Easy Valentine's Day Decorations and Gifts

By The editors of MidwestLiving.com
Browse our ideas for simple Valentine’s Day decorations plus sweet gifts for friends and family.
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Wonderful watercolor

Spread the love with a special hand-made card. Draw a design on white cardstock with a white China marker or white crayon. Lay some watercolor on top to reveal the design and bring bright color to the page. Pair with a bright envelope.

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Stamped cookies

Create a personal message on either packaged or homemade sugar cookies. Use a pastry brush to dab red food coloring onto clean rubber stamps normally used for crafts. Lightly press a message into cookies.

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The language of love

Make a sweet message by putting out your Valentine's treats in letter-shape dishes. Search online for "ceramic letter dishes"; one source is ivylanedesign.com.

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Smart cookie

A heart-shape cookie cutter is just the right size to hold a couple of chocolate hearts. Hot glue cookie cutter to pink glitter paper, then glue a ribbon to the side of the cookie cutter, winding it around the heart.

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Valentine's votives

Show off costume jewelry, a flower, a heart-shape ornament, a bonbon or other pretty items in glass votives. Top with a Valentine-theme paper cupcake liner, and tie with colored string.Use this idea either to create a centerpiece or to package gifts such as lip balm, candy, a poem or movie tickets.

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Cupcake liner bouquet

A Valentine's bouquet that's inexpensive and long-lasting! We created our flowers using two mini cupcake liners and three regular cupcake liners. Flatten cupcake liners and use a straight pin to poke two small holes about an inch apart in the center of the liners. Insert floral wire up through one set of holes and back down the other to hold liners together and serve as a "stem." Pinch and shape the cupcake liners as desired. If you want a fuller flower, use more liners. Wrap the stem with floral tape.

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Candy covers

Dress up wrapped candy bars by adding your own papers, messages, ribbons and other accents.

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Valentine's cupcake bouquet

Surprise your sweetie with a pot of our amazingly easy cupcake roses. Instructions for the cupcake bouquet.

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Book lovers

Give a bookmark with heart to the reader in your life. Cut rectangles out of cream-color and red wool felt. For the bookmark at left, we cut a heart out of the cream-color felt, trimmed the edges of the red felt with scallop-edge scissors and glued the pieces together. For the bookmark at right, we stitched up the middle using embroidery floss, then glued on a red felt heart.

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Photo card

Make this easy photo booklet for a family member who can display it on a dresser or shelf. Accordion-fold patterned card stock, center a photo in each square (our squares are about 4 inches), and attach with photo corners. Punch a hole in the back for ribbon. Fold paper and tie the ribbon; add a Valentine's scrapbooking charm if you like.

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Paper curls wreath

This wreath covered with paper curls makes a pretty decoration for your home. To start this project, tightly wrap 1x6-inch strips of patterned paper around a pencil to curl. Glue the end of each curl into a loop. Hot-glue the paper to an 8-inch foam wreath form, and repeat until the form is covered. Embellish with a Valentine's Day sentiment if you like.

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Treat jars

It takes just minutes to make these cute candy holders. Wrap small jars with wide ribbon and hold in place with a cord bow. Fill jars with skewered gumdrops or other favorite sweets.

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Valentine's buffet

This sweet buffet table was arranged for a Valentine craft-making party among girlfriends, but you could use the same idea for any gathering. Food is low-prep and portable: champagne, nuts, candies and cookies.

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Dress up soda

Make a container of soda or beer more special by adding scrapbook papers, ribbon and a tag. Use double-sided tape or glue to attach paper.

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60-Second Video: Valentine's decorating inspirations

Add some love to your home with these easy Valentine's Day projects. It's amazing how a few simple touches create a cozy and warm atmosphere for a romantic evening.

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Tea time

Fill a pretty teapot with flowers for a centerpiece or gift. To indulge a tea lover, give with a tea bag-shape tag and include a pair of cups and assorted teas.

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Creative cookie gifts

Package your Valentine's cookies in a simple, pretty homemade bag. Slip a cookie or two in a plastic treat bag (available at crafts stores) with a piece of scrapbooking paper. Fold contrasting paper over the opening, punch two holes, and tie with ribbon.To make your cookies pink, add a few drops of gel food coloring to sugar cookie dough. Decorate with sugar hearts (attached with frosting) if you like.

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Key to my heart

Giving a box of chocolates or another heart-shape gift for Valentine's? Make it extra-special with an old-fashioned key, available at crafts stores or vintage shops.

