Valentine's Day Mantel

It looked so bare as I took down the Christmas mantel.  Last year I removed the Christmas-y items and kept a winter mantel up until Spring.  I didn't think I had enough white, pink & red to pull together a Valentine's Day mantel, so I finished the coffee filter wreath into a Valentine's wreath and placed the white/pink opaque trees on either side of the hung wreath (you can find the wreath tutorial here).

The white glitter birds on the branch was a piece I found at a local shop for 75%off in the fall.  When my mom saw the birds at my house she exclaimed, "That's the one thing I really wanted from there!  I can't believe you have it."  The birds didn't fit into the Christmas decor, but they certainly work with all of the other white.

The pink ceramic basket of Valentine's treats was a Target clearance item after Easter last year.

The red tea-light holders are from Ikea ages ago.  I also found some white Ikea frames that were still in the shrink wrap, so I unwrapped them and placed a couple of photos in them for the right side of the mantel.

The cherry topped cupcakes have LED lights that change color.  The mantel is so pretty when they are all turned on and changing different colors.  I bought 3 for $2.79ea and went back to the grocery store to get 5 more.

Oh, we couldn't pass up the giant $2 diamond ring.  It was just too much fun!  

See, it's GIANT.

The red glitter high heel ornament was on Christmas clearance for $0.23

The cupcake under the glass is from Pier1 and the Love champagne flutes were from the grocery store seasonal aisle last year.

We put the turquoise pillows away and moved the "I Believe in Pink" pillow to the living room.  I bought this pillow for my daughter last year (I think Joss & Main) and I was so surprised by the quality of the pillow when it arrived.   My favorite line from Audrey Hepburn's quote is "I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls."

Then we thinned some of the elk antlers and candles in front of the fireplace.  Still need to make some sort of banner to fill in the white space.

That's how I went from having "no Valentine's Day decor" to pulling what I had and adding about $30 of little items.  Keep an eye on clearance items you can use the following year or across multiple seasons.

It was nice to lighten up the mantel.  It is subtle with all of the white and just the right amount of pink&red.  Makes my heart smile.