those lovely roots

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Valentine heart garland and wreath

These Valentine’s decorations literally cost me two dollars for both decorations! I love me some super cheap ways to highlight a cute holiday. Valentine’s has always held a special place in my heart as it reminds me of my late Aunt Heidi. As a little girl, I would sit in her room with lingering plumes of her resting cigarette would wreath around my face and dance out the open window.

She loved all things cute, sweet, feminine, floral, and girly. She had a picture of hanging ballet shoes on her wall, in shades of a pastel rainbow… Coral red, peachy orange, lemony yellow, sage-y green, minty blue, and lavender. I remember drinking in the colors of the pastel rainbow as she pulled out her Valentine’s crafts and stickers. Specifically I remember perching on a stool next to her craft desk as she pulled out red heart stickers and handmade Valentine’s cards . She was always sentimental and always thoughtful. She took pleasure in the art of handmade and liked to use any occasion possible to express her love to those closest to her.

A couple of years ago I made this banner. I call it the “Peppa Pig” banner. I found the idea in the “Happy Love Day” book and had to replicate it. I neatly fold it away and store it in plastic bag each year. It works for Valentine’s and Easter. While I don’t like to store a lot of decorations, this one is handmade and always worth the store. It’s just too sweet and fresh and versatile!

This year at my local dollar store I found a package of 300 count red fabric petals. I also grabbed a package of white, red, and pink felt stickers. I always try to find things at the dollar store that can be used for endless ideas so that I’m not limited to a one or two use application. These hit that target.

At home, I got out my sewing machine and got to work. At first i had considered hand sewing them on but realized that not only would it be way too time consuming but I wouldn’t get the consistency that I would otherwise on the sewing machine. I simply ran a continuous simple stitch and fed each petal, trying to slightly overlap or sew them on as continuously as possible. With 300 petals, I ended up doing one large rose petal garland and about six small ones. The small ones had about 30 petals each, I’m not sure how many on the large one.

The result was simple but super pretty. I hung them from my shelves and any hanging surface that I could find. They definitely added that subtle, feminine, and not-too-over-the-top look that I was going for!

For the second project I wanted to make a door wreath. Rather, I wanted to enhance my current door wreath. I have a giant and thick grapevine door wreath that I keep on my door for every season. It’s minimal and neutral enough that I don’t every have to change it out to match the season… It just happens naturally because it just blends and transitions into each season. In fact, I got rid of all of my other wreaths a long time ago. It’s just more simple, less storage, and less for me to worry about.

I decided to buy a package of red, white, and pink felt stickers from The Dollar Tree. I got my little three-year-old helper involved and it turned out super cute! I’m definitely going to go that route in the future and keep my eye out for felt stickers that can double as wreath decor. After the holiday, and when I’m ready for the wreath to go back to its original look, I can simply peel off the stickers and discard them. And cute little helpers are totally welcome!