The Mabnol

Decorating for Valentine's Day can be a lot of fun. If you don't have many ideas, however, it can be quite stressful. This article will give you several tips and ideas on how to decorate for this very special day. It will also give you a few simple projects that you can later use to decorate your space with.

[Edit]Steps

[Edit]Getting Ideas

Know who you are decorating for. Having an idea of who you will be decorating for can help you decide what sots of themes and colors to use. For example, if you are decorating a classroom for young children, you may want to use larger, more colorful decorations. If you are decorating a classroom for older children (such as teenagers) you might want to tone down the pink and frills, and keep the decorations more subtle.
Know where you will be putting the decorations. Some decorations work better in some places than others do. For example, you can get away with using larger, brighter decorations in a classroom, but you might want to use smaller, less distracting decorations for your desk or cubicle.
- Make use of the bulletin board in classrooms. Use white or pink for the background, and red for the boarder. Decorate the board with the students' Valentine's day crafts.
- If you are in a cubicle, pin a heart or cupid cut-out to the wall. You can also place a glass bowl with candy hearts on your desk.
- If you work at a desk, try getting a Valentine's day themed figurine, such as a tinsel heart, and placing it on top of a lace doily. You can also place a jar filled with candy hearts on your desk.
- Decorate the windows with garlands and paper cut-outs if you own a shop. These will bring the holiday into your shop without getting in your customers' way.
- Go full out if you are decorating your home, but be mindful of people's private space. Consider decorating family areas, such as the kitchen, living room, and dining room.
Choose a theme and stick with it. Valentine's Day decorations come in all shapes and sizes. Some look rustic, while others look fancy. Whatever theme you choose, keep it consistent. A rustic, burlap table runner won't look good under an elegant vase filled with a dozen red roses. Here are some common Valentine's Day themes to get you started:
- Old-fashioned themes will be Victorian-inspired. They will often use gold, ivory, and other soft, faded colors. They will be detailed, with lots of lace.
- Rustic themes are popular and make use of burlap, rope, and galvanized steal.
- Traditional themes use a lot of red, white and pink. While hearts are the main focus, you can also expect a cupid here and there.
- Sweet themes are true to their name, and use lots of pastels, candy hearts or heart-shaped chocolates in their design.
Try going beyond red, pink, and white. These are the three most commonly used colors for Valentine's day, but this doesn't mean that you have to use them. There are other colors that, when used with a heart shape, can also work.
- Use the candy conversation hearts as inspiration. They come in pink, pale yellow, light green, and pastel purple. These are great for kids.
- Red and gold or red and black are romantic, and great for fancy dinners.
- Pink and silver are more delicate, and great for anyone.

[Edit]Decorating Your Space

Choose candles in romantic colors and sweet scents. Candles are perfect for bringing a touch of romance to any space. Red, pink, or white candles, however, would be even better. To step things up a notch, try getting scented candles, especially ones that smell like cookies, cupcakes, roses, and sugar.
- For more ideas on how to use candles, click here.
Use lots of flowers. Nothing says romance and love like flowers, especially roses. Red roses are the most popular, but pink and white roses are also suitable. You can also use carnations and daisies as well. Arrange the flowers in glass vases. Baby's breath and fern leaves make great fillers.
- For a fancy dinner, tuck a single rose into each napkin ring, along with a white napkin.
- Red roses make perfect gifts for romantic partners. Pink and white roses make great gifts for sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers.
- If you don't want to use flowers, get a pack of fake rose petals from an arts and crafts store instead. You can usually find them in the wedding aisle. Scatter the petals across tables or fireplace mantles. You can also place them in a bowl.
Place bowls of candy throughout the house or room. For a fancier twist, place the candy in a fake crystal bowl or on a cupcake tray. Conversation hearts and cinnamon hearts are perfect for Valentine's Day. If you don't like those candies, however, try chocolates, or other red-colored candies.
Use table runners and lace doilies. Drape table runners over the tabletops before you set things down, such as flowers and candles. You can also use doilies instead. For example, a large, glass vase filled with red roses would look romantic set atop a large, white, lace doily.
- If your table runner is plain, you can paint hearts onto it using stencils and red or pink fabric paint.
- You can also dress up a plain table runner by gluing down some wide lace down the center.
- If the runner is narrow enough, you might be able to place it on your fireplace mantle.
Make use of store-bought decorations. They usually start appearing in stores around January. Party supply stores and arts and crafts stores often have a lot to choose from. Some department stores may also sell them. Here is a list of store-bought decorations, and how you can use them:
- Drape banners across doorways, fireplace mantles, and windows.
- Pin or tape cupid and heart cut-outs on doors, above fireplace mantles, and on windows.
- Hang wreaths on doors or above fireplace mantles.
- Place tissue balls and flower balls in glass bowls. If they come with a ribbon or string loop, you can hang them up instead.
- Place figurines, miniature plants, and tiny topiaries on mantles and desks.

