A Touch of Valentines

I have been having so much fun decorating my house for Valentines Day. I never really have before but since the introduction of Pinterest to my world...well, now I do! One night I was pinning away onto my Love Day <3 board when I was just hit with inspiration. Inspiration to copy! Because you know, that is what we teachers do best :) The absolute most amazing part is for almost everything I made, I had the stuff on hand.  This part made the huzby happy :)

The first thing I made was this sweet little "Be Mine" frame.  I found it on theidearoom.net. I found some old frame I had and quickly and purposefully made it look a little 'shabby' when I painted it a deep burgundy color I had on hand.  I got some sparkly paper for the background and thin black strips for the words. If you look at the site, she gives step by step instructions on how to do this, but it was SUPER easy.  It just looks hard ;) Next I added the little roses that I had learned how to make for my kissing ball that is next to it. I think this took me all of 45 minutes to make including paint drying time.

My little kissing ball. I heart this thing! I got some old streamers left over from a birthday party and followed this tutorial. The site says to use a styrofoam ball, but I didn't have one, and was not going out to the store...so I made my own 'ball'. haha. Totally ghetto style too! I took several pieces of paper (from my little desk trash can too! ah!) and crumbled into a ball, then wrapped the whole thing in packing tape and wa-la! A ball that costs $0 and helped save the earth too. Can you even tell? I can't!

I love this little banner I strung across my mantle.  So easy to make too. I made mine while the kids were playing with their paint sets right next to me.  I cut strips of scrap book paper, folded them in half and curled the ends in towards each other and glue the pieces together. Then I strung them together with a needle and thread. I tied a spare button on the ends to the thread to keep the hearts from sliding off.  This also made a great 'weight' to help hold the banner onto the mantle with a bit of tape.

I found this printable somewhere on the internet and slapped it in a frame. Done. Instant decor. LOVE that. PLUS no $$ spent :)

So this is probably the only area I did spend a little money. $2 to be exact.  The Target dollar bins, what else?! Freaking LOVE those bins. They are a teachers DREAM! I know all my primary teachers know EXACTLY what I am talking about! Centers! Math tubs! I always get a little giddy in the Target dollar bin section :) These sweet little mail boxes were $1 each. I did have 3 in my basket but one sorta fell apart by the time I got to the check out, so I gave it back to the cashier.  I have one cute little candle stick holder I don't use. Probably a teacher gift at some point.  It's put to good use now!

I also bought 2 boxes of filler hearts from the Target dollar bin. But that is all I bought, I swear! Everything else I made!

There are still quite a few other things I am hoping to get around to making, but report cards are due this week and parent teacher conferences are happening too.  I am afraid I won't get to it all before Valentines day :( But these things will remain on my pinboard until next year!