Valentine's Day Decorations

In my funk and the process of "pulling my head out (Thank you for all the nice comments.  I see that I am not alone in this funk.  We'll get through it together!) - I decided to put out the Valentine's Day decorations.  I usually only put minor holiday stuff out for two weeks.  But, I needed some happy. So, I happy-ed up the joint.  I live with two guys, so I am always in fear that I will overdo it and they won't be happy.  But, you know what?  IF MAMA AIN'T HAPPY, AIN'T NOBODY HAPPY. Besides, The Breadman literally would not notice anything new in the house.  Ever.  Like, he missed noticing the Christmas tree was up for TWO DAYS. All my seasonal decorations go up on the walls or on shelves, so nothing is in the way. Football viewing and XBox playing are still able to go on uninterrupted.  

I think I have told this story before, but here it comes again.  When we were newly married, we lived in a tiny house in another town.  I was a department manager at a grocery store.  When I was clocking out, I noticed that the guys were taking down all the Valentines Day decorations in the store.  (Do you remember when grocery stores decorated the aisles with big signs, streamers and honeycomb balls and hearts?)  Anyway, they were pulling down these huge 6 foot long signs that said I LOVE YOU. (They were made at the sign shop and matched the window signs that read Eggs 38¢.)  I asked if I could have one and they gave it to me.  (I wish I still had it.  It was awesome). I took it home and hung it in the doorway between the living room and the dining room.  The husband came in the front door, walked through the living room, pushed the I LOVE YOU sign aside and kept on walking. "Hey!"  I said. "Did you even read that?"  "Yeah, I saw it." That was the day I knew that I had married a guy that did not like for care about the holidays.  It was also the day I realized that I could do virtually anything in the house and he wouldn't really give a crap.  BRING ON THE HOLIDAY DECORATIONS!!!!!

Years ago I bought this ugly little painted hutch.  I slapped some white paint on it, and wa-lah, it's one of my favorite little decorating spots.

For years I participated in a handmade swap for Valentines Day.  I have over 150 handmade Valentines from crafters all over the internet.  I love displaying the smaller ones here.  

I love making things of out felt, but I don't do it as often as I would like since it's just for me to keep and not something I can sell.  So, I generally concentrate on listing, pricing or making for profit.  But, making things for me is fun too! 

Display over the couch.  Lots more handmade Valentines.  The red love bug is from my gal Chanelle (AmberRose in the comments).  The chalkboard LOVE sign is from Dollar Tree.  It bothers me that you can buy a knock off sign for $1.00 when people are making them and selling them at the booths.  But, I usually have a dollar and not always $20 to buy local and handmade.  The honeycomb heart is new this year.

Candy tins and some other cute stuff.  I still think getting a box of chocolates is such a fun gift.  But, to get one in a TIN would have been such an elegant gift!  

More handmade Valentines and the obligatory vintage truck and a rubber squeak.  

One of my favorites.  

LOVE letter banner.  I sell a lot of these in the booths and at The Junk Ranch.  It's time to make a new batch.

Huge oversize flash card.  I had the whole A-Z set and sold all but the H for Halloween, W for Witch and V for Valentine.  The C for Camel is in my booth and it will NOT sell.  What the heck?  I thought Hump Day would make it a seller for sure.  

Why, yes.  I do live in a cave.  Bad lamp placement makes this shelf a bugger to photograph.  All my super cute favorites are on this shelf including my Chocolate covered Cherry boxes which is one of my favorite collections.   My grandmother loved them, my husband loves them.  I do not love them.  But the old boxes make me swoon.  They are hard to find, so when I do come across one (or my buddy Chanelle sends me one.....) I am very happy!  

More cherry boxes.  Love that lovebird planet in the middle.  Vintage Valentines stuff is hard to find, other than cards.  

More cherry boxes, handmade Valentines and some vintage hankies.  

The whole enchilada.  

Another photo from the cave.  I want a nice collection of old heart shaped candy boxes, but they elude me.  The ones on either side were from The Bean and my Mom last year.  The other two are older ones that I gussied up with old millinery flowers.  Throw in some cuteness and old Marquee letters and that's all folks!

Do you decorate for Valentines Day?