Pops of Pink

Things are kind of heavy at my house lately.  Don’t worry. Chad and I are still married and no one is dying; there has just been a lot on our minds, so I am keeping this post light and pointless (until the very end, so stick around).

I have yet to be inspired for Valentine Day decor.  Red is arguably my least favorite color and hearts have never been my thing, so I drag my feet to decorate for Valentine’s Day.

But I still try to make the home festive because my mom decorated for holidays when I was a kid and I loved it and felt love from her in each decoration.  I want my kids to have that same joy and comfort with each holiday.

I decided to go with pops of pink for my Valentine decor.   The deep berry or wine pink was my Valentine color of choice.  Meanwhile, I am looking to find my Valentine inspiration piece that can inspire a decoration overhaul.

Here are a few shots from around my house and a few decorating ideas:

Books always work for me.  I just went through my own stash to find pinkish, purpley ones.  Sometimes it meant removing the paper jacket.

I fell in love with these fake peonies when I found them.  You could put them anywhere and they would be cute.

I am slightly obsessing over my vast collection of milk glass jars.  They have come in handy for baby showers, presentations, centerpieces and now Valentine’s decor.

It wouldn’t be a holiday at my house without a banner.  I really need to get a new trick up my sleeve.  Here I punched out L O V E out of glitter cardstock and hung them with paper covered clothespins. (Losing the heart garland tomorrow.  It’s too much.)

Here are some paper hearts sewn together and draped over my family calendar.  I highlighted the date with a big 14.

And here is a paper heart banner that Elle helped me sew. She has been taking sewing lessons from her grandma for about a year. I pushed the pedal thingy, but she threaded the machine and the bobbin, taught me how to backstitch, troubleshooted when I kept screwing things up, and she coached me through.  I was so proud of her skills.

I like my inside decor to match the outside elements so I have a dead winter branch that I like to keep up October – February or March until there are blossoms on trees outside.  I hang different seasonal items off the branches and change the ornaments with each holiday.

I made a pinwheel to add to the branch this Valentine season.

And last but not least is my front door.  I have a weird drive to make sure my front door wreath reflects what is going on inside my home.  Hence the wine colored bow. This compulsion probably tips me from your friendly neighbor down the street to the likes of a creepy cat lady, but it is who I am.  I won’t tell you that my toenails are the same color.

So there you have it … a few pops of pink around a pretty neutral home.

Now if you came here today to find something of a little more substance I do have a quick idea for a Valentine family night.  If you can look past the poor quality scan.  Thanks to Crew’s 2nd grade teachers for this idea.

Just print off this heart puzzle – one for each member of the family.  Write one person’s name in the middle puzzle piece.  Repeat until everyone has their own puzzle.  Pass around the hearts and have the family fill in reasons why they love that person on each puzzle piece.  Have kids cut somebody else’s puzzle up into pieces.  Put the puzzle pieces in a baggie and then give the baggie back to the person whose name is in the middle.  The kids get to put a puzzle together and see how much they are loved.

We did this last night with some friends and we had a fun time.

See this post for 4 more Valentine Family Night ideas.

I will be back with helpful tips and deep thoughts tomorrow but sometimes I am just a girl who wants things to look pretty.