Be Mine.

I’ve always liked Valentine’s Day. It must have something to do with a simple family tradition started by my parents back when I was a little girl. Each year we would roll out a red gingham table cloth on the floor of our living room and cover it with greasy French fries and Kentucky fried chicken. Our Valentine’s Day indoor picnic. When middle school rolled around, I had friends who hated the it and they would lament that they didn’t have a Valentine date. Still I loved the holiday because of our little tradition.

Today, I cherish it in a new way, decorating my home with little reminders of love and rolling out an indoor picnic blanket for my new little family. Check out the small touches around my home that I’ve used to decorate this Valentine’s Day:

This year our back porch door is decorated with a wreath I made a few years back from a pool noodle, gray yarn and some felt hearts. Last year I added the LOVE banner to kick it up a notch. In the kitchen, the light streaming through the windows of our cozy breakfast nook illuminates the wax paper hearts I made in college. These may be the reason I got fined by Residence Life for damages to my dorm room at the end of the semester (hot irons, crayon wax and carpet don’t mix) but it was worth it.

On the small little table of this space, I am tending a budding new succulent flower, until it finds a more permanent home with Broden’s daycare teacher as her Valentine’s day gift. On either side are two heart shaped candy dishes I always fill with seasonal Sweet-tart hearts (my flavorful pick over the traditional conversation hearts that often taste like a combination of toothpaste and chalk).

This fall, Cody and I made our first big furniture purchase and bought a new kitchen table to replace our temporary tile one. I’m still getting used to the idea of decorating our table seasonally and I’ve enjoyed brainstorming centerpiece ideas. I picked up this white tea pot years ago at a thrift shop and I love filling it with flowers but for the month of February I fill it with some twigs I attached paper hearts to with hot glue. It’s set on one of our leftover wedding centerpieces and draped with some lace (but I’ve ordered a lace table runner from Amazon and I can’t wait for it to get here!)

The mantel is one of my favorite parts of our house to decorate. The letters that spell BE MINE are another item repurposed from our wedding. The backdrop of hearts  the swags in the front are simply made from paper, fishing line (for the backdrop) and twine (for the swags).

Our last little festive area was inspired by a post from a friend. About a week ago she shared about the ways, her and and her husband have avoided baby-proofing by making their home a place where each member of their family can live and thrive without traditional cabinet hooks and drawer locks.  (Read more about it here) I took a cue from her post and made the bottom two shelves of our family room bookshelf a kid-friendly nook for some of Broden’s toys, even using his blocks and some children’s books on love to add to the merriment.