Valentine’s Day decorations are out at my house earlier than any other holiday mostly because I use the small, red lights from Christmas as part of the Valentine’s Day decorations. I just leave the red lights out and add a few Valentine’s Day decorations to those. Honestly, this is the only way I can get my husband on board with taking the decorations and tree from Christmas down is if I promise to drag out the Valentine’s Day items right then!

This works because I’m ready for the Christmas décor to disappear (it’s been out since Thanksgiving) and he’s ready for the next holiday. Luckily, the switch out is easy because my Valentine’s Day decorations are simple and take minutes to transform our home from Christmas and winter to cozy and hearts – and gingham!

Valentine’s Day Decorations

• Red lights
• Table throws
• Fabric bags
• Homemade cards
• Sweetheart’s dinner

Red lights: placed on the dining room china cabinet, these warm the room and give it a glow that makes even my teenagers think about writing me a love-y, dove-y card!

Table throws: think hearts and gingham here! Can I just say that red and white gingham is the most versatile fabric? It can be mixed with hearts for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and any of the U.S. patriotic holidays. My “fabric” is actually a Ralph Lauren king size sheet I found on the sale table at Marshall’s (or was it TJ Max?). Sheets are a great way to get lots of fabric for not much cost. Check the sale table and get a sheet for decorating, wrapping gifts or….

Fabric bags: to fill with chocolate or whatever little treats your sweethearts enjoy. These bags are simply rectangles of fabric that I folded in half (right sides together) and sewed. Cut with pinking shears, they can be left with the seams out. Are you a non-sewer? Just cut a square big enough to place treats in and gather up the sides and tie with a ribbon.

Homemade cards: I know that Hallmark wants us to buy Valentine’s Day cards but these are simply folded card stock paper with punched hearts. Stamping is too fussy for me (my hand moves or something always gets smudged) so I printed the greetings and cut them.

Here’s a PDF for your cards: Valentine’s Day Card

Sweetheart’s dinner: beets are the best to serve on Valentine’s Day. Whether you make beet salad as a side dish or roast the beets and process them with a little olive oil and Parmesan cheese to serve over pasta, either dish is a gorgeous color – pink!

That’s it! An easy Valentine’s Day routine that says “I love you” to my family and is easy and will be repeated again next year.

What’s your Valentine’s Day decorating routine?

Go Gingham related links:

A dining room table table-cloth for Flag Day – or another summer holiday
Frugal and green wedding gifts – simple gifts with an upgrade element, too
Mother’s Day gift giving – frugal and fancy gifts to give

My friend, Rebecca, of Natural Mother’s Network has lots of wonderful ideas like these on her site. Please go check it out! If you’re a blogger, she has a weekly link-up and you’ll find lots of wonderful resources.