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

2011 “MUSICAL” Christmas Video Tour

The holiday video tour of The Seasonal Home’s 2011 Christmas is finally complete.  Here is the YouTube link to enjoy our musical Christmas spirit…

[click on the link below to view my latest Christmas video, on YouTube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7GrxNsOPzI

My 2010 Christmas Video Tour

ENJOY this “musical” holiday spirit…

a tour of my home…

Christmas 2010!

(Don’t forget to turn up your speakers!) 🙂

 

Outdoor “CANDY”! A Christmas Decorating Idea

If you’d like to try making a whimsical outdoor decoration, this one is easy!  Hopefully, you have a Michael’s Craft Store near you where they have very large, lightweight, hollow plastic balls in stock for the holidays.  They remind me of over-sized ping-pong balls and come in different sizes.  They offer them in red, white & green colors.  I’ve been in their stores a couple of times this year and have noticed that no one is buying them and I think it’s because they don’t know what to do with them.  However, I have an idea for using them to create large, whimsical outdoor candy blow pops and I’ve included directions for you (below).  If you don’t have a Michael’s near you, just locate a party store or Dollar Tree and use rubber balls instead.

You will need: Large hollow plastic balls (Michael’s) or rubber play balls in red and green, wired ribbon, clear cellophane (the kind you wrap “gift baskets” with or use pre-formed “gift basket” plastic bags (Dollar Tree), PVC pipe (cut in equal lengths; I chose 3 ft. for my garden) to be used as the lollipop stands, large suction cups, strong adhesive, wired holiday ribbon, thin wire or pipe cleaners.

Directions: After securing each plastic or rubber ball to the suction cups (add glue to suction cup AND ball for more stability), glue the bottom of the suction cup to the top of each PVC length & allow to dry well.  Cut a large piece of the cellophane (large enough to cover the entire ball plus 8” extra).  Center cellophane over top of ball and secure all ends underneath the ball, around the PVC or wood stick, with a piece of wire or pipe cleaner.  Complete your holiday lollipops with a bow tied around the wire to hide it.  Repeat.  Hint: I used shrink-wrap bag & a blow dryer to suction the shrink-wrap to the ball only for a more air-tight design.

A “Creative” Gift for Christmas!

Recently, a fan of my new “How to Decorate a Tree for Christmas” DVD came up with such a great idea, after she watched the creative decorating ideas I added in among the basic decorating information.  It is such a simple and clever idea that I just had to share it with my readers.

This young woman has a couple of Aunts, for whom she buys Christmas gifts each year and she struggles for ideas every year.  But this year…  she hit the bull’s-eye!  Evidently, both of her Aunt’s holiday decorations have not been revamped in many years and are, therefore, looking a little tired.  So, she purchased each of them one of my DVDs along with the inexpensive supplies to create one of my easy decorating projects (featured in my DVD).    It has reawakened their creativity with new and easy inspiration.  And best of all, they had the instructions (in my DVD) and all of the necessary materials so they were able to dig into the project right away.  I thought this was very creative and thoughtful, so I’m passing it along for those of you who have similar gift situations/dilemmas.  Here’s a photo of the items she sent each Aunt:

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT… Coming Soon!

Stay Tuned to this blog... my 2010 Musical Christmas Holiday Video Tour should be posted on YouTube the week before Christmas... my gift to you! :- )

 

WELCOME Christmas!

I have always enjoyed the earthy tradition of using fruit to create organic holiday decor.  It’s very popular in Williamsburg, Virginia.  However, in Florida, using real fruit would quickly create a mess, once the heat began fermenting the fruit (LOL).  But, I didn’t let that stop me!  To make this decoration, I simply looked for realistic faux (fake) fruit and cut each piece in half, using a serrated (blade)  knife.   Then, I glued my fruit “halves” to an arch-shaped piece of styrofoam (I recycled from a box I received) and added some silk Magnolia leaves around the perimeter, to finish-off my design.  Of course, if you live in a colder climate, you could use real fruit to create the same look…. LUCKY! ;- )  (LOL)  Anyway, here’s a photo of my version, which I used to top a garland around my front door:

 

Stretching your Holiday Decorating Dollar

Most of you know, I love to re-purpose everyday things.  However, I also love to find “second” uses for my holiday items too –  especially if it means I won’t have to put away the everyday accents I have in my kitchen cabinets.   This year, I wrapped a large gift in a paper that coordinates with my black & white toile kitchen theme.  Until I gift someone (on Christmas day) with it, I will have the perfect decorative accent for this year’s theme!  Also in this photo, I have another easy decorating idea for you.  I needed a touch of my lime green accent color inside this cabinet (to break up the black & white) and didn’t have anything to use.  So, I popped one of my leftover lime green ornament balls on top of a silver candle stand… perfect!  I hope these ideas inspire you to look through your own decorations and around your home for themed holiday inspiration.  Happy decorating!

If you are enjoying my holiday decorating ideas and style, please check out my BRAND NEW “How to Decorate a Christmas Tree” DVD… hot off the press and available on this blog!  Here’s a preview:

CHRISTMAS DECORATING “How To” DVD is ready!

WE SHIP IMMEDIATELY!

HERE IT IS!  I am very excited and pleased to announce that I have completed my first, full-length (1-hour) “Christmas How To” DVD, through my publishing company (Creative Families, LLC).  It’s available right here on this blog (see right-hand column) and I made sure it is extremely affordable (only $10!) by making it another home-grown product.  It will teach you the basics as well as some of my best secrets for decorating a Christmas tree, plus MUCH MORE!  You’ll even learn my own unique short-cut for creating a designer bow.  If you enjoy my decorating style, this video will show you how I accomplish it.  Here’s the video trailer:

 

 

Christmas in JULY!

Ok, I know it sounds a little strange, but I LOVE to think about Christmas in July.  Especially this weekend… July 25th… 5 months from Christmas day and only 4 months from the weekend when most people begin to decorate for the holidays.  And it’s been soooooo hot outside that a little Christmas spirit just seems to be the perfect way to cool things down (in my mind).

Because I am a holiday designer, this is the time of year I begin to look at new trends and some old favorites too.  I am also very busy working on an instructional video series, in which I will be sharing all of my experience (and Secrets!!) in holiday design.  When it’s ready, it will be available on my blog.  I think you will be very surprised over its reasonable cost and jam-packed content.

Although I decorate many homes for the holidays, through my company, decorating my own is my fav and where my creativity really shines.  Here’s a musical video from last year’s design, complimented by 2 wonderful holiday songs… 1 classic & 1 contemporary.  So, turn down the air conditioning, pour a mug of hot cocoa and enjoy a few minutes of virtual Christmas (in July!):

P.S.  If you want ideas for making holiday memories… to go ALONG with your creative decorating this Christmas… check out my book – it’s full of them!