Make Valentine’s Day Fun and Meaningful With These 20 Gifts from Bang-Up Betty

From sweet and sentimental to hilarious and snarky, Bang-Up Betty’s gift shop and handmade jewelry store in Argenta has something to make your Valentine’s Day extra special. Our unusual, quirky and colorful shop is filled with locally made jewelry, funny cards, thoughtful home decor and clever gifts, including lots of Arkansas-made pottery, art, candles, tea and more. Here are some of our favorite Valentine’s Day picks that will make your sweetie swoon:

Heat things up with delicious hot sauces. Or maybe heat up the conversation with this fun card game geared toward couples. Make them laugh with a pair of “trophy husband” socks, or maybe a keychain of their favorite musician will make their heart sing.

Bang-Up Betty is known for their jewelry, pins, stickers and shirts designed in-house: The bronze infinity symbol necklace is the perfect way to say “forever” and the Art Deco Arkansas earrings are timeless. The “Ask Me What I’m Reading” lapel pin and “Bibliophile" sticker are perfect for book lovers. We’re smitten with these celebrity keychains, including stars and characters like Betty White, Ted Lasso and Dolly Parton. These mandala-patterned heart dishes are made in Arkansas by Carla Churchwell. “Romantic comedy” takes on new meaning with this retro Blockbuster-themed card. Chocolates don’t have to be traditional with these key lime pie and pride-themed chocolate bars.

Bang-Up Betty’s greeting card selection is out of this world hilarious, but it’s also filled with gorgeous and sweet cards, like these locally-made cards by Arkansas artist Sherry J. Williamson. We especially love this Johnny Cash card.

Do you have a sentimental something that you say to your sweetheart? Maybe a pet name or a quote? Get it stamped onto one of Bang-Up Betty’s custom mantra cuffs for a super-special personalized gift. Or pick from their list of inspirational mantras to give your Valentine a little loving motivation.

Light up Valentine’s Day with a candle that looks as lovely as it smells. These non-toxic soy phrase candles come in sweet and snarky phrases. Phrases include “You Got This,” “This Must Be The Place,” and many more.

Give the person who has the key to your heart a keychain with the keys to your love shack or your love nest with a custom stamped keychain. If you’ve got a lovey-dovey phrase or an inside joke, we can also stamp those.

Add a sprinkle of love to your home with a colorful throw pillow that will brighten up your decor. We think our new ice cream cone and heart hands pillows make extra sweet Valentine’s Day gifts, but rainbows are always perfect for everything.

Tell them you only want yo be with them using one of the funniest, cutest greeting cards on earth. We’re huge greeting card fans at Bang-Up Betty and we always have a huge supply of cards that will make you laugh, like this Hootie and the Blowfish-inspired card.

If your significant other has a green thumb, get them a beautiful new flower pot for spring. We’ve also got colorful locally-made macrame plant hangers that brighten up any space.

Get the goddess in your life a beautiful, meaningful piece of handmade jewelry from our Greek mythology jewelry collection. The Aphrodite necklace represents the goddess of love and beauty, the Orpheus and Eurydice necklace tells a dark and beautiful love story, and snakes (like the gorgeous ones in our Medusa serpent earrings) have been love symbols for centuries.

Bang-Up Betty is located at 429 Main Street in Argenta. Hours are Thursdays and Fridays 11-5:30 and Saturdays 11-5 with extended Valentine’s Day hours coming soon. Shop online at www.bangupbetty.com and follow them at instagram.com/bangupbetty and facebook.com/bangupbettyjewelry. Email stacey@bangupbetty.com for custom jewelry and other inquiries.

Send a Thoughtful (and Maybe Snarky) "Care Package" to a Friend

We’re all smiles with this example of a completely customizable care package to cheer up your friends while they’re social distancing. In this Level 2 Care Package, you can mix and match Bang-Up Betty stickers and pins and pick from two Lee Lee Arts and Design greeting cards with a handwritten message for your loved one.

Brighten someone’s day with a thoughtful “care package” that’ll bring a smile to their face. Whether your best pal is feeling down, going through something rough, or just deserves a special surprise, an unexpected gift is sure to cheer them up! It will definitely let them you know care about them.

We’re all thinking about and missing our loved ones right now. I’ve been getting so many thoughtful requests from people wanting me to make custom jewelry with empowering phrases for their pals who are taking isolation a little hard; for moms who are struggling to work and suddenly have to homeschool their children; for friends who have suddenly found themselves out of work. I thought it would be nice (and, yeah, maybe kinda funny) to create these “care packages” that make it fun and easy for you to send something special to whoever needs a little extra love right now (even if that person is you, I won’t judge).

With three tiers of care packages from $5 to $33, there’s a care package to fit every budget, and I also added an option for you to add one of these beautiful illustrated cards by Lee Lee Arts and Design to an order if there is something else on the Bang-Up Betty jewelry site you see.

Found the perfect gift and want to send a personal note with it? Add one of these illustrated greeting cards by Lee Lee Arts and Design to your order, and we’ll hand write whatever you like inside of it to send to someone special. You can take your pick from the “Love You To Death” or the “Get Your Happy On” card, and you’ll be prompted at checkout to tell us what you’d like your note to say.

With a Level 1 Care Package ($5), you get your pick of one (1) Bang-Up Betty vinyl decal to send with your choice of greeting card by Lee Lee Arts and Design. You’ll be prompted at checkout to select your card and sticker and to leave a note that I’ll hand write inside your card. For the shipping address, please be sure to put the name and address of the person you’re sending this sweet care package to or it’ll end up at your house! Maybe you want it there, and that’s fine. Self care is great!

Choose your card: Choose from “Get Your Happy On” or “Love You To Death” design

Choose your vinyl sticker: You get your pick from our entire vinyl sticker collection! See our shop to look at all of them. They include these stickers: Nasty Woman; Hands Off; Smash the Patriarchy; Don’t Tell Me To Smile; Witchy Bitch; I Believe in Science; Scratch the Patriarchy; Not Your Honey; I Wanna Dance With Somebody; Rainbow Unicorn; Strange Bird.

With a Level 1 Care Package, you get your pick of one (1) Bang-Up Betty vinyl decal to send with your choice of greeting card.

With a Level 2 Care Package ($20), you get your pick of one (1) Bang-Up Betty vinyl decal to send with your choice of one (1) Bang-Up Betty enamel lapel pin along with your choice of greeting card. See the list above for pin and sticker choices.

This example of a Level 2 Care Package has a dark sense of humor with the Don’t Tell Me to Smile feminist skull sticker, Mercury Is In Retrograde enamel pin, and Love You To Death Greeting Card.

With a Level 3 Care Package ($33), you get your pick of one (1) Bang-Up Betty vinyl decal and one (1) custom stamped mantra cuff along with your choice of greeting card. You can customize your hand-stamped mantra cuff bracelet up to 30 characters, and it comes in brass and aluminum for those who are picky about colors.

I tried to really capture my love of The Golden Girls with this example of a Level 3 Care Package. I made a custom mantra cuff bracelet that says “Thank You For Being A Friend” and pair it with the Strange Bird parrot sticker and the Get Your Happy On card.