Valentines Decor

DAY OF LOVE!

My guess is that many of you have gotten your Valentines decorations out and have already started to decorate. I didn't have a lot of Valentine decor but what I did have I arranged on the mantle of my fireplace and I LOVE it! Here it is.

Just about everything on this mantle is from garage sales. The only things that are not are the little hearts on string in the middle of the frame and the pink ribbon tied around the glass vases. The two vases I found at D.I. but EVERYTHING else was found at garage sales!

Here's the breakdown and how much I paid for everything.

Starting form left to right the two white iron towers I paid a total of $4 dollars for. $3 for the big one and $1 for the little one. The tin envelope that says "love letters" I paid .50 for! The brown decorative ball next to it I paid .25 cents for and the white fleur de lis next to the brown ball I paid $3 or $4 dollars for. I can't really remember which one it was. The frame behind all of it I paid $20 dollars for (yes, I know a little high but I wanted it really bad!) The hearts are magnets from Krumpets and weren't more than a few bucks. I took some twine that, yes, was bought at a garage sale and hot glued the magnets onto the string. They didn't really want to sit right once I put the frame against the wall so I was a little disappointed but with a little sticky tack I was able to get them just where I wanted them. Ghetto?... maybe, we will just call is inventive. Sometimes you have to do that when it comes to interior design.

The bird house I bought for $3 dollars and it's not just decorative! It's an actual working bird house! The flowers inside I also bought at a garage sale. I can't remember how much I spent on them but I am pretty sure it wouldn't have been more than $1.

The tan and black bodice I paid .50 cents for! The small white decorative mirror I bought three of them for $5 so that would make it a little over 1.50.

The two white wood spindle things below the mirror I bought for a $1 a piece. The white picture easel I paid $1 for and the wood thing sitting on it I bought three of them for a $1 making it just under 35 cents. Check out how they looked before I gave them a makeover! And finally, do the wood letters that spell out LOVE look familiar?

Yup, this is one of the Valentine decorations I bought a few weeks earlier! It just needed a little help. All I did was clip off the handle with the outdated dry grass and I had me a really cute Valentine decoration! I paid .50 cents for it.

The two tall vases I found at D.I. and paid $5 dollars a piece for. It was more than I wanted to pay but I bought them knowing that I could put them on my fireplace, fill them something and they would look great! The styrofoam balls inside the vases were free!

Does any one remember when I bought this? I had originally bought this to do the wreath in the center of my fireplace but thought it was a little bit small. Don't worry though, I have a different plan for this one so it wont go to waste.

I started taking off all the styrofoam beads and pulled the trash can over to throw them away

but as mine pile grew bigger I looked at it and thought "these are cute, where could I use these?" I looked around to see if I could see anywhere they could be used and saw the empty vases I bought at D.I. sitting on my mantle. Of course! Instant Valentine decor!

I think it turned out very cute.

The total amount spent on my Valentine enssemble is $52 dollars. If you take away some of the more expensive items that I over paid for because I really wanted them such as the frame and vases the total comes down to $22!

The moral of this post:

Please, Please, Please, don't spend a lot of money on holiday decoartions! I have said it a million times already! $52 dollars would have maybe bought me 2 or 3 items in the store but at garage sales it can buy you so much more!