[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!
The Seasonal Home 