I love easy and cheap.

I've had a couple people tell me they don't have much (or anything) in the way of Valentine's Day decor. That simply won't do! So I thought I'd suggest some ideas. As for my decorative dish towels (actually a gift from my friend, Lori)--yes Joan, those are from Target (no big surprise there. Count on Targ to deliver the darling). Most of my other stuff is of the homemade variety.


Taylor designed these for me a few years ago, when my second-grade classroom had a little window that was just begging for a snazzy seasonal display each month. They're super easy and cheap to make. Paint terracotta pots white with acrylic paint. Obviously the only other things you need are some fake flowers and conversation hearts (these ones are going strong since 2005). Here's the only trick:
Put the stem through a disc of cardboard so that you only actually have to fill the top inch with conversation hearts.

Next. My craft with my nieces the other day were these little wax paper & crayon hearts. These are always a hit. Martha's instructions are here.
Some of my suggestions from trial and error:
1. Get your shavings as small as possible for quick meltage (definitely a word).
2. Use some old rags (Martha says craft paper) to protect your iron and ironing board. I would use 2 rags between the ironing board and first sheet of wax paper, and 1 rag between the top wax paper and your iron.
3. After years of melting the wax and then cutting out the heart, this year we tried cutting out the heart first. I thought it worked much better because it seemed to seal in the melted wax.
4. I tend to be a pushover and let the girls dump in a ton of wax. I don't recommend this. It is messy and hard to work with!
They are super dar and fun to hang in the windows. Here are Soph and Liz showing their handiwork off...

More ideas? Please share!