When You Decorate for Valentine’s Day…on Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentine’s Day, all!

So…I have a confession to make. I wasn’t even really planning on decorating this year. I just wasn’t feeling it for some reason. Well, I guess I do know the reasons if I think about it. It was a combination of my mind not being in a decorating place much this year with all that biopsy stuff, and my tastes have evolved. Meaning: the stuff I bought years ago and used to pull out every year, well, I just wasn’t feelin’ it for our new decor. Since last V Day, we’ve made a lot of changes in the house – the family room, the dining room – and I had imagined a more neutral palette of cozy whites and soft pale pinks, mixed with the grey we have in here…(which was pretty much the exact OPPOSITE of what the inside of my V Day bin looks like!). This brings me to another glitch in that plan: the budget. January hit us financially like a ton of bricks and we had to simmer down a little on the fun stuff…aka my trips to Hobby Lobby and Marshalls and HomeGoods. 😉

But I was recently at my cousin’s house with both our moms and we got to talking about how special they made everything growing up. I’d walk into the dining room on Valentine’s Day and Mom would have out the red and pink everything, a cake on the buffet table…we’d have a special dinner, chocolate hearts on our plates…it wasn’t anything over the top, but it was perfect. I realized how special that felt.

And last night our kids asked if I’d be making heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. And it hit me that they notice. These traditions that I do because my mom did them, they love them, too.

So we made our heart pancakes, they went to school, and I decided to go dig out the bin.

And you know, it took maybe 30 minutes, and this was pretty much all Dollar Tree stuff, so even if you don’t have a ton of time or a big budget to spend, you can pull off a decked out dining room for a special dinner.

Valentine's Day decor

I pulled out the LOVE glasses I made forever ago, and stuck roses from the Dollar Tree in them, and since I already had the lanterns on the table, that was about it for the centerpiece. Some fun napkins are a fun touch (again ONE DOLLAR!), and some felt garland hanging from the chandelier make it super festive.

Valentines Day decor

Valentine's Day decor

I put MORE fake red roses in some coffee mugs, and put an XO I did years ago on my cup rack for more festive fun.

Valentine's Day decor

These little bags of our favorite chocolates were also a dollar! Can’t wait to see how excited the kids get when they see those!

So basically, with fake roses, some glasses from your kitchen cabinet, and some Dollar Tree garland, you can pull off a special table set for the most special people in your life without breaking the budget. (And don’t forget the sparkling cider!)

I’m so happy I decided to dig out the Valentine’s Day bin from storage and take a few minutes to do this. No, it’s not the beautifully neutral, pale pink and white look I envisioned, but who cares? It sure is festive and fun for the kids. And that’s what matters here. I hope it’ll be one of those sweet childhood memories they’ll reminisce about when they’re grown, like my cousin and I did last week.

Maybe they’ll even put it right up there with heart pancakes. 😉

valentine's day

Happy Valentine’s Day! XOXO

 

 

 

Comments

  1. Kelly Johnson says:

    This is all so pretty! I love how you decorate!! I hope that you are feeling better.

  2. Perfect!!! Sometimes we do our best work under a time restraint – great job to a quick (and affordable) transformation! I bet your V-day decor brought big smiles to those cute little faces!

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