JOAN ATWOOD -ARTIST| EDUCATOR | CRAFTER | PROJECT INSPIRATION

Have you ever noticed how bare your house looks when you take down all your Christmas décor? Well, having a few “next holiday” decorations to substitute in their place sure helps. I didn’t have any Valentine’s decor to replace my Christmas décor, so I decided it was time to build a few items. My first idea was to build a couple of Valentine gnomes; since I always have a stash of supplies for them, and I recently had a gnome creating party, this would make it easy. (Click here if you want to create your own Valentine’s gnomes). I wanted to create a tablescape for my entry table, so I decided to make a DIY Valentine’s floral arrangement.

DIY Floral Arrangement Inspiration

Next, I decided to make a quick flower arrangement using up a flower bunch I ordered from Wish many months ago. I could see that I needed a container and a few more filler flowers, so I headed to Walmart, our only option in town. After finding some greenery and some white angel breath looking flowers that would work fine. Then I picked up some more Sahara foam, some floral wire, and floral tape since my supplies are in my hometown. Wandering down the Valentine rows of decorations, found a cute container and an “I Love You” plaque and another small container with a heart. Next, I found some glitter heart sticks, which were adorable. I splurged and bought one of each. I knew I could find a use for them.

Searching for supplies:

Heading next down the craft aisle to see what else would inspire me for future projects. I find that inspiration can come quickly when your creative juices are flowing. I thought I would be able to pick up some St. Patrick’s items as well. 

Not yet, it seems. Here’s a word of advice; when any place puts out their décor up for a season, pick up items then or shortly after the holiday when things are on sale. If you wait, thinking you will find cute embellishments any time of year, it just won’t happen. Of course, with Amazon, you can find items any time of year, which was where I went to order my St. Patrick’s stickers for a future project.

Supplies:

• Pink flowers
• Green leafy stems
• Baby’s breath (small white flowers)
• Container to hold the arrangement
• Sahara foam
• Floral wire and tape
• Wire cutters
• Plastic bags to place around the foam and keep it in place

How-to create DIY Valentine’s Floral Arrangement

How-to Steps:

1. Place Sahara foam in the container and make sure to reinforce the sides with the plastic bags (the Sahara should come up to the lip of the milk can and fill in most of the room in the container to secure the silk flowers).
2. Decide how tall and wide you want the arrangement and place a greens stem to determine the height and the width.
3. Begin to place the tall flowers in the top of the container slightly lower than the greens. I needed to add floral wire and tape it to add height to my flowers. I also cut the stems of some of the flowers to adjust the size to the shorter ones I needed.
4. You’ll notice that my arrangement is not symmetrical but has a high spot on the left and a low area on the right.
5. Begin to fill in with the remaining flowers and greens until it is relatively full and attractive in the front.  
6. Use any leftover greens and flowers to add to the back of the arrangement. You will see my arrangement mostly from the front. Think about where you will be viewing the arrangement and look at it from all angles to make sure it is attractive from all sides.

Pulling it all together Valentine’s Tablescape

Now I had two gnomes and a floral arrangement. What next? I grabbed my red Christmas runner, the few Valentine items I bought at Walmart, and began to place them on the entryway table. I started with the runner; then added a few doilies to compliment the idea of lace. Then used a picture stand to hold the “I love you” plague up in the center. 

I took a vase that I inherited from grandma Nean and put the heart glitter sticks in it. Then put the flower arrangement on the other side on the “I love you” plaque. I placed some Valentine ribbon over the picture stand edge to add a little flare and hide the stand. I finished the tablescape by adding a sugar bowl, which I inherited from my mother-in-law, who recently passed away. So, not only did I have a cute Valentine display, but I also had the nostalgia going on. It turns out I have a pretty tablescape, I thought. Win-win situation!

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