Valentine’s Day Mantel and Vignette

Hey y’all! Hope everyone is staying warm! I think this polar vortex is affecting the whole nation but we are really feeling it in the Midwest! Below zero temps and even lower wind chills!! We are all staying bundled up that is for sure! Since we are trapped indoors, I thought it would be a great day to share my Valentine’s Day mantel and vignette with you!

I love how it all turned out and I am really loving this combination of red and pink. This is the first time I have decorated with this color combination and it is so lovely! We have four boys so pink is not a common color around these parts, however I did decorate with it for Christmas this year too! I must be on a kick. 🙂

When decorating my mantel this year, I did not want to buy anything new. I like to think of myself as money conscious (some may say frugal) but I guess it depends on what it is pertaining to. When it comes to Disney, not so much! LOL But when it comes to decor for the house, I am not going to go out and spend a lot of money on something that I may not even like in a couple years or that I don’t want to use again because I used it before.

I will spend money on staple pieces that can be changed out and reworked for different holidays. I decided for this mantel to use lots of items that I have used previously in my decorating to show you how you can get a new look by reusing items.

For instance, this Valentine’s Day wreath that I shared with you a couple weeks ago, was originally used for Christmas. You can see that here. It was so easy to change out and fit in with my Valentine’s Day decor. 

If you are a follower of A Wonderful Thought, you may remember seeing the ‘love’ sign from my colorful Valentine’s Day mantel I decorated last year. If you do not follow yet, you can sign up for our newsletter in the side bar so you don’t miss out on any posts. 🙂

These DIY crepe paper flower kissing balls were some that I made a couple years ago and used on another V-day mantel. The red and pink hearts and the pink flowers were used on that mantel as well. Speaking of the hearts, they got a makeover for this mantel. They used to be gray on one side but I painted them red to fit in with this color scheme. I used them in the center of the wreath and as accents in this lantern.

The lantern and big white pitcher were Christmas gifts that I received this year and these are great examples of the staple pieces I mentioned earlier. I believe both of these items came from Kirklands if you were wondering. That pitcher is HEAVY!! It is a sturdy piece, but I love it. I am sure you will be seeing both of these items in my decor in the future. I can see also using the pitcher on the floor with some tall branches or floral stems coming out of it.

The wooden bead garland I have used lots of times. It is neutral enough to go with any color scheme and I love the texture it adds. It is fun to layer with another garland. This pom pom garland is one that I made for Christmas a couple years ago. I do not have a tutorial for it but you can check out how to make pom poms from this post and then just tie them on a string of yarn. Super simple and cute!!

That brings up another good tip about reusing decor. You can totally use general Christmas items for other holidays, if you have red decor it can work double or triple duty for Valentine’s Day or 4th of July and vice versa. Of course, if it is a Santa or says Merry Christmas, you are obviously not going to use it. But I originally made up the red pillows for 4th of July, one actually has stars on the front. I just turned it around and no one is the wiser. 😉 

Along with decorating the mantel, I also made up this fun little vignette to go with it. If you are looking for other ideas on vignettes, I shared a post last week of tips for creating a Valentine’s Day vignette. Check it out if you missed it, there are so many great ideas and examples in it!

Even though I did not buy anything for the mantel, I did however buy a couple new things for the vignette. These flowers were one thing. The are faux ones from Hobby Lobby but are so realistic looking. Mr. Wonderful even asked if they were real. Ha, fooled him! 🙂 I love getting faux flowers because I know I will reuse them in the future as well. Aren’t they pretty?

Back to the topic of pillows for a minute. You see that heart pillow in the background? I also made and used that a couple years ago. See, I told you there were lots of items I am reusing!

The other things I bought were the pink crinkle paper. It is usually used in gift bags but works great as an inexpensive option to fill apothecary jars for a pop of color. And lastly the cookies! No, I did not make them! They came from Walmart. 🙂 Cookies and other treats are a fun thing to add to vignettes especially if you are having guests over. And they look so festive, don’t they?!

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to reuse your decor to get a different look. Just because you use something once doesn’t mean you can’t use it again! Have a wonderful week and stay warm!