Black & Red Valentine's Decor

My Valentin's decor this year was inspired by some table runners I came across in Target's Dollar Spot around Christmas time, a black striped one and one with red hearts. I bought them without knowing really what I would do with them. Then I came across these pillow covers and it was settled. With the table runners and the pillow covers, I was able to find some other decor from previous years, and came up with this black, white, and red theme. 

Source List:
Hearts table runner: Target
Wicker tray: Meijer
Lantern: Goodwill
LOVE pillow covers: Amazon

Black striped table runner: Target
"Welcome to our happily ever after" printable: View from the Fridge

Heart dish: Target
White jar: Michaels
Red Plate: Target

Projects: 

Wood Plank Coffee Table
White & Whimsical Chalk Paint Buffet
Burlap Valentine's Day Wreath

I really like the way these simple, understated decorations turned out.
How do you decorate for Valentine's Day?

Happy Tuesday!

5 Stay-At-Home Date Night Ideas

Maybe you don't like all the hype over Valentine's Day. Maybe you are looking for a way to celebrate without forking over loads of cash. Maybe you just don't feel like fighting the crowds to get a table at a restaurant during dinner. No matter what your reasoning may be, you have decided to stay home on Valentine's Day. Lucky for you, there are plenty of ways to celebrate in the comfort of your own home!

Order Take Out: Get Chinese take-out or order a pizza to enjoy at home. Dust off the China and eat your take-out on your fanciest plates. Finish the night curling up on the couch with popcorn and a movie.

Have a Game Night: Get a little competitive and challenge your significant other to a game night. Some of our favorites include Skipbo, Triominos, Qwirkle, and Phase 10.

Sit by a Fire: Cuddle up next to your significant other by a fire with a warm blanket. Chat under the stars while roasting marshmallows and sipping hot chocolate. Too cold to be outside? You can do the same thing by the fireplace.

Dinner and Dancing: Get dressed up and make a candlelit dinner together. End the night with a homemade playlist of some of your favorite dancing songs and dance the night away.

Turn Your Home Into A Spa: Spend an evening relaxing with an in-home spa. Light some candles and turn on some soft music. Bubble bath, massages, and facials are a must. End the night with a little dessert.

What are your plans this Valentine's Day? 

Does anyone have a traditional way they always spend the evening? 

Adam and I tend to mix it up and do something different every year. Sometimes we go out and sometimes we opt for takeout and movie in. We still are undecided on what to do this year, but all five of these ideas seem to be just fine with me! 

Happy Weekend!

Chalky Hearts Sugar Scrub

Looking for something small to give your girlfriends for Valentine's Day? This Chalky Heart Sugar Scrub is the perfect gift! 

The past few years, I have filled a vase with chalky hearts for decoration. Every year, I think it is such a waste to just throw them away, but I don't really want to eat them after they've been sitting out for a month either. Last year, I decided to throw them all in a Ziploc bag to save for this year.

Instead of decorating with them, I chopped them up in my blender and added them to my sugar scrub. The end result: Chalky Hearts Sugar Scrub!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of sugar, 1/4 cup of coconut oil, 1/2 cup of chalky hearts, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

WHAT TO DO:

1. Heat cocnut oil in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

2. Combine coconut oil and sugar. Mix well.

3. Chop chalky hearts in blender. Stir into sugar mixture.

4. Add 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla (optional to give it a scent) 

It is so easy and inexpensive to make, and your girlfriends are guaranteed to love it!

Do you pass out goodies to your friends/family for Valentine's Day? If so, what kinds of things do you make?

Pink and Gold Valentine's Vignette

Today I am finally sharing my Valentine's Vignette! I haven't always been a fan of gold, but just recently I have become very fond of it. Because of my new found love for gold, I decided to use pink and gold to create my vignette.  

The best part about this vignette? I spent next to nothing to make it! I purchased pink felt for the heart, and some gold spray paint, everything else I had on hand. 

I used the back side of my chevron heart door hanger and felt flowers to create the pink felt flower heart. I had the gold chevron ribbon from a previous project as well: my gold ribbon wreath. The frame I hung around it came from Adam's grandma's house.

 Fun fact: This frame used to hang in his grandma's bedroom with a paint by numbers of a naked woman inside of it. I never really understood why his grandma had it, but the frame is just beautiful. You may be wondering where the painting is now. My sweet husband has it hanging proudly in his workshop.

When unpacking my Valentine's decorations, I came across the"XOXO" letters. They were painted red for a project I never completed, so I spray painted them gold and glued them onto a white canvas I had laying around.

 Also inside the box of Valentine's day stuff were these pink rosette balls made of tissue paper streamers. I made the quite a few years back, probably when we were still in our Midland apartment.

 I spray painted some leftover candlesticks from our wedding centerpieces gold to set each rosette ball on. 

