Valentine Ready at the House!

Happy First Day of February!!
I don’t usually post on Saturdays, but I couldn’t wait any longer for this one. I get so excited about Valentine’s Day! I enjoy putting out a few little decorative items, and I find it only takes some touches here and there to sweeten up the place. Since you’re my guest here today, we might as well start at my front door!

Remember my “Transitional Wreath”? If not, be sure and look back to see how with just minor tweaking, this wreath works for different seasons of the year. I had a completely different wreath out for Christmas, so my transitional wreath has been was stored away. Here is the Valentine-to-spring version! I added in some light pink fanny roses to the eucalyptus, lambs ear, and burlap ribbon that stay on the wreath year round. Then I added a wooden “love” sign from Dollar General that I’ll remove after February. The pink roses will remain throughout spring and I might tuck in something else springy as well.

Just inside the front door is my chalkboard. I have another chalk design in mind for a little party coming up later next week, but I doodled this one the other day (idea from the internet), when I was trying to look busy while actually just waiting for a certain little student to decide if he was going to finish his school assignment. (He did!)

Also near the front entrance is the hoop wreath I blogged about this week. Instructions are in my “Valentine Hoop Wreath” post! I’m enjoying my dark hallway being lightened up with this rosy wreath.

There is not too much going on in my living room related to Valentine’s, but I do have a little mantle bunting to put up before our party next week. For now, a simple floral arrangement on my desk is sweet enough. My daughter’s little blue Dutch girl looks so pretty next to pink flowers, don’t you think?

On to the kitchen! In addition to providing a place for cooking and eating, my kitchen also fills the roles of school room, sewing room, craft room, game room, gift wrap room, and office. So, whatever seasonal decorations I want on the table, I always arrange in this tray so it can be easily moved to my island during the day. There is a Christmas holly motif on the bottom of the tray, so I just place a piece of scrapbook paper over it to match all other occasions throughout the year.

I found these dish towels at TJ Maxx this year. Seasonal dish towels are both practical and decorative! TJ’s always has pretty ones.

Hanging to the left of the oven is another of our Valentine hoop wreaths.

This next little corner in my kitchen is my favorite spot this year. The pitcher stays in this corner year round, and right now it’s filled with more of my pink Dollar General flowers. The “Love Makes a House a Home” came from Dollar Tree this year, and the heart tray is from TJ Maxx, but I’ve also seen it at Home Goods this year.

I used this corner for serving desserts the other night when the ladies from my life group came for supper. We had a salad dinner and everyone brought a salad. It was a delicious meal! The chocolate tuxedo cake was from Costco and was decadently and delightfully delicious!! I could come up with a few more adjectives, but I’ll stop there.

The Raspberry White Chocolate Almond bars were the only thing I made for the evening (I purchased my salad from Costco too). These bars are so tasty and perfect for a Valentine dessert! I’ll share the recipe in an upcoming post.

In the dining room, the vase filled with candy hearts and a candle is an old idea that you’ve probably seen in other places before (excuse the blurry photo!). I’ve used the idea so many times through the years and I’m still not tired of it because it’s so cute. On an added note, the candy level is mysteriously lower than this now. Hmmmmm. 🤔

For my ladies’ supper, I was really only planning to put out a stack of plates, forks, and napkins at our salad buffet bar. Surprisingly, I had some extra time that afternoon, and ended up going ahead and setting the table with a simple setting that incorporated my new green dishes into a Valentine color scheme.

After the ladies’ get together, I left the simple centerpiece out for February. The ceramic lanterns were from the Target dollar spot two years ago ($3 each). I have gotten SO much mileage out of those! I use them for just about every holiday and occasion. The artificial flowers were from Dollar General last year. The gold votives were 90% off at Target after Christmas. Obviously, I love a good bargain!

These few little decorations didn’t take much time or money at all, and I don’t always do even this much for Valentine’s. Some years all I’ve put out is just a pretty dish towel and a bowl of candy hearts and it still says “Happy Valentine’s Day!”.

💕❤️💕❤️💕