Valentine’s Day Mantel

Decorating a mantel for each holiday doesn’t have to be an expensive venture. Read on to see how I pulled together items I already owned to create this mantel display for Valentine’s Day. Total cost? Absolutely free, since I used only what I had on hand!

I love having a new mantel display for every season throughout the year, but let’s face it: in many households, January is a month for tightened budgets. Who wants to spend a fortune decorating for Valentine’s Day? This year, I challenged myself to use only what I already owned for my Valentine’s Day mantel, and I have to say that the task of thinking outside the box to put this display together was really fun!

You might remember last year’s Advent calendar from Silhouette. I loved using this wired frame during the holidays, but instead of packing it away with the rest of my Christmas decorations, I decided to keep it out for another month or two.

After my oldest was born, I became an avid scrapbooker, and although I don’t create scrapbook pages anymore like I used to, I still have plenty of fun patterned papers in my crafting stash that I have been intending to put to good use. Using my CAMEO, I cut heart shapes from some papers in pretty shades of red, pink and teal. These look great hung on the wires of my frame!

The red fleur de lis in the display are actually two book ends that I purchased on clearance at Hobby Lobby last year. $5 for the set! I typically use them on my kitchen hutch to corral my cookbooks, but I decided they would work perfectly here as a decorative accent.

Another project for the display that allowed me to utilize some of my old scrapbooking supplies, plus some remnants of wrapping paper from the holidays, was my Faux Bois and Paper Medallion Valentine Wreath. 

This wreath makes a great statement hung above a large framed mirror, which actually usually lives above the storage cabinet in my sewing room and home office. I am the queen of swapping out different objects throughout my house, much to the chagrin of my very patient hubby! 😉

I crafted this No-Sew Quilted and Piped X & O set for last year’s Valentine mantel, and they look terrific displayed at center stage in this year’s display. These are so easy to craft, and they are perfect for any number of purposes: holidays, nurseries, classrooms, and more!

My pretty footed cloches from Hobby Lobby round out the display.

In one, I placed a sweet red and white heart kissing ball I made with scraps of felt and a Styrofoam ball (a full tutorial is coming soon)…

…and in the other I displayed a sweet felt “cupcake,” which was one of the make-and-takes I created last week at the CHA show with the lovely folks at StyroCrafts.

Let’s have a final look at the display in its entirely on our way out. I love the bright, whimsical sensibility of this mantelscape!

Be sure to check out the how-to’s for the DIY projects in this display…

No-Sew Quilted and Piped Letters

Faux Bois and Paper Medallion Valentine Wreath

And while you’re exploring, be sure to check out my 2012 Valentine Mantel, too!

Thanks for stopping in!