Valentine's Decor (or Lack Thereof)

For all holidays I at least try to have my entry table decorated.  Sometimes, like now, it is the only place decorated.  Usually in January I leave out a few snowmen, pine cones and pine boughs, but since I just recently got Christmas taken down (except for a few lingering wreaths), I figured I had better shoot for Valentine's Day instead.

If you have been anywhere in Blogland in the past year, then you already know the popularity of Subway Art right now.  I like the fact that is easy to interchange, cheap, and versatile, but my favorite part of it, is that lots of other people make it and give it to me for FREE!

So here's my entry table including FREE subway art from eighteen25.  I already had the 8 1/2 x 11 black frame, so I just printed it onto photo paper and inserted.  Wala!  For more color-intensive prints I would get prints from Costco instead of using up my ink.
Here are some links to other blogs with cute Valentine's subway art:  Today's Fabulous Finds,  Craftily Ever After, and Tatertots and Jello.

The rest:
The wooden hearts on the wreath are D.I. makeovers from THIS blog post.
The vintage Valentine's cards around it are from The Graphics Fairy.
The glass canisters are from D.I. thrift store with lids from old candles.  The biggest problem with decorating with candy is that it disappears!  And since this display is at the most passed-by location in our home, it goes fast.  The peppermint sticks were leftovers from Christmas, but the colors worked, the white chocolate roses are leftovers from my niece's wedding reception, and you can't beat M&M's in all their colorful glory (it used to be full).
I also got the mirrored tray at D.I. only it used to be gold.  It stands up, or has legs for a tray and it had been a wonderful item to decorate with to add a little extra sparkle.
Finally, the LOVE is from Tai Pan Trading.  I have really tried to find more cute Valentine's decor at stores this year, but there just isn't much out there.   I was happy with this though.

My only other Valentine's decor is a jumbo Hershey's kiss on a little white stand and a few random wooden hearts.  So I'll keep looking in Blogland for more freebies and inspiration and maybe clearance sales will be good to me this year.  If so, the decor may get to spread to other areas of my home.  Oh, and I better stock up on more candy since we haven't even gotten to February yet!

I'm not afraid to admit it...

...I am a bargain shopper. I get a rush when find a great deal, and I found some that I have to share. Not all are done yet, so I'll post them later.

Last week I was reading my new favorite blog, Just A Girl, and found some very inspirational ideas. So after a trip to D.I. and one of my other favorites, Hobby Lobby, (oh, and Robert's too) I came home with the stuff I needed to copy two of her ideas:

Here's the link to her BE MINE? project where I got this idea.

My D.I. is just overflowing with old wooden cutouts from everyone's past projects. Here are the ones I found. I paid $1.00 for the little one and $2.00 for the big one. Seems a little steep for a bargain hunter like me, but if I waited to cut them out myself I would never get it done, so it was worth it.
I stripped the stuff off them, sanded them with my handy-dandy sander (that I love too) and re-applied new paint to the little heart (kind of a peachy-pink that I mixed). I liked the color I got after I sanded the big heart, so I left it.
Next, I traced some scrapbook paper a little bigger than the hearts and glued it on with Aleen's Tacky Glue. Then after it was good and dry I sanded the edges again with my sander to antique them. Then I applied 3 coats of Mod Podge over the paper, re-attached the wires when they were dry and - tada!

Aren't they cute? I only bought 2 pieces of paper for them. The stripes are the reverse side of the bigger flower paper. I tried putting a tag on the bigger heart, but I couldn't stand to cover up any of the paper that I love, so I just added the little bow.

The second idea I copied was from the I Found Something! idea.
So while I was at Hobby Lobby I was browsing the clearance section and found these candle stands for 60% off. I got both of them for $13.00. I was so excited because I needed something taller to put next to the clock on the basement fireplace mantle. I then looked at the prices of candles and wasn't happy (even with them 50% off). I was going to check Tai Pan later for candles, but then went to D.I. and found these candles for $2.00 each! I just wanted red ones and wasn't really picky about the smell or look of them because I knew I was going to wrap most of them with paper. But they were in perfect shape, still wrapped in plastic and even a smell I liked.

I couldn't find any black/white toile scrapbook paper to match my curtains, but I liked this pattern that I had in my digi-scrapbook files, so I printed it out. The ribbon is little b/w checks. I should have taken a close-up, sorry. The greatest part about this idea is that I can change the paper and ribbons anytime I want to.

You'll have to check out Just a Girl for more great ideas. I already have been inspired to do more, and check back later to see what else I found on this productive shopping trip (don't you love those!). As soon as the weather warms up a bit I will be back to work in my garage with my sander!