What I Did With My Time Today....

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been doing a lot of waiting. And that didn't change today! Yep, still waiting. So I thought I would do something fun and creative to keep myself busy and my mind off the fact that my little guy has chosen to continue to gestate rather than joining the family as a full fledged member. So I decided that it was time to decorate for Valentine's Day. I didn't want to get Feb 10th with a brand new baby and be caught un-prepared.

Well, the random, unexpected snow storm didn't deter me. I packed up the kids and we headed to the Dollar Tree. As much as I wanted to decorate for Valentine's Day, I remembered that I don't have a lot of V-Day decor to start with and it's all packed up in the storage. So we picked up some odds and ends and combined that all with stuff that we did have lying around the house and I got to work. I had a lot of fun. I used an old package of napkins, a thrift store frame that wasn't being used, some red spray paint that my FIL had in the garage, branches from the backyard, candles and a bunch of other fun stuff.

I only did the mantle because decorating the entire house freaks me out regardless of where I'm living and that pretty much applies to all holidays aside from Christmas. I just try to focus on one main area and call it good. Also, if I do any more than that, guaranteed, I'll forget to pack something away when the holiday is over. Now without further ado, here are the pictures of the finished product.


I started making this wreath last year around Valentine's Day but I never got around to finishing it. Well, one nap/quiet time, two episodes of Glenn Beck and many burned fingers later, I finished it! BTW, all the fabric on it is the remnants from my wedding dress.


My favorite part is the section with the branches, pom poms and red frame. I got the red frame from a thrift store in Castle Rock. It was black so I painted it red. I got the branches out of the backyard and made the pom poms out of napkins from Ikea. I hung them with fishing line to make them look like they're floating. So fun!

The opposite side from the branches. The mirror with the doily was fun and easy. I got a dollar store mirror, painted the frame red, and glued the doily to the mirror using a simple Elmer's glue stick. Fun! My sister made me the framed quote. There's a fun quote for all the special times of the year and it's so fun!

These birds started off really ugly from the dollar store. Well, out came the red spray paint and now they're love birds! I like them a lot although Siobhan liked them better the other way. I guess taste comes with age.

Here is the final product. I stuck with a consistent/traditional color pallet of red/white/black (big surprise coming from me). That also worked really well with the white mantle which was good as well as working with a bunch of stuff I already had. I had so much fun doing this project and it was a great way to take my mind off of the fact that I'm not currently resting with a baby sleeping on my chest.

The End.