You Gotta Have Heart: Impromptu Valentine's Decor

Vanished! Gone was the garland and angels and bright bejeweled fruit... The Shiny Brites and Santas and the horns that go toot.... Away went the hozwanglers and the zangdoodles, and the tootonkas and trees--

(I'd no idea how many hozwanglers and zangdoodles I'd picked up at the thrifts this year. Took me forever to put 'em away.)

And as I looked out on my hollow halls, my empty mantle, my wistful walls, where once there had been happy shiny Christmas decor, well...I'm afraid my own heart felt two sizes too small.

(Sniff)

Okay, for, like, FIVE SECONDS. Until I put that heart into some serious Valentine's Day decorating!

It started with a fake potted rose or two I'd put away before the holidays.

Then some little rose topiaries. And this nifty little 1950s Valentine's girl planter I got from the Good Samaritan Thrift Store back in August.


And then some, er... more...velvet roses. (Apparently, I pick up velvet roses the way some people pick up extra packs of toilet tissue.)

I added a flock of white thrifted cherub vases... (Cherubs come in flocks, you know.)


And cards, cards, cards! These vintage Valentine's cards were a set I'd bought back in July at the Pottery City Antique Mall in East Liverpool, Ohio. There was a ton of them, all for about $4. I'm glad I'd thought ahead.


What I like about them in particular is they appear to be all of the cards collected for different members of one family.

We have the husband...


The wife...


Son...


And Mother...

For the table setting, I broke out my pink glass dishes, and made a minor investment from Target for the beaded heart-shaped placemats. The candlesticks, candles and the previously mentioned cherub vases all were things I'd already had, purchased over time through thrift stores.


And just to get truly carried away with the spirit of things, I changed the shade on my vintage cherub lamp to a red rose embossed one I'd gotten for $1 from the U.F.O. in Greensburg.

Now I enter the dining room, and there's really no chance for the post-Christmas blahs to take hold. And it's another sunny day in Whoville!

Anyone else do any decorating for Valentine's Day? I'd love to hear about it.