Creative, Re-purposed Decorations for Valentine’s Day

[As always, click on any photo to view it larger]

Call me creative or just plain lazy (LOL)….  but this year, I kept up a few of my Christmas decorations and re-purposed them, with a “Valentine” look.

Remember this pretty garland? 

Once I removed the ribbon, “Merry Christmas” sign and the tabletop decorations, I noticed how beautiful and wintry the greenery looked, so I just added some glittered red hearts (wall hangings cut-apart from the dollar section of Target), red velvet heart picks from The Dollar Store and my “smooch” stickers (purchased a few years ago).

Total cost to take it from Christmas to Valentine’s Day: $3.00

And remember this tree?

I replaced the hanging ornaments (on the curtain rod) with a simple valance I sewed, using $3.00 worth of fabric from Wal-mart and added a $3.00 felt heart garland from Target to trim it out.

The tree ornaments are 3-piece, glittered Valentine wall hangings (from the dollar section of Target) that I cut apart and used alongside cardboard hearts (removed from a $4.00 Walgreen’s wreath).  I added one new thing that softened the look of the white tree and made a wonderful garland – inexpensive light pink feather boas!  For the base, I made a pink cupcake liner (from poster board) to replace the blue (Christmas) one and exchanged the glittered ornaments, tucked in the pink frosting (spray painted polyester batting) with sprinkles, which I made from leftover poster board and paper.  The Christmas tree was bright and happy, whereas the Valentine’s Day tree is soft and sweet!

I’ll be hosting a Valentine themed meeting next month, so I test-drove the table cover, dishes and chair decorations to see how they’ll look too.  I’m loving this lush, pink color!  And by the way, the chair decorations are nothing more than another glittered “Conversation Heart” wall hanging I also found in the dollar section at Target and tied on the back of the chair with an inexpensive piece of ribbon.

It was fun to fill my cabinets with Valentine goodies too and I re-purposed some Christmas decorations there… can you spot them?

 

Remember this cookie tree from Christmas? 

I covered the star (on the top) with a couple of the cardboard hearts and of course, placing it next to a couple of Valentine cupcakes creates an instant Valentine’s Day treat!

Remember this cake plate with a red bow, from Christmas?

It’s just as cute under a Department 56 Valentine house! 

I use my apothecary jars year round, including Christmas.  I changed the candy, in several of them to Conversation Hearts (for Valentine’s Day) but kept the pastel jelly beans in one because the colors were perfect!

 

Here’s an idea you might want to try – use apothecary jars as frames by adding a few Conversation Hearts and tucking your photos or vintage Valentine Cards inside.  You could display photos of you and your sweetie or your kids/grandkids.  It’s just a different way to display photos or other keepsakes without purchasing a separate & costly Valentine’s Day frame.  And hey… it makes a real conversation piece too!

Stay tuned for a Shabby Chic idea for Valentine’s Day (blog post) next, coming up in a couple of days!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Enjoy the Creativity…

EILEEN

Unique Easter Baskets!

Receiving an Easter Basket is so much fun for young children and I know some parents stop this gift-giving tradition once children reach their teens.  My children are grown, but I still love to give them a few goodies (mostly things they need) at Easter, like new toothbrushes, modest gifts cards (to help out with lunch on their tight budgets), etc.  And now that some of them have S.O.s (significant others – lol), I’m including them too!

Once kids reach their teenage years, it doesn’t make sense to hand them woven baskets, so I prefer putting their gifts into a container that is also useful, which then… becomes part of their gift.  In case this gifting idea works for your family as well, below are a few container suggestions that I’ve utilized in the past – as well as this years.  And here’s a helpful hint – if you choose a LARGE gift-container, simply use boxes, plastic bags, tissue paper, etc. to fill up the bottom,  so your gifts can rest near the top, on a bed of Easter grass.

Always keeping my budget in mind,  I never pay more than $5.00 for a container, so I keep an eye out for inexpensive or clearanced items, all year long.  Today, I walked into Walmart and they had just marked down their large, canvas totes (office supply dept.) to $3.50…. SOLD! 😉 [see it in use below].

Enjoy the Creativity!

Eileen

Click on any photo for a larger view

Over-the-shoulder Cooler

Lidded Storage Containers

Collapsible Canvas Storage & Insulated, Personalized Lunch Bag

Back to School

As summer draws to an end, and you begin to think about the children returning to school, it’s important to reflect on how many “summer” memories we made.  I’m not referring to over-the-top vacations, but more importantly, time spent together.  Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, auntie or uncle, we have such a short window in which to create some fun with the children in our lives… I hope you were successful in that accomplishment.

Of course, summer isn’t over yet.  So, if you find that you’re short on ideas, feel free to check out my book.  It has some great ideas for summer AND back-to-school!   Plus, it’s VERY reasonably priced and full of AWESOME, year-round, original ideas – making it a GREAT GIFT for any parent – so pass the word around, if you don’t mind. 🙂

Year-round, idea-filled CHAPTERS in my book, available at http://www.creativefamilytraditions.com

Also, please keep it in mind for your own year-round and holiday gift needs (like teachers, baby showers, new baby, friend or relative birthday).   If you’ve enjoyed my ideas on this blog, you’ll LOVE my book.  And of course, your support is much appreciated… THANK YOU!

A "SAMPLE" page from the SUMMERTIME Section of my book