Layered with Love

Kallee always has incredible decorating ideas.  I love how she layered a variety of Valentine banners on her armoire.

Having a basket on your table is a great way to decorate for any holiday as it can be easily removed for dinner time.

My favorite thing about Kallee's decorating is that she uses everyday decor items by adding a touch of a holiday.  By adding the red flowers, card, and hearts, she turns her everyday jug of flowers into the perfect Valentine statement.  Hope this gives you some fun decorating ideas for your home!

Valentines Decor

Here are my jars filled with Valentine treats.  I loved the layered look of the hearts and Valentine corn.  It was only $2.50 a tub at Walmart.  I filled the others with Hershey Kisses and M&Ms.

This year, I hung my rose balls and hearts from the chandelier.  It all came from TaiPan from last year and this year.

I love Kallee's trick for adding extra flair to bows by using three short pieces of coordinating ribbon.  Tie your first knot, place the pieces in between and tie a second knot.  Then tie the bow.

Found this birdcage at TaiPan for $10.  Love it filled with the simple pillar candle.  It will be a great porch piece to fill with various items throughout the year.

Lastly, I wanted a little extra flair for my wreath.  When I saw this feather heart wreath at Hobby Lobby for $7, I had to have it.  Layering wreaths adds so much dimension!

Fun Find: Large Apothecary Jars

Kallee and I headed up to TaiPan yesterday and found some great things.  The best was their large apothecary jars.  The tall one was only $9.97.  The other shorter, fatter one was $13.97.  That is half the price they normally are.  I bought two and incorporated my other smaller one in as a grouping of three.  I love how they look and am headed to the store for Valentine candy filler.

I snapped this picture in Osmond Design.  I like how they layered the candy.  Check back tomorrow for more fun Valentine decoration ideas.

Fun with Old Books: A Valentine Banner

I saw on a blog a cute idea to use old book pages to make a Valentine banner.  Here is my spin on it.  I bought an old book from Forget Me Not for $5, some paper and letter stickers from Country Loft, and went to work with my glue gun.  I trimmed the pages to be 4 1/2".

Accordion fold the pages and glue two together to make one long piece. 

 Fold in half and glue the edges of 1/2 circle together.

Repeat on opposite side and then glue to your paper.

Adorn with letter stickers.

I couldn't decide between two papers, so I made two different ones.



I don't know why this posted this way, but I love how it turned out.  I have two extra: one with the red letters, and one with the gold.  Leave a comment if you would like to be entered in the drawing to receive one.  I'll announce the winners tomorrow!  Happy DIY project day!

New Year Fun Find

Happy 2012 to all of our followers!  We hope you had a great New Year celebration.  We are revamping the blog a little for this upcoming year.  We won't be posting every day, but will post as we find great things to share.  With Lindsay having her baby and me evaluating student teaching, time is precious these days.  If you are a loyal follower and check the blog daily, please leave a comment for us as encouragement to keep the posts coming.  Know that we love sharing our ideas with all of you and will continue to do so.  Keep checking back for new posts!

My fun find is from our neighbor Heather's front door.  I love the bright red against her black door!  What a great wreath for Valentines!  She got it on sale at Target for $31.99.  It was a little treat to herself post holidays.  Thanks for sharing Heather!  If you have any great finds we need to share, please leave email us a picture!

Repurposed Valentine Decor

My fun find for the day is cheap Valentine decorations.  Both TaiPan and Rod Works have all of their decorations on clearance right now.  Last year, I bought all my Valentine Decor CHEAP!!  How you may ask?  Well, to start. . .

 I bought the heart ornaments and heart pillow at IKEA after Christmas.  They were meant as Christmas ornaments but totally fit for Valentines Day.

 The pillow was $4.99.  I already had the candles.  I bought the stick bundle at Rod Works on clearance for $6.99.  It was part of their Christmas clearance but totally works for Valentines.

 The ornaments were $.75 for a pack of 4.  CRAZY price!  I wasn't even looking for Valentine decorations, but when I saw these at that price, I had to have them.

I used grapevine garland that had been sitting in my closet for years (purchased from Roberts for $6 but never knew what to do with it) to make a heart.  I wrapped it with red christmas ribbon, put it in my red bucket that I use on the porch during the summer months, attached a valentine ornament with duct tape, and voila, instant, cheap, repurposed decorations.  Look around your house.  Your decorations don't have to be expensive or brand new.

The Perfect Valentine Treat

 Thanks to Family Fun magazine for this great Valentine treat recipe.

 

 

Ingredients

 

• 12 mini candy canes
• 6 (6-inch) paper lollipop sticks
• ½ cup white chocolate chips
• 1½ teaspoons vegetable oil
• Red, white, and pink nonpareils or sugar sprinkles

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 235°. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, arrange the candy canes as hearts and bake them for 10 minutes.
2. Slide the hearts, still on the parchment paper, onto a work surface. Quickly pinch each heart onto a lollipop stick as shown below (an adult's job).
3. In the microwave, melt together the chocolate chips and the oil in 10-second intervals, stirring between heatings.
4. Spoon the chocolate mixture into the center of each heart, then top with nonpareils or sugar sprinkles. Cool the pops before serving or wrapping them.

Tips:

We packaged our Sweet Heart Pops in lollipop bags purchased at a craft store.