Hearts & Flowers: Simple & Beautiful Valentine's Day Decor

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite days of the year. It's a day completely devoted to love. Last year I decided to start making Valentine's Day gifts instead of buying them. I'll share more on that after the treats have been given. This year I've also been quite inspired to decorate more than I usually do. The walls of this rental are all white, white, white. I look for ways to add color however I can. Simple, seasonal decor is a great way to do that. Some of my ideas this year came from here. Others were my own. All were easy and inexpensive. Here's a look at what I did.


The mantle:
1) I took my existing candles and added a 1 inch strip of craft paper, securing it with tape. I added red hearts cut from scraps of craft paper for an accent.
2) I took two old frames and spray painted them black. Then I took some sandpaper and distressed them. In the small frame, I put a Valentine picture card of the girls I sent to family a couple of years ago. In the other I placed the same paper as I used on the candles as a background. Then I printed 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 on a red background, cut it into a heart shape and placed it on the background.
3) I placed cinnamon hearts into two small glass jars.
4) I took 3 little vases I purchased at Target a few years back and placed red silk carnations in them.
5) In the center is the word LOVE. It is part of my regular mantle decor. It was bought on clearance at Kohl's last year.It was originally ivory colored but I spray painted it black when we painted our walls in Kentucky before the move.



The kitchen window:
The windows are just a continuation of the white. Inexpensive white mini blinds blend into the white walls. I made hearts out of strips of craft paper and stapled them closed. I took red ribbon and attached the hearts to mini dowels. I used thumb tacks to hold the dowels above the windows. It adds a little whimsy and fun.

Have you decorated for Valentine's Day? Please share your ideas.