Budget Christmas Decor that Works for Valentine's Day

Are you already planning ahead for Valentine's Day? For those of us on a budget (and who isn't these days?) one inexpensive way to decorate your home for Valentine's Day this year is to recraft some of your Christmas decorations. Red and white Christmas decor and a few dollar store finds are a fantastic way of decorating your home on a budget for Valentine's Day. Here are a few decorating ideas to get you started:

Christmas candles. Solid color red or white Christmas candles can be turned into Valentine's Day candles with a few dollar store supplies. Some ideas to try:
~ Tie a pretty bow at the base of the candle or candle stick using wire edged crafting ribbon in a Valentine print
~ Press heart shaped stickers onto the candles
~ Dip the candle into boiling water 20 seconds, then quickly press a few random "conversation hearts" candy into the softened wax.

Christmas to Valentine Table linens. Plain white or plain red Christmas table linens can also be used for Valentine's Day. How I switch out my fancy white lace tablecloth for Valentine's day use is to use a red dollar store plastic tablecloth as a table liner. Red cloth napkins add the finishing touch.
Other alternatives:
~ Substitute a pink liner and pink napkins for red
~ Decorate a solid red or white tablecloth with heart shaped stickers, pink confetti, or pink and white ribbon curls.
~ Use heart shaped place mats and table scarf over a solid color Christmas tablecloth
~ Make your own conversation hearts out of pastel colored construction paper to sprinkle over the table.

Decorate silver, white, pink, or red glass Christmas ball ornaments . Our family has discovered that plain colored glass orbs are pretty to use any time of year. A collection of plain red and pink, silver and white, or pink and white glass balls in a tall jar make a fantastic budget friendly Valentine's Day table centerpiece, especially when arranged with some conversation hearts. These beautiful glass balls can also be hung from the chandelier (in varying lengths) with pink Valentine print ribbon and decorated with heart shaped stickers.

Use red or white Christmas ribbon to add embellishments. Leftover Christmas ribbon in reds, pinks, and white are easy to recraft into Valentine's Day ribbon. Mix up two or more colors of ribbon to wrap gifts, decorate champagne glasses or bundle up rolled up dinner napkins.

Decorate the bedroom with white or red twinkle lights strands. When packing up the Christmas lights for next year, be sure to hold out a strand of white or red mini lights for Valentine's Day. Twinkle lights are a fantastic way of adding romantic mood lighting to any room.