Valentine’s Day is one of those holidays that I have always loved making DIY home decor for. It’s fun to make crafts for all holidays, but for some reason it just seems fitting that, for this holiday, most of my home decor should be created from the heart. Even better is when you can use the “base” of a past project to create a new idea…which is what I have done with the DIY Valentine Branch Tree.
In November, we worked on gratitude and created a fun “Gratitude Branch Tree.” We painted some branches black and cut out leaves with different kind acts that the grandkids could perform during the month. In the end, we had a beautiful fall tree. Well, I just loved the natural look of the branches in the vase so I held on to them (of course I did….I’m a craft object hoarder!) Below is a picture of the festive DIY tree.
DIY Valentine’s Day Branch Tree ~
The great thing about this Valentine’s home decor craft is that you are using bits of nature along with items you most likely have at home coupled with some ornaments from the Dollar Tree. I am a part of The Sustainable Craft Challenge hosted by Julie @ Sum of their Stories where we are challenged to create a sustainable/eco-friendly craft to share. This is how the DIY Valentine’s Day Branch Tree came to life.
Above are the branches and vase that I had saved….knowing I would find another use for it! 😉 Use this link to see the simple steps of how I painted the branches for the DIY tree ➡️➡️Gratitude DIY Branch Tree Post! I know you may be looking at this pic and thinking, “Mimi is one crazy woman….that tree is U…G…L…Y! Give it time my friends…a little imagination goes a long way!
Gathering Items Needed ~
It is so satisfying to go through old items saved that you just KNEW will come to good use later…am I right??? I know I am not the only one that saves small scraps of material and/or paper after cutting from another project! This fun tree full of different hearts is a project where those scraps will come in handy!
- Branches (2 – 4 depending on size desired)
- Vase
- Vase Fillers (of your choice)
- Embroidery Floss
- Embroidery Needle
- Scissors
- Pinking Shears
- Burlap (or material you desire…does not have to be burlap)
- Hot glue gun & glue
- Ribbon
- Heart ornaments (I bought mine at Dollar Tree)
- Chalk/Chalk pen (if using chalk heart ornaments)
Fabric Ornaments How To ~
I saved burlap material from my daughter’s wedding…how fun that I am now making a craft of love from that material?!?! I used a heart stencil that I had to cut hearts out of the burlap. You can draw your own or use any heart cutout you may have laying around to create your heart form. The beauty of these are that you can make them any size you want. I chose to keep mine on the smaller side.
Double the material and cut your hearts out using pinking shears. I wanted the frayed edge to give it more of a rustic look. Thread your needle with a double strand of emroidery floss. Tie a knot in the end of your embroidery floss and start by coming up from the bottom. This secures your knot at the back of the heart where it will not be visible. Use the simple stitch to come up and down through the holes in the burlap until you have gone completely around the heart. Tie off again at the back of the heart.
The original idea for these ornaments came from this adorable DIY Heart Pillow pin! These are made by the Super Z Outlet and are just so easy and cute. These would be super cute on the DIY Valentine Branch Tree as well. I chose to change it up a bit and created the burlap hearts instead. I actually think it would be fun to make both kinds of heart pillows and mix it up!
Message In a Bottle Ornaments ~
I absolutely love these! When I was strolling the aisles of Dollar Tree, these little gems caught my eye. An exact idea of what they were going to be used for wasn’t yet formulated in my mind, but I KNEW something would come to mind!
I told you paper scraps come in handy too! I cut small rectangular pieces of pink paper and rolled them up as a scroll or letter and stuffed them in the bottle. Cork it off and voila…you have adorable Valentine message in a bottle ornaments. To hang them I wrapped a piece of jute string completely around the top of the bottle (just under the cork) and tied a knot and then tied a knot in the very end of the jute to create a loop for hanging.
Other Ornaments for DIY Branch Tree ~
Below is a picture of the items I purchased at Dollar Tree. All of the items purchased didn’t end up being used (but you KNOW I’m saving those babies for another fun craft so stay tuned!). I used the lace ribbon to tie through the holes of the small wooden hearts to hang. A chalk pen was then used to write candy heart messages on the chalkboard heart ornaments and then hung with jute.
