valentine decorations for Foyer & stairwell

Seasons > Valentine’s Day > Home Decorations > Foyer and Stairwell

Anyplace you have a shelf, you have a place to decorate--just remove some of the books for a spot to put some seasonal cheer. Here are some ideas of things you can use to decorate:

1. Put your children’s stuffed animals in pairs and add a red heart. (If you are worried that they might not be delighted to see their animals used for decorations, ask their permission to use them first.)

2. Photos of the people you love displayed in hundred yen frames make great decorations, especially since it visually reaffirms that loving bond.

3. Paint wooden blocks red, pink, or white, then paint letters on them. Arrange the blocks vertically or horizontally to form words such as, “love,” be mine,” or “Happy Valentine’s Day!” Many hundred yen stores sell unfinished wooden blocks, or wooden puzzles that can be taken apart and used as blocks. If you paint the blocks red, they can also be used for Christmas, especially since the cubes have 6 faces, so you can write more letters on the back, then arrange the cubes to say “joy” or “peace” for Christmas.

4. Christmas ornaments often come in heart shapes, so buy them for both seasons, or just for Valentine’s Day. These painted wooden hearts were sold in sets with a star, and Christmas tree at hundred yen stores. Here they are hung from stands, but they could also be hung from thread, and taped to the under side of the top shelf.

5. Mugs with heart designs are pretty easy to find, and many hundred yen stores carry them year round. Make them even more fun by filling them with valentine candy or a small animal holding a heart.

Heart balloons are an inexpensive way to fill a large space, and they last a lot longer than flowers. Add curling ribbon and some of your children’s stuffed animals for an arrangement your kids will love.

A nick-nack shelf allows you to arrange quite a few small decorations from hundred yen stores to be combined into a large arrangement with lots of interesting detail. Small figurines and candle stands are some of the easiest items to find with a heart motif. Here the purchased items are supplemented with home made decorations--small wooden hearts that have been painted, glued together, with a bit of wood glued to the back to form a stand. In place of flowers, a bouquet of hearts was made from a light modeling compound such as Hearty (Karui Kaminendo) and pushed onto florist’s wire, and anchored in a heavy base made of kaminendo.

White Christmas trees can be borrowed for Valentine’s day if they are covered with lots of pink and red hearts. The cheapest way to do this is to make a lot of hearts out of a light weight modeling compound such as Hearty (Kauri Kaminendo.) Once the hearts have dried, push in hangers made from short lengths of white florist’s wire that have been bent into a “U” shape. A piece of red or pink cloth at the bottom of each tree finishes the arrangement.

This is a project easy enough for even young children to be involved in if you have a set of heart cookie cutters in various sizes (many hundred yen stores sell these sets.) The hearts can be pressed with objects found around the house to give each heart a different texture, or layer different colors of hearts on top of each other, or cut heart shaped holes with a smaller cutter, (if you don’t have a smaller cutter, use a drinking straw to cut the two rounded humps for the top of the heart, and finish digging out the point at the bottom with a toohpick.) Once the hearts dry, they can be painted with varnish to make them shiny. Many hundred yen stores sell this, and it is easy clean up since it can be washed out of brushes with water. Hang the hearts to dry by hanging the hearts on a pencil or dowel that is supported on both ends. (Empty kleenex boxes with the top cut off would provide a place to hang several rows of hearts, with a built in bottom to catch the drips.

A tall wall in a stairwell can present a challenge to decorate. Here the space is filled with several strings of felt hearts purchased from hundred yen stores. The strands are hung from a tension rod that has been pushed into place with 2 broom handles or long tension rods. ( I taped 2 chopsticks to the top of each pole to keep the tension rod in place until it can be pushed into place.)

The heart on this banner is actually a pocket with a real padlock on it. When my children were small, I gave them materials to make cards for everyone in the family. When they finished each card, they would slip it into the heart. Then on Valentine’s day, I locked the heart and hid the 3 keys that opened the lock. The children looked for the keys, and they each unlocked the heart and took out the cards for themselve.

For more grown up valentine decorations, leave out the cutesy animals. Use baskets, doilies, silk flowers, (and fake strawberries, if you like the above display.) A plate stand can be useful to make a heart stand up. Small valentine cards are easy to make, and can be displayed in many ways--the cards shown here are pushed onto a stand made for displaying photos, and it was purchased at a hundred yen store, of course.

We all enjoyed reading the loving sentiments that we got from each person in the family--it helped to strengthen the children’s self esteem and feelings of belonging. Writing the letters also provided important lessons in thinking about other people and learning to express words of affection and appreciation.

Here are some ideas for pink decorations. The hearts were shaped from wire--you can buy some at a hundred yen store, or simply cut and bend a clothes hanger. The white heart was made by tying squares of plastic bags to the heart shaped frame, then pink Christmas balls were attached to it for added interest. The pink hearts were made in the same way, except a roll of pink organdy was purchased at a hundred yen store, cut into rectangles, and tied onto the frames. By varying the materials and colors you tie onto the frame, totally different decorations can be made. For example, a red gingham cotton would look very different from the sheer pink organdy.

The white frame was purchased at a hundred yen store, as well as the bead flowers that are twisted around the candle sticks. To achieve varied height, I place one candle stick on top of an upside down ice cream cup, and the other on a star shaped candle stand turned upside down.