Valentines Day Mantel and Garland

I wrote a blog post yesterday about the Valentines decor on my mantel. After I looked at the finished post, I realized it just didn't cut it. It definitely was lacking, even by my low-key Valentines decorating standards. So, re-routed the post and decided to make a garland to spruce things up a bit. I wanted to use things I had on hand, and I LOVE vintage book pages, so I decided to start there. A few years ago I bought a box of tattered old books that were literally falling apart. They cost next to nothing on eBay. So, now when I want to make things out of old book pages, I don't feel bad using them.

To make the garland, I removed twelve pages from one of my books and cut a "V" out of the bottom of each one.

The I folded back the top edge about 1/2".

Through the years I have collected vintage Valentines. They are perfect for this, although I didn't want to attach them directly to the banner (I hate to do anything permanent to them). So, I made color copies of some of them on card stock and then cut each one out.

I then used double stick tape to attach the copies to the little book pages.

To finish it off, I laid red and white bakers twine across the fold at the top of each page, then put some double stick tape under the flap and sealed it down.

So easy! I did the whole thing from start to finish while watching Biggest Loser last night.

And there are lots of ways you can display garlands... doorways, walls, bookshelves, windows, mantels, etc.

I've got a few other things to put around, but just enough to whisper "Its Valentines Day".