When it comes to celebrating Valentine's Day, you don't have to break the budget. If you're willing to get crafty, you can create an arrangement that will last longer than a couple of days and create a life long memory with your little ones.
I typically fail to plan for Valentine's Day; cubes is the romantic in our family. He always has cards ready to go when you wake up.
This year I decided to surprise him. So, I planned ahead--ordering flowers for delivery to him a week in advance.
Little did I know that my credit card would not be charged when I made the order. And that in the interim, my credit card company Chase would cancel my unexpired credit card, because a chip-enabled credit card they'd sent in October and that I hadn't known about hadn't arrived. They said they'd cancel the number and reissue a new credit card. How long for this new card to arrive? 3 to 5 business days. When I told them that was unacceptable, they assured me the old card would remain active until I activated the new card. Um, yep right. It didn't matter that there had been no unauthorized purchases, that I'd been a good customer for 14 years, or that they assured me they wouldn't cancel the card until the new chip-enabled credit card arrived and I had activated it, they immediately cancelled the card. And all pending business charges as well as cubes' flowers were declined. Way to go Chase.
So I found myself on the morning of Valentine's Day with no flowers for cubes and a wide awake daughter who was requesting we do an art project. As I was staging items to create a Valentine's Day photo for Instagram, Gates came up with our project--a tree of hearts. She felt the cotton swatches I arranged into a heart needed to be cut into hearts.
We then had a pile of various sized fabric hearts. What to do with the hearts?
A few weeks ago, I'd come across a Heart Tree and saved it to my Valentine's Day inspiration board on Pinterest. Our answer: we'd make our own Heart Tree.
Supplies You Need for the Tree of Hearts
- Red, pink, and coral swatches from the Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Solids New Classic Palette Charm Pack, 41 5-inch Cotton Fabric Squares
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- Fiskars 5 Inch Classic Blunt Tip Kids Scissors
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- A medium lightweight cement Small Planter
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- A handful of dried birch branches, roughly 3" inches in diameter when bundled together
- Enough corks to fill your pot or vase and secure your branches
- Some pink Washi Paper Tape
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(*affiliate link) or vaseThe best thing about this project is that you can use the supplies you have on hand. As I have yet to successfully keep a succulent alive, we have lots of planters around. If you use a vase in place of a planter, you'll want to put rocks or other heavy item in the bottom to keep it from tipping over. In place of corks, you can also use FloraCraft Dry Foam Blocks
How to Make Your Tree of Hearts
We started with 2.5" cotton fabric squares. If you have 5" cotton fabric squares divide them into four swatches, before you start making your hearts. The entire project from start to finish took roughly half an hour to complete.
- Fold your squares in half to form a rectangle or a triangle. Cut half a heart.
- Take the scraps, fold them in half and cut smaller hearts.
- Group your hearts by size. This will make creating your tree go more quickly.
- Partially fill your planter with corks, leaving the center relatively loose.
- Arrange your birch branches so that you have a bundle of varying heights.
- Place your birch branches into the center of your planter.
- Secure your branches in place by adding the remaining corks to your planter.
- Cut a few strips of Washi tape and place at the edge of your surface. This makes it easier to grab a piece that's smaller than the heart you're securing to a branch.
- Beginning with the larger hearts, start securing the hearts to the branches. Place the Washi tape across the branch and adhere to the heart so that tape doesn't show from the front.
- Continue securing your hearts from largest to smallest until you have decorated your tree. Be sure to vary the complementary colors.
More Last Minute Valentine's Days Ideas
Looking for more Valentine's Day ideas? How about a last minute DIY coupon book? Want something that looks a little more planned that you can probably pull together with items in your house? Why not try creating a romantic glamping retreat for two?
Credits: All layouts designed by and images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.
DISCLOSURE: This post contains affiliate links, followed by (*affiliate link). I feature products that I own or that I am considering purchasing. I own all the products mentioned in this post. All opinions presented are my own.
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