 The framed ombre heart art was a project I completed a few years ago. I swapped out the silver frame for a gold frame (from goodwill) to keep with the color scheme.

Lastly, the ceramics may also look familiar to you. I borrowed them from our home office. Sneaky, I know!

So as you can see, you don't need to spend a lot of money to create a beautiful vignette or mantel for your home during the holidays. Shop around your home first to see what you can come up with, and only buy what is absolutely necessary. 

"XOXO" Valentine's Canvas | Ombre Heart Art | Chevron Heart Door Hanger

What are some of your strategies for saving money while decorating? 

"XOXO" Valentine's Canvas

When digging out my box of Valentine's decorations this year, I came across these letters. I had painted them red a few years ago, and then never did anything with them. Story of my life= too many projects going on at once that I never finish half of them. Instead of throwing the letters away or keeping them buried in the box, I decided that with a little gold spray paint they would be the perfect addition to my decor this year. 

I had a white canvas laying around, so once the gold paint dried I stuck the letters on the white canvas with my hot glue gun.

 This is by far my favorite decoration I have created in a while. So chic, yet SO simple! I almost feel silly making a whole post for this... but isn't it just beautiful?!

Do you have any favorite projects that took you little to no time/money to make?

Happy Hump Day!
(is it Friday yet?)

Burlap Valentine's Day Wreath and a Giveaway Winner

Well folks, the mitten got hit with a snowstorm yesterday, and aside from the fact that I got stuck in my neighborhood trying to get to work this morning, I am absolutely loving it. Let's be honest though, I also loved having the day off once Adam came to push me out and told me to go straight home.

If you saw my Instagram feed over the weekend, you may have noticed that I have been in Valentine's Day craft mode all weekend. The first project I tackled was this Burlap Valentine's Day Wreath, inspired by the beautiful chevron bow I scooped up at Michael's last week. 

I wrapped the red burlap ribbon around the wreath pinned it in the back. I pinned the red chevron ribbon on it as well to use as the hanger. Saving the best for last, I pinned the chevron bow to the top to finish it off. 

This wreath took me about 15 minutes to make.

Confession: I didn't even take the cling wrap off the wreath because I didn't want to have to clean up all the hay that was guaranteed to be strewn about the house for days after making the wreath. Honestly, I don't even think you can tell and will probably continue to leave it on there every time I make a wreath from now on. Maybe I shouldn't be admitting that because it makes me less of a craft blogger... oh well!

I'm really glad the red burlap ended up matching so well. I was worried it would clash once I got it all together. 

I'm ending this post abruptly because I need to go watch my favorite farmer, I hope you will understand! (Although after that preview, I don't know how I'm going to feel about him by the end of the night!)

Oh, and before I go..,
Congratulations to Jessica Hnatiuk for being the Valentine's Day Giveaway WINNER! You will be receiving an email shortly.

Thank you to all who participated! If you still want your own crocheted heart coffee sleeve, you can use coupon code VDAY2015 to receive 15% off your total purchase in the Etsy shop now through Sunday, February 8th.

Happy Monday!

Top Five Favorite Valentine's Day Projects (And A Bonus Recipe)

Today I'm sharing with you all some of my favorite valentine's day projects from years past. I am planning to get out all of the valentine's day decor this weekend, and I'm thinking I'm not the only one. Here are a few ideas to decorate your home full of red and pink, hearts, and all things love

Ombre Heart Frame

Chevron Heart Door Hanger

Chalky Heart Candle Holder

Love Blocks Tutorial

Heart Wreath

And now for the bonus recipe: 

Valentine's Day Popcorn Mix

What are some of your favorite Valentine's related posts? I'd love to check them out!

Happy Friday!

Valentine's Day "Love You MORE" Canvas

Fancy meeting you here, and on a Thursday no less! I had every intention to get this post out yesterday, but as you can see that just didn't happen. Instead, I'm over here posting on a Thursday to make up for it. 

This project was inspired by all the gold and pink I've been seeing on Pinterest that I am absolutely loving. When deciding what to put on the gold canvas, I went with "love you more" because it is something Adam and I regularly say to each other. One of us usually starts with "i love you" and the other quickly responds with "i love you more." We banter back and forth for a while before one of us gives up. I can't decide if this is adorable or gag-inducing, but we do it anyways.

I already had a canvas, so I only had to purchase the gold spray paint and the pink vinyl. 

Money Saving Tip: I always go to Hobby Lobby for my vinyl because they have the much less expensive brand by The Paper Studio, and you can always use a coupon, too!

I always wait until February to bust out the Valentine's Day decor, so I will probably be tackling the rest of it this weekend.

Have you started decorating for Valentine's Day yet? 

Also: If you haven't already, head on over to Monday's post and enter my Valentine's Day Giveaway!