Dress Up Valentines

I adore decorating for holidays.  Valentines is no exception.

Most of the valentines decor I already had. (Or is stuff I temporarily borrowed from other rooms in the house). 

This year I added 2 things...

The L.O.V.E. letters hung to an old door above the TV armoire.

But really I only added the letter V. It said NOEL for christmas (I bought those letters years ago) and suddenly it dawned on me that if I simply buy a V, take down the N and rearrange the letters I've got LOVE. And only for $5.39, I used a coupon. (Those letters came from JoAnns)

And then I added all those fabulous pom pom flowers.

They are super easy and darn cheap. They are made of coffee filters.  There is a link of a great video tutorial on how to make them at the end of this post.  But I added a twist of my own, which I'll explain first.

When I went to pick up the filters they only had white.  I also wanted to get them in that lovely tan color.  I had my kids with me. I did not want to take 3 kids into another grocery store.  Does anyone else leave grocery shopping on the verge of tears?  It's not my girls.... it's the BOY.  Who hates hates HATES being buckled into the cart.  He wiggles and worms until he gets loose. No matter how tight I make that darn strap.  And throws a mighty fit until he accomplishes his mission.

So looking at my son, I knew I was seconds away from disaster.  And a light bulb appears.  Blessed blessed light bulb.  What if I dyed them?  So I hightailed it down to the laundry detergent aisle and picked myself up some dye.  Taupe and pink.

Here is how I did it...

I started with the pink. I followed the directions for the stovetop (I was worried the washer would destroy them).  I also halved everything.  So I still have half a packet of color for some other project.  Then after I rinsed them I skipped the "wash them with detergent" step and stuck them in the dryer... look how pretty.

For the taupe I tried something different.  I wanted different shades of taupe.  So I put a few in at beginning. Then I waited 5 minutes and added more and repeated this until I only had 15 minutes left on the timer.

Sooo super thrilled with the outcome.  I wish I had done that on the pink. Oh well.

  

Then I made some out of news paper.  Simply trace circles onto the paper (don't use a red marker... I did that so you could see it... you'll want a pencil). Now just pretend they are coffee filters and follow the same instructions as in the video.

While I was doing all this Ride and Scooter were creating there own masterpieces...

Cool huh?

Apparently Ride learned this in preschool.  I asked her for help and made one of my own.  Take a marker (kids washable marker is what we used) color around the edges of the circle.  Add a little water and watch the colors bleed.  I then used a hair dryer to dry them.  I did't want them as crinkly as the filters I tossed in the dryer.

(Ride showing me how it's done)


 Here is the result.

It looks like a giant carnation.

Perfect.

Now to make this... 

I simply tied a knot at the end of a string. a

Added a dab of hot glue to it.  Then with a needle I strung the filters, newspaper circles, cupcake liners, and even a couple of spools of ribbon (that were down to the end, so not to waist ribbon) on to the string.  I'd then end a section with another knot and dab of glue and start a new one about a foot away.

  

This year J and his brothers started a new company.  Does anyone need anything shipped?;)

Because of this we have been pinching our pennies.  It's been good for both of us.  Here is the break down on the cost of all those fun flower pom poms...

Large coffee filters...$1.18

Small coffee filters...$1.12

Rit dye pink...$2.99

Rit dye taupe...$2.49

Newspaper... free (from the neighbor) 

Ribbon & String... already had loads, so no additional cost there

Grand total to take my meh valentines decorations to... I live in anthropologie decorations (ok, so that's wishful thinking)... 

$7.78

(of course I'd need to add tax too)

So fun!  So thrifty!  So easy-peasy!

Here is the video tutorial link 

Rhonna Farrer 

She has some other great tutorials as well.  I'm love love loving her Lollies.

Wouldn't these pom poms be great for a baby shower or birthday?

So many possibilities.

HAPPY HEARTS DAY!