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Festive candle

Add Valentine's candy nonpareils in the bottom of a votive for a festive candle display. Small glass beads from a crafts store will give a similar look.

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Stamp muslin bags

Package Valentine's gifts in a personalized muslin bag. Place a piece of cardstock inside the bag and stamp an image on the front. When the ink is dry, fill with candy.

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Love notes

Decorate a mantel, window or mirror with a garland of mini love notes for your sweetie. We created ours from white cardstock, red paper and pink glitter paper, but you could use any supplies you have in the house or use inexpensive purchased cards.

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Lunchbox treats

Everyday treats, creatively packaged and labeled, are perfect for sharing at school or work. Write or print fun labels for fruit, nuts, drinks or small packages of candy (ideas: "We're Quite the Pear," "I Go Bananas for You," "Orange You Glad We're Friends," You're Golden Delicious," "We're Mint to Be" "You're Sweet," and "Sealed With a Kiss").

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Apple prints

Here's a fun project to make with kids or grandkids. Cut an apple in half and trim the edges so it looks like a heart. Dip in red paint and stamp cards. When it dries, add a message and glue on seeds.

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Sweet setting

Create a Valentine's place setting for a special breakfast, lunch or dinner. Ours includes an adhesive gemmed letter, a candy-filled heart and plenty of accents in shades of pink.

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DIY cards

Create these cards with heart-shape cookie cutters, 5x7 cards, a 4-inch foam roller and acrylic paint. Roll on paint, leaving about a half-inch border. When dry, dip cookie cutters in contrasting paint and stamp.

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Potato hearts

Fingerling potatoes sliced in half lengthwise make perfect stampers for Valentine's treat sacks. Put a piece of cardboard inside a 4"x6" muslin bag. Take one potato half and press into an ink pad or paint, then press onto the bag to create half a heart shape. Press the other potato half into a second ink pad or different shade of paint and press onto bag to complete the heart. Let dry before removing the cardboard. Fill with candy or other treats.

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'Love potion' buffet

An assortment of fruity drinks, either homemade or purchased, makes a fun "love potion" buffet. Include a sweet treat like your favorite chocolate cake, and accent with fresh flowers such as these cut cyclamen.

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Painted place mats

Create cute Valentine's placemats in minutes with muslin, paint, a brush and a round stamp shape. Use the brush to make X's and the stamp to make the O's. A fingerling potato sliced in half may be the right shape for the O's.

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Red-and-white garland

Make a garland of hearts cut from fabric scraps layered and attached with iron-on adhesive. Tie together with ribbon. You could achieve a similar effect using sturdy scrapbook paper, too.

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Lunch surprise

Do you help pack lunch for someone in your house? Leave them a surprise by clipping on Valentine's candy. We used pinking shears to cut a scalloped border around red card stock, layered on a contrasting piece of paper, then attached foil-wrapped chocolates with double-sided tape.

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Paper heart wreath

Make a simple wreath out of pretty scrapbooking papers and glue dots. Cut a 12-inch square of double-sided scrapbook paper into one-inch strips. Make seven hearts. Fold a paper strip in half, sandwiching a glue dot about an inch down from the fold to create the top of the heart. Bend the loose ends away from the center and use two more dots to join them at the point. Use glue dots to adhere the sides of the hearts in a circle and to add a ribbon for hanging.

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Tag it

Homemade tags from scrapbooking papers, ribbons and stickers make any gift look special. Use a palette of no more than three to four colors for the prettiest results.

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Wrap a vase

Create a pretty centerpiece by adding the texture of burlap to a plain cylinder vase and filling your vase with flowers in a matching color.Wrap the vase with colored burlap, attaching with double-sided tape. Add ribbon to the top and bottom of the burlap with fabric glue.

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Candles and flowers

Easy centerpiece: Three stemless wine glasses hold roses floating in a bit of water, while votives provide a flickering accent.

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Miniature messages

Use mini cupcakes to spell out a special message.

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Nontraditional vase

Show off your beautiful blooms in a new way. Cut rose stems to 6 inches and remove leaves. Pack tightly in a straight-sided container and wrap with ribbon. Change the water daily.

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Valentine's pancakes

Use a pancake pen (such as the Tovolo one) to "write" X and O shapes with pancake batter on a hot griddle pan. Or use X- and O-shape cookie cutters to creates shapes after round pancakes are cooked. Add fresh fruit for color and a dusting of powdered sugar.