Valentine Decorating: Hugs and Kisses Mantel

Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to bring out the flowers, the hearts, the pink, the lace and the romance in your home. It’s the perfect time to go overboard with items you may not regularly have in your home, especially if you live with someone who’s not as excited with pink as you are. Creating a Valentine’s Day Hugs and Kisses Mantel is the perfect way to show how much you love those who share your life. 

Having a chance to decorate our mantel regularly throughout the year has been one of the best features of our home. It is a lot of fun creating new projects to celebrate each holiday or season. I try to put a new twist on it each year and this year, by going with an XO theme, I was able to do just that. In the past, I have decorated with hearts for Valentine’s Day or used a bit of whimsy by decorating with candy. I think the X’s and O’s are just a little bit different and they make the mantel sweet and fun.

The mantel focal point are the two large sets of XO’s. One set was created with a string art project that we showed you recently. This takes some time to create (mostly with the tying of the string) but it really adds a great centerpiece for the mantel.

The other set of XO’s on the mantel are the letters we used as a template to make the string art. They have been spray painted in red and dark pink.

The smaller XO’s have been covered in the same way that I covered letters for a fall craft. I used scrapbook paper and Mod Podge to cover them. There are so many great scrapbook papers on the market, you may have trouble narrowing it down to just a couple.

I also added some small jars to the mantel and placed fabric hearts into them. I showed you how to make fabric hearts in a recent post. These hearts can be placed in small perfume bottles, if you have a collection of them, small bud vases or any small jar you may find in your recycling bin. You could tie a coordinating ribbon around the top of the jar or add candy or glass beads in red, pink or white to the bottom as well. We found a few of the bottles at Michael’s craft store, the others I had already.

Finish off the mantel with decorative items you have around the house in reds and pinks like candles, heart shaped boxes, or as I did, a red lantern.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner but with these quick and easy projects, you’ll have a great looking mantel in no time.

You may also like our Valentine’s Day Mantel for last year!

Follow HoosierHomemade for your Valentine’s Day inspiration