

My contributions:

- movie night at home - pack of popcorn, couple of candy bars, DVD or rental coupon
- card night - a couple nice decks of cards, book of card games (so they can learn some new games), packs of Popeye's cigarettes, chocolate coins
posted by yawper at 6:33 AM on September 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

Cheap bottle of wine, popcorn (that keeps) and a DVD.

Lego kit! You might not have much luck getting Lego for $10 but if you could, it'd be awesome (Alternatively a jigsaw!)
posted by Wysawyg at 6:34 AM on September 15, 2012

This previous question has a lot of great material.
posted by phunniemee at 6:41 AM on September 15, 2012

This is a cute idea but I would suggest doing half as many boxes and spending twice as much on each instead. 5 dollars of gas doesn't get you very far, so you could double that and then put a mix cd in too!

My other suggestion is to decorate the boxes so that it feels like they are opening something really fun and exciting, like wrap the road trip box in a map and tie a tag made out of a postcard on with raffia and some dried flowers etc.
posted by cakebatter at 7:19 AM on September 15, 2012 [6 favorites]

Best answer: It's almost Halloween and there are cheap wigs and fake eyelashes in the CVS! (I know this because yesterday I made my husband get me a $6 wig and like $3 pair of eyelashes that look like peacock feathers).

Could you get them some sort of cheap disguises (even go to Amazon and get some inexpensive fake mustaches or fedoras or something) and give them a Top Secret International Spy Mission? I WOULD LOVE THIS IF YOU DO IT PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 7:53 AM on September 15, 2012 [5 favorites]

This idea is awesome and incredibly sweet.

A kite, a tablecloth, and some disposable tableware to have a picnic in the park.
posted by Fig at 8:49 AM on September 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

You might want to label these by season. The blanket fort for the winter, the scavenger hunt for the spring/fall, the picnic kit for the summer. I don't know quite how bad the snowfall can get in Philly, but not being able to complete the kit because of outside circumstances would suck.

I don't know where they are, but if they are in an area that has power outages every so often (outside of a major city, in an area with thunderstorms, perhaps) a power outage kit might be fun. A flashlight, batteries (not in the flashlight) and a kids/YA book they'd both like with a sticky on it saying "read aloud."
posted by Hactar at 9:30 AM on September 15, 2012 [5 favorites]

Comic books and Silly Putty.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 10:39 AM on September 15, 2012

Six examples of a particular nonperishable food (chocolate...tea...mustard...) + index cards + golf pencils + list of hyperbolic tasting adjectives = tasteoff!
posted by apparently at 10:41 AM on September 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

Gift certificate to Rita's - water ice on a hot day is a lovely treat/date. (and there are obviously other water ice places to choose from in South Philly).

Finger paint and paper.

Soap bubble solution and wands.
posted by sciencegeek at 6:18 PM on September 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks, everybody! The boxes have been handed off to the couple. I ended up doing the four boxes I mentioned in my question (with a few minor changes thanks to your suggestions) and added a movie night box. Since none of the stores I checked had Old Dogs, I ended up going with Catwoman.

My favorite suggestion was the Top Secret International Spy Mission box. I couldn't figure out what kind of mission to give them (and I couldn't find cheap enough black turtlenecks...) so I decided I would mail it to them in a couple weeks once I figured out a whole plan. I thought it would make it even more top-secret-like.

Thanks again for all your help!
posted by smirkyfodder at 5:21 AM on September 17, 2012