Made With Love....Simple Ideas for Valentine's Day Gifts and Decorating

When my girls were younger,

we had barely put Christmas decorations away

before we started decorating for Valentine's Day.  

Hearts were everywhere, and we were already thinking of

what Valentines to make and what would be on our 

Pink and Red Menu for Valentine's Day.

The past few years we've kinda let it go.

Life just got more busy, you know?

Until a few days ago, when my 12 year old niece Macy

wrote to show us pictures of how she had decorated her room.

I think she did an AMAZING job!

She finished by asking how we were decorating this year.

Ummmmm..........well,  I wasn't sure if we were.

UNTIL that email from her.

Until I was inspired by a young girl's festive spirit.

So I went online and I walked around the house,

 looking for ideas.

I found a few things I had made and tweaked them a bit

to make them work for Valentine's Day, either as a

decoration or as a small gift.

See what you think........

1.  Candy hearts look adorable in a Mason Jar pedestal.  At least I think so.......
but then, I love these candies so I would think they look great in ANYTHING!
And these are really easy to make, using a mason jar, candlestick and E6000 glue.

2.  Painted Mason Jars and Milk Bottles hold anything you can think of,

and would be a beautiful way to hold flowers, candy or special messages.

3.  Bejeweled Mini Mason Jars.......Strips of lace or burlap glued around a jar, embellished with a jewel and/or flower.  These look cute gathered on a table top and make

AWESOME gift containers!  No wrapping necessary:)

4.  Heart Garland.......dollar store craft!  

5.  Heart Pencil Toppers........Again, the wire and pencils were bought at the dollar store.

Simply twist a piece of the wire into a heart shape and wrap on the pencil tops.

 

These heart toppers are also fabulous on a longer stick and used as bubble blowers!  

Thank you Macy!

Without the inspiration from you, we might've been lazy and let this Holiday slip by:)

A few other decorations I found were these:

A heart wreath.......paper hearts glued on a wreath or any round form.

 Pom Pom Monsters!

How cute are these?  Pretty dang cute if you ask me:)

Heart Rag Wreath!  Super cute and EASY!

Yarn wrapped letters or hearts.  This is such a simple project that

will be a real eye catcher!

Well, why NOT a heart tree?  

You could write little messages on them or leave as is.........

cute either way!

  Remember the heart garland I mentioned above?

You could tie them on branches outside.  Awesome!

Alrighty then, I think that's about it.

Check back soon.......I have other ideas to pass on but didn't want

 to bombard anyone:)

XOXO

Suzanne

Dollar Store Christmas Decorating.........

okay, who doesn't LOVE the dollar store?

come on, admit it.......

you go there for SOMETHING every once in awhile,

right????

either way, you are gonna be AMAZED at what crafty projects

you can create from goodies found at the dollar store.

i mean it!

you'll SERIOUSLY think some of these are really COOL!

so sit back and check out THESE festive pretties!

GLITTER............

glitter goes with everything, especially at the Holidays.

here we have miniature Christmas village houses from the dollar store, 

spray painted and glittered.

love em!

(visit mrspollyrogers.com for her tutorial:)

also, thanks to Martha Stewart,

crafty people everywhere are snatching up little deer, snowmen, fruit

and anything else you can think of,

painting on a bit of glue and glittering them up!

just think of what you could GLITTER!

SNOWFLAKES................

create your own little winter wonderland with the GORGEOUS,

oversized snowflakes at our favorite store!

hang them in the window, on the front door, outside with twinkle lights........

glue them together to make a wreath or, for the MOST clever idea........

glue them on vintage paper, sheet music, stationery or whatever,

 slide them in a frame and VOILA.........instant art!

i use these all the time!

we decorated a winter nutcracker themed float for a

 Christmas parade last year and this year,

i spray painted them pink and added glitter, of course,

for a whimsical pink Christmas theme at the store.

ORNAMENTS...............

don't ya just love ornaments?

so pretty, colorful and festive...........

and the dollar store has sleeves of them for.......you guessed it, a dollar!  

(once, when these store first opened, i was shopping with my mom

 and she made the mistake of asking the clerk how much something cost. 

 apparently this is the funniest question they get,

 so they yelled at the top of their lungs

  "everything's a DOLLAR":)  hahaha

so, if you have a clear vase or jar,

 grab some faux berries, some pinecones and ornaments and you're good to go!

this wreath can be made with $$$$$ store plastic ornaments a number of ways.

you can also glue ball ornaments on a regular wreath, on styrofoam, or the latest way to make them

is to thread them on a hanger.

lots of people have tutorials out there so go for it:)

possible my FAVORITE way to use them is to make a curtain of ornaments!!!

pick out your favorite cheapo ornaments, 

take them home, thread them on fishing wire, 

knotting around the loop on each one and attach to a tension rod to hang in the window.

is it just me, or is this REALLY cool?

CANDLES............

candles are just plain festive, no matter how you like your decorations.

even unlit, they look so pretty!

and these are pretty incredible!

oh. my. gosh.   

just look at the candles in the hurricane vases.

looks like pottery barn or something,

but nope, they are made from dollar store candle sticks and vases, 

glued together with silicone and there you have your lovely candle holder display!

(visit momtastic for instructions:)

i love the tall candle holders too!

i've seen them there all the time but never would have thought of this.

simply apply words  or sayings from your scrapbook stash, embellish and you're done.

love it!!!!!

finally, if you put a bit of mod podge or white glue mixed with water

onto a candle and roll it in epsom salts,

you get a snowy, sugary candle!

EPSOM SALTS!

who knew???:)

CANDY and TREES.............

okay, last we have some traditional, festive looking decorations in red and green.
fill those clear jars with candy canes and peppermints for instant decorating.
and using glue, spray paint, dollar store candle holders, glitter and styro cones,
you can make the cute trees.
SWEET and SIMPLE!

so, there you have it!
no excuse for having an un-festive home now!
just head to your nearest dollar store and have at it:)
and remember to have FUN while you're at it!

i'm HOPING to do a PINK Christmas post on Saturday, so stay tuned.
(hope being the key word there:)

hohoho.....
Suzanne