Today Was To Be the Day!

Holy cow! I know I say this every time I do a decor swap out, but I really thought Christmas to Valentines would be simple...I was wrong! Even though I can leave out a lot of my red things, there is still just a lot to remove and restore. I think the hardest part of the Christmas take down is all of the lights and garlands. They all have special storage areas so they are just not as simple as pulling out a Rubbermaid, filling it and pushing it back.

In any case, I finally got it all done. I even got some help from daughter #3 and family who stopped by unexpectedly to help with the tree and outdoor light take downs. It is amazing what many hands (and much younger bodies) can do in such a short amount of time-lol.

Valentines is up in all of its red glory and I thought I would be starting my posts on the decor today but, quite honestly, it is a rainy, dreary Saturday and pictures would just not look happy. Instead, I am taking care of two grand dogs, finishing up watching Christmas movies I could not fit in during the season, cooking for a birthday lunch for my sister-in-law tomorrow and perusing Pinterest for ideas for some Valentine crafts I can do and some things for the "littles" when we have our Valentine weekend. It always amazes me how I can go from not having any idea to having so many that I have to put a halt on myself.

This year, as I was done decorating, I realized that I could use more pillow covers for the holiday. I ran to my two favorite on-line vintage pillow vendors and, even though I have purchased from them before, for some reason their prices were just more than I was willing to spend this year. And then, I remembered all of the 1/2 price HL pillow covers I have in my stash. I'm not really sure where these will go, but I did find a few ideas for inspiration.

 oliveandcocoa.com

 glaminati.com

I might use these ideas for two pillows as they are the water color look that I love and I think, even with my limited artistic ability, something I could pull off. It is on the list for next week so we shall see.

And then I started thinking of fun things the kids would enjoy making and the adults would enjoy receiving. The first thing to come to mind was a vase (since we have already done the two most obvious in years past-coffee cups and wine glasses-haha) and I have always liked the look of chalk paint on a Mason jar so thinking something like this.

 kstyles.com

prudentpennypincher.com

I think the vases would be fun because after they are painted, the kids could embellish any way they want: hang tags, keys, ribbon, twine, hearts, etc. It is always fun to see where their imaginations take them and how differently they all turn out!

I also thought they might like to do a simple heart canvas. They could trace a heart and then use any of these ideas to fill it in...or even come up with another idea. I think this would make a cute shelf sitter.

artsandclassy.com

I think I am off to see how many of these supplies I already have on hand and make of list of things I will need to buy. I haven't actually been in any stores other than Publix since Valentines hit the shelves so I will have a fun shopping day in store for me. Hope to be able to share some of the decor soon. Stay tuned.