Homefront: Simple Valentine's Day Craft Decorating



This is a Christmas hurricane glass candle holder that came with faux pine needle/cone wreath to display around the base. My husband won it from his work White Elephant Christmas Party, (and yet he brought something "funny" a Schticky Lint remover, but his the year before, a fancy toilet scrubber was a hit... I digress).

I wanted to hussy it up for Valentine's Day... so I got out my glue gun and silvery craft jewels (that you can order from me here) for this craft. If you want less permanent jewels, than you can use glue dots instead of hot glue.

 

Then, I tied a ribbon around it, added some romantical doodads like craft pearls, ginormous diamond rings, plastic crystals, a paper doily and a wood letter... and there you go. Remember the bedazzled red room I posted earlier? Well this would fit in there for sure! But I like to keep the bling to a minimum.

  

 

 I love keeping white taper candles in an assortment of jars and vessels.

 





Even for a person who doesn't go all out on holiday decorating, like how I went *teensy weensy* overboard with my "mantel"... doing a fun and simple staging area like this for holiday related items can bring just a bit of that fun and sparkle into your home. My kids always love it! 

Homefront: Valentine's Mantel Decorating

I shopped a 90% off Christmas sale recently and got tons of berry garlands and goodies for next year. So, I thought I would try and use some for my Valentine's mantel. I usually keep them fairly tame, like those from 2011, 2010 and 2009... but I really wanted to throw some pink fluff in this year. 

 

All I bought for this craft was the pink felt heart for $2. Everything else I had around the house, and it became this:

See? All it takes is a little bit of ingenuity, hot glue and random supplies to make something cute. That center heart is just a simple pipe cleaner. You can buy the jewels at craft stores, or order them from me here in silver or an assortment of colors!

This heart I made a few years back was cute, but I wanted to glam it up and pinkify it to match my other heart. I used red nail polish on the black outer edge and pink glitter.

 She's all new and pretty in pink.

 

Yes, my IKEA Expedit bookcase makes a perfect "mantel" for decorating, since I no longer have a fireplace. Hmmm... do you think I should have added more pink or red? (My husband firmly declares, "No.", though men can still like pink.) What is your color of choice for Valentine's Day?

 Here, I used simple flower vases with Valentine's socks pulled over them.

My shabby green candelabra I painted a few years is still going strong, and getting more shabby chic by the year. She has lost some prisms, so I have to do some replacing.

This is a vintage letter/napkin holder I got for .50 cents at a garage sale. I gussied her up with some ivory paint, than dry brushed her with a pinky red, (my tutorial here). Actually, I may have made the paint a little milky by adding water, but basically the same technique.

 Love this print, by The Black Apple.