A Matter of the Heart: Valentine’s Day Decor
Good morning, friends! In today’s post our guest contributor Megan Wild will share some wonderful decorating tips for the Valentine’s Day which is just around the corner. Megan Wild is a DIY home decor lover who enjoys finding new ways to use unwanted items. When she’s not crafting, you can find her updating her home improvement blog, Your Wild Home.
When it comes to holiday decorating, Halloween and Christmas hog the spotlight. This February, though, we propose you shine a little light on the love-ly holiday known as Valentine’s Day. There’s a lot you can do with the pink and red hues, hearts and sentiments of this season, too: below, you’ll find six inspiring examples of how to transform your home into a place you’ll really heart.
1. Spruce Your Shelf
Most people wouldn’t think to dress up a bookshelf for a particular holiday, but let’s make this Valentine’s Day the first exception to that unwritten rule. Grab a stack of pink, red or purple paper to cover the books you have — or want — on display. Wrap the paper around and crease it so you know exactly where the book’s spine is.
Then, with a razor, cut out the shape of a heart on each spine. Place a second white paper jacket beneath the original spine or simply cut and tape a scrap of white paper beneath the heart to ensure it’s visible from even the highest shelf and voila: you’ve got the cutest book collection in town.
- Spell-It-Out Letters
We all know that Valentine’s Day is about L-O-V-E, so it’s not surprising that many crafters and decorators choose to make these four letters the centerpiece of their holiday displays. Here’s an easy craft that can transform your mantle or dining room table into a festive centerpiece.
Simply wrap cardboard letters in yarn. Of course, you can take your tying up a notch by creating an ombre color scheme that fades from, say, light pink to red, but a single color or pattern will do just as well.
- Yarn-and-Nail Art
This little project can really be done at any scale. You could make a small heart to give to someone as a gift or an enormous one to sit on top of your fireplace. Either way, the project itself is pretty easy, no matter your level of crafting expertise.
Stencil the shape you want to create on a piece of Mason board, hammer nails as evenly as you can around the border and then go to town with the yarn. You can stretch it any which way, from one nail to another, so long as you cover the center enough to clearly show the shape you’ve created. The end result is a craft that’s shabby chic and so easy to create that you might just make one for every holiday that you celebrate.
4. Ruffled Heart Wreath
You need a sewing machine to make this project into a reality, but the finished product is worth the added labor. It also requires a steady hand to pull a thread just so, tightening strips of satin so that they go from flat to ruffled.
After that, though, your task becomes a whole lot easier. Hot-glue and strategic wrapping transform a styrofoam heart shape into a festive wreath that lets all who enter your home know it’s a pretty loving place.
5. Hug-Ready Heart Pillow
Seamstresses of the world, rejoice: this simple project incorporates the fabric scraps for which you really don’t have a plan or purpose. Simply cut them into hearts and attach them to a square-shaped piece of quilting fabric. Then, a few free-hand stitching accents and actual stitching will complete the look of this country, shabby-chic pillow that’s just as cuddly as you are on Valentine’s Day.
6.I Heart Countdowns
Finally, build up excitement for your impending lovefest by creating a chic countdown calendar. An old picture frame sets the perfect scene for — and provides enough support to hold —countdown cards clipped onto horizontal strings.
You and your significant other can write notes to each other in these cards, sweet nothings to get you in the mood for the holiday. As an added bonus, you can reuse your frame to hold Christmas cards or even family pictures when it’s not Valentine’s.
