Valentines Coffee Bar (and Two Easy Craft Projects)

I cannot believe an entire year has passed since I had DFs Shira and Barb for a little Galentine’s luncheon.  My how time flies when you’re doing almost nothing.

I have no plans for entertaining this year, but I did put together a vignette for my hot beverages and was inspired to do two little craft projects while I was at it.

I am no crafter and my using scissors is actually illegal in a couple of states.  So these project had very little danger involved and I came out with all my digits intact.

Here’s what I did.

Valentines Coffee Bar

I used the two tier tray from Ikea I have had for years.  It’s so sweet and screams girly party.

I don’t see that tray on Ikea’s site, but a similar one here.  It’s actually kind of pricey and I’m quite sure I spent nothing like that amount of money at Ikea.

I have two old lacy doilies which I never use, but look perfect for this holiday.  I placed one on each tier and built from there.

I basically went through my cupboards and pulled out anything small and pink and white and found a way to use it on this tray.

I have to tell you almost every single thing I used was a gift from someone at some point.  It just makes me smile to think I am using something from a special occasion and from a special person.  Love.  Just what the holiday is about, right?

I placed some store-bought sugar cookies in my antique biscuit jar – nothing fancy, but it looks pretty.

You know, no holiday is complete without the appropriate M&Ms.  This is the “cupid” edition.  Hmmm, wonder if those will last until the holiday is over?

In all honestly, I have passed entire holidays where the M&Ms were my sole décor.  They really are perfect – edible, cute and chocolate.

Adorable heart bowls hold candies and cocoa packets.  Another small red bowl is for tea bags.  I have two silver spoons from my mom so those made it on the tray and one more reason to smile.  Because someone is no longer here doesn’t mean the love stops, does it?

DYI Valentine Picture

The space behind this picture has some old thingies sticking out of the wall that are from the old days when people had multiple hard wire phone lines.  I don’t know, we’ve never used these jacks, but they aren’t pretty.

I covered them by making a little Valentine picture with supplies I already had on hand.  I found an old distressed off-white frame, cute card paper, foam hearts and a little twine and got creative.  This project literally cost me 0 dollars and I think it’s pretty cute in the space.  What do you think?

I am not kidding myself that I’m in the leagues of my crafty friends, but I’m not embarrassed by the results either.

Floral Ball

I love the look of floral balls when using faux flowers.  I think it’s a much better look than a faux bouquet arrangement.  I wanted something that didn’t scream wedding centerpiece though.

I simply went to the floral aisle at Walmart, bought a 4 inch Styrofoam ball and looked for the flowers I wanted.  At first I went with pinkish roses.  And then I remembered that I don’t really like roses all that well.

So then I immediately went to peonies because I LOVE peonies.  I cannot get enough of them.  Except that I live in a place where they don’t actually grow, so I get none of them.  In the natural, that is. 

Then I saw the ranunculus.  I have always loved these sweet flowers and have never had luck growing them or keeping them long.  The two bushes of stems from Walmart were actually nice quality.  They are not bright, obnoxious pink so I think I can use them again – outside Valentine’s Day.

For filling in I wanted a hydrangea look, but those blossoms were too big for my ball and I found the same look with a couple of zinnia stem bushes.

With a pair of wire cutters, I trimmed the heads off all the stems and randomly stuck the flowers into the ball, placing a few of the leaves here and there.

I am absolutely the worst floral designer and cannot put together a flower arrangement to save my soul.  This is a better option for me and I love it.

I am sending lots of Valentines love with this post and wishing you a special day filled with love.  Cheers!