[Edit]Using and Decorating Candles

Put candles on tables and fireplace mantles. If you are using pillar candles, use both short and tall ones. This will make your mantle look more interesting. Also, try to use a color that contrasts with the mantle, or the wall behind it. For example, if you have a dark-colored mantle, use white or ivory candles. If you have a white mantle, use pink candles for a softer look, or red candles for a romantic look.
- Red, pink, and white/ivory are typical Valentine's day colors. You can also use gold or silver.
Add to existing pillar candles. If you can't find any red or pink candles, but don't want to use plain white candles, you can always dress up what you have. Wrap some twine or thick lace around the middle of a candle, and secure it with a piece of clear tape or a drop of glue. Stick a heart-shaped button or sticker in the middle.^[1]
- You can also wrap strips of double-sided tape around a candle, and then roll the candle around in glitter. Use Valentine's day colors, such as pink, red, gold, or silver. You can match the glitter to the candle color, or use a contrasting color, such as gold glitter on a red candle.
Decorate the trays, chargers, and stands you put pillar candles on. This is great for those who have plain candles and don't feel like decorating them. It can turn a plain set of candles into Valentine's day ones with little effort. Place your pillar candles on the base first. Next, scatter some conversation hearts or glass marbles across the base, between the candles.
- Use Valentine's day colors for the glass marbles, such as red, pink, silver, and gold.
Use floating candles for a more romantic look. Fill a shallow, glass bowl with water, and add some floating candles. For some more color, scatter some red or pink glass marbles across the bottom of the bowl. You can use ordinary white floating candles or rose-shaped ones (in red, pink, white, gold, or silver).
- For a twist on the floating candle, consider using a tall, cylindrical vase or a mason jar instead of a glass bowl. Fill the vase or jar almost to the top with water, and add the candle.
Fill a cylindrical or hurricane vase with pink and/or white sand and stick a pillar candle on top. You can also use other vase fillers as well, such as conversation hearts or glass marbles in pink, red, or clear. Try to use a contrasting color for the candle, so if you are using pink filler, use a white candle. For a finishing touch, wrap some pink or red ribbon around the middle of the vase, and tie it in a bow.^[2]
- To use less filler: place a small can inside the vase, and stick the candle on top. Fill the space around the can with filler, all the way up to the top of the can. When you are done, the can should not be visible.

[Edit]Making Decorations

Make some Valentine's Day candle holders using mason jars, paint, and glitter. Cut a large heart out of adhesive paper, and stick it onto the side of the jar. Paint over the jar using Mod Podge. Shake on some white, pink, or red glitter, and then peel off the heart. You will be left with a heart-shaped hole; the candle light will shine through this hole. Wait for the glue to dry, then tie a pretty pink ribbon around the mouth of the jar.^[3]
- Wipe the entire jar down with rubbing alcohol first. It will help the glitter stick better.
- Consider painting the jar first. Match the color of the paint to the glitter you will use.
- Try to use fine, scrapbooking glitter instead of thick, chunky glitter. It will look more professional.
Make a heart tree using tree branches and hearts. Go outside and find a tree branch; it should be no longer than your arm, with thin, delicate twigs. Cut some hearts out of pink, white, and/or red paper. Glue the hearts onto the twigs using hot glue. Stick the branch into a vase.
- Try using pearly scrapbook paper or glitter paper. It will look more romantic.
Make a simple garland. Find cardstock in red, pink, and white. Punch or cut hearts out of the cardstock. Arrange the hearts in a row, making sure to leave some space between each one. Draw a thin line of glue along the center of each heart, going from side to side. Cut a long piece of string, and place it across the hearts, right on top of the glue.
- For a romantic garland, fold lace, paper doilies over a piece of string. Secure the doilies with a drop of glue on the inside.
- To decorate for school or a book-lover, use photocopies of book pages instead.
Make a giant conversation heart garland. Cut large hearts out of pastel-colored paper, and write cute messages using red marker. Punch a hole through the left and right sides of each heart. Tie the hearts together using shiny, white ribbon; be sure to tie the ribbon into cute bows. Tie a piece of ribbon onto each end of the garland so that you can hang it up.^[4]
- Aim to make each heart about 12 inches (30.48 centimeters) across.
- For a simpler garland, use smaller hearts. Glue the hearts across the middle to the string. Leave about 12 inches (30.48 centimeters) on each end of the string so that you can hang it up.
Sew a garland. Cut hearts out of red, pink, and white felt. Place red thread in your sewing machine. Sew the hearts across the center, from top to bottom. Feed hearts into the sewing machine, one after the other, until they are all included on one long piece of string. Back stitch at both ends to ensure the thread doesn't unwind. Hang it with tacks in a doorway, or lay it across a table.
Add some sparkle to just about anything with glitter. Apply some white glue onto the area you want glittery. If you want to use more than one color, start with your first color; you will apply the other colors later. Shake the glitter onto the glue, then tap the excess off. If you want to add more colors, apply the glue for your next color. You can apply glitter to just about anything, including candles, jars, and cards.
- Use Valentine's day colors, such as red, pink, and iridescent, when coloring large areas.
- Use gold and silver for small, accent areas.
- For large areas, use loose glitter and glue. You can use spray-on glue, or liquid glue. Use a paintbrush or foam brush to apply the liquid glue.
- Use double-sided tape on boarders. Place the tape down first, then shake some glitter over it.
- Use glitter glue pens for fine, detailed areas. Glitter glue pens will also work for letters.
Make some Valentine's Day cards for your loved ones. Use cardstock, lace doilies, and glue to layer a heart design. Color the card with colored pencils, markers or crayons. When you are done, you can pin the Valentines to walls or windows for decoration.