MNN - Mother Nature Network

 

You'd think that once you got past the December holidays, it would be possible to skate by for a while without having to craft any themed decorations. You would be wrong. For DIY bloggers and people who actually get enthusiastic about vaguely pagan cultural holidays (like Halloween), Valentine's Day is a reason to deck the halls with red, white, pink, hearts, and chocolate.

 

What does St. Valentine have to do with hearts and cupid wings? About as much as St. Patrick has to do with green beer. Some sources say that Valentine's Day is a holiday commemorating the martyrdom of St. Valentine; others say that it is the Christianization of a Roman pagan holiday that celebrated fertility. In either case, written Valentines showed up in the 1400s, and it became a popular holiday celebrated by the common folk in the 1700s. So, all of you who will be enjoying boxes of chocolate on Feb. 14 have a Christian martyr (possibly) or a Roman pagan fertility holiday (possibly) to thank for your candy. And if you want to red, white and chocolate it up, then it's a perfect time of year for another DIY project made from recycled materials!

 

DIY wine cork heart: I hope you've been saving your wine corks for DIY projects! This project is an artistic rendering of a heart shape, done in painted wine corks and framed. It was thought up and posted by Kristen, from My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, who exercises her handyman skills near San Diego, and blogs about her projects.

 

Peppermint Valentine hearts: You know that bag of red and white peppermint hard candies that is sitting in your desk drawer getting stale? Now's the time to turn it into something cute. This project involves melting peppermint candies in heart-shaped molds.

 

Painted Valentine rocks: This project rocks! (I couldn't resist.) You know how your kid insisted on bringing home a bag of rocks from the beach last summer, which he has never once opened to play with? If you stamp them with letter stamps dipped in craft paint, they will look like something expensive and romantic, except they are only rocks.

 

Upcycled X-mas decor Valentine's wreath: You're about to be transported to glue gun heaven. Whatever decorations you have hanging around from Christmas can be artistically glued to a heart-shaped wreath. Are you feeling the love yet?

 

DIY metalwork Valentine: This involves all kinds of cutting metal and a lot of epoxy. It's time to get ready for some heavy metal love.