Now that I purged all of my Christmas goodness... its on to the fun stuff. I don’t know about anyone else but I love decorating for Valentine’s day. There is something about all the pink and red that just does it for me. Now that I have been decorating my porch for a handful of holidays, I have found that if its not decorated (especially in the months where I don’t have florals filling my planters) that my porch looks absolutely naked without any decorations. So, I put in the effort for my little guy and our sweet as pie mail lady who always makes a point to tell me how much she enjoys seeing it as well. If you don’t have a mail carrier like we do, you are missing out... she’s the best and comes armed with sweets and suckers for a little boy I know.
I have been a big fan of several home decorating blogs for years and I have picked up some awesome tips along the way. Turtle Creek Lane on instagram was a go to for me this year, since this is the first year I planned to decorate my porch for Valentine’s Day. One of her big tips is to look at what you can repurpose from Christmas for Valentine’s Day, think anything RED. So I took a look at my own porch and decided what I could repurpose.
You can see from the pictures above what I decided to repurpose from Christmas. My sparkly red garlands and red ribbons around my three main lanterns. I also decided to dig out my red doormat from Fourth of July as well as a pink gingham pillow from my Easter decorations. The next way I repurposed some Christmas items was by digging out some of my leftover Christmas ribbon to wrap around my bushel baskets, decorate the porch light and finally to make the heart garland. I didn’t have a wreath that I felt like would work in this space, didn’t want to invest much money into the decorations and determined I could make a garland myself with things lying around the house. The only things purchased for the porch were the cardboard heart boxes (Target), a couple rolls of Valentine’s printed ribbon (Hobby Lobby), the four sparkly open hearts (Hobby Lobby) and the Love doormat (Target). I also purchased a Love Letters pillow using my Target Rewards I saved from last year. I aways save my points for a purchase like that... that way I’m not breaking the bank to decorate for a short lived holiday. The doormat was $13, the heart boxes were purchased on sale for under $20 and I got out of Hobby Lobby for less than $10. All of these items will be stored and used for years to come so I didn’t think less than $50 was too bad of an investment for several years worth of use.
For my heart garland I used pre cut paper hearts, Christmas ribbon and floral wire.
It’s as simple as measuring your space for the length of your garland, attaching hearts with floral wire and then using different sizes and adding ribbon for filler. EASY PEASY... you can see from the videos below that it was very simple and only took me about 20 minutes from start to finish.
This would be a great project to let your kids help on! I also thought next year, I think I’ll be taking some paint pens and writing some conversation heart phrases on the larger hearts for an added effect. You could add some glitter, stickers, pipe cleaners instead of floral wire to give a funky look and even more dimension. The fun part about making a garland is you can make it as simple or full as you like. Once finished I just attached it to the trim around my door using about four well placed staples.
The next part of the DIY valentines decor were the heart boxes. I purchased a variety of sizes in these simple heart boxes. Many stores offer them as DIY Valentine’s mailboxes for your kid’s to use in their classrooms. I decided to turn them into conversation hearts with a little bit of acrylic craft paint and a slightly steady hand
Once they are dry, spray with a clear coat and let dry. Once everything was perfectly dry I decided to start assembling the larger boxes. I took a couple of wooden kabob sticks I had lying around the house and wired them together. Made a small hole in the top of the box and the bottom, once all the way through i attached the open hearts to the top for a stacked look and kept the boxes stationary by sticking the bottom of the ka bob stick into some floral foam buried in my planters. I liked how this elevated the hearts and allows for my planters to look tiered. I also wrapped the bushel baskets with white ribbons from Christmas and layered with my remaining Valentine’s ribbon.
I also added paper hearts to the lanterns with their red Christmas ribbon by hanging them on with floral wire. The last thing I added to my front porch was a felt Valentine’s day garland that Drew found stashed away from last year and a heart wall hanging that I have been hanging on to since I moved into my very first college apartment. It was a gift from a dear cousin of mine for a graduation gift. I’m pretty positive it came from Mosley Trading Co/ The Cadillac Cowgirl in Henrietta Tx. (They have since moved to Wichita Falls Texas and are renamed Regeneration, its a FANTASTIC boutique, you’ve got to check it out. They’ve been a favorite “honey hole” for me for years). I like to involve Drew when we are dressing up the front porch, its a nice family project to tackle on a sunny morning.
On to the inside of the house. I always like to decorate the high traffic areas in my home for the most effect. For us, its always the kitchen area of the house. This year I made sure to hang up my Love wreath from Kirkland’s last Valentine’s on my vent hood. The next part was to dig out my favorite Alexa collection Southern Living pitcher that matches my every day dinnerware. It’s a perfect staple for decorating as well as serving when you have guests over. I filled the pitcher with some Cherry Blossoms and used a votive that sits on my fireplace with a white hydrangea. I also added some sentimental pieces this year. I was recently gifted some antique Hall China Company teapots from a dear friend and employee. I think that they are just sweet and I knew that I had to incorporate them into my Valentine’s decorations.
I love just digging in my cabinets, repurposing some florals I have displayed in various rooms and rearranging my shelves to use pictures and sentimental pieces for decorations. I showed two different ways you can set your centerpieces. I am incorporating my Oma and Opa’s wedding photo into my centerpiece this year. This is a fun and simple way to make your centerpiece special. I have found that I like to stick to a simple color spectrum for all of the florals/greenery i use in my home. THat way I can rearrange and use for all different occasions. I love neutrals and light pastels in that case, perfect all the way from Valentine’s through spring/summer. I do the same with handtowels. I like using ones that I can use through many seasons for hanging on my dishwasher and stove handles. It’s an easy way to add some color that matches whatever holiday and season you are in. Finally, I threw a heart throw pillow from years past and unrolled a fresh kitchen rug while I have my other cleaned and stored until later this year. I like to keep a couple of inexpensive runners for my kitchen, that way if I spill anything and need to clean one I have a spare. Also a fun way to freshen up your home with the change of seasons. I also stick to light neutral shades of greens, blues, pinks and creams, they’re all very versatile!
I hope that these little tips inspire you to add a little Love into your home in some small way. I promise that doing small things like this really bring joy to your home and they don’t have to cost a penny to recreate. Like I said, be thoughtful about what you can repurpose from other holidays or decorations in your home. A dried Wedding bouquet would also be a sweet addition to a centerpiece with a wedding photo or some vintage photos of family members. It doesn’t have to be hand, just go on a scavenger hunt in your home and find some meaningful pieces to display for such a lovely month. Drop some comments below to tell me how you decorate for Valentine’s or some neat traditions you have in your home for this holiday! Look later this week for some gift guides at some great local businesses! I can’t wait to share them with you!
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