I also had small black ornaments (not shown in picture above) that had been purchased at Halloween and never used….they were great little fillers for my DIY Valentine Branch Tree. I used the pink ribbon to create a loop on the back of the burlap hearts using hot glue.
Final Touches ~
Use a pretty ribbon of your choice to tie around the top of the vase to add some flair to the vase. A 2″ wide burlap ribbon was used in this example. The metal gift tags in the picture above can the be used to add to your bow on the vase. Using the chalk pen, I wrote Happy Valentines Day and then nestled it in the burlap bow.
I had so much fun creating this little home decor project for Valentine’s Day. The Sustainable Craft Challenge is so fun because it pushes you to go through pins you have saved and never made and use them to make a new craft come to life. Be sure to check out the other members of the challenge and see what they have created…their website links are listed below as well as the name of this month’s craft they have made using the theme name of LOVE …
Julie – Sum of Their Stories – Upcycle A Plastic Container With Paint Pens
Vicky – Vicky Myers Creations – How To Make A Cute Paper Heart Garland
T’onna – Sew Crafty Crochet – Valentine’s Day Gnome Scarf
Gail – Purple Hues and Me – Wire Hanger Soda Can Heart Wreath
Julie – Treasures Made From Yarn – Heart Garland
Terri – Our Good Life – Wine Cork Phone Holder
Christine – Christine’s Crafts – Easy Valentine’s cards using paper scraps.
Niki – Life as a LEO Wife – DIY Place Card Holders With Free Valentine’s Place Cards
Mel – Decor Craft Design – DIY Love Container For Valentine
Jo – A Rose Tinted World – DIY Heart Garland from Upcycled Cards
Marianne – Songbird – DIY Lace Valentine’s Hearts
Allyson – Southern Sunflowers – How to Decorate a Tin Can Planter
Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you! I hope your day is filled with love and laughter!
Much Love ~
Mimi
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I enjoyed this very much. As a new grandmother (Miles is 3 months old!) I am saving this for the future. I love this idea!
First of all, Congratulations on becoming a grandmother Terri! Wonderful times ahead for you! I’m so glad you enjoyed this diy Valentine branch tree…I can’t wait to see how yours turns out when you make it later!
Burlap is such a satisfying rustic material to work with – I love your valentine branches.
Vicky, I totally agree! I love working with burlap! So glad you enjoyed this valentine craft!
Definitely going to do some of these Valentine crafts with the girls ! Thanks for sharing . I love your blog . WHEN are you going to write a BOOK ? You are a very good write Shelly !
Yay Lynn! You will have to let me know how they turn out! I am obsessed with the link above by Vicky…I had never heard of gelli printing and CANNOT wait to try this with my grandkids! Thank you for your kind words…it is definitely on my bucket list to get published. I have a children’s book written but haven’t taken the next steps to work on getting published! You have made my day with your kind words!
What a lovely idea and execution, Shelly! I love crafting with natural elements, too, and I certainly didn’t think your tree was ugly. This is such a sentimental project made with items that have special meanings! What an inspiration! Thanks!
Thank you Gail! I had so much fun with all of the different steps. Lol, thanks for the kind words about my tree before it was done! I enjoy Valentine’s crafts so much! It sounds like you do too!
This is so sweet. I love keeping things to be used again, it’s just so satisfying isn’t it? Those little burlap hearts are lovely and how nice that you used fabric saved from such a special day.
Julie, YES, it is so satisfying to keep things and then find a use for them later! I love the little burlap hearts too! Thanks for reading!
This looks so cute! Very farmhouse/rustic chic. The burlap, wood, & chalkboard hearts all look great together. Love it! Pinned!
By the way, my mom is Mimi too. She said there was no way she was going with “Granny” or “Maw Maw” like my grandmothers were because she thought they sounded too “old” lol. They were only 38 when I was born so it’s funny to think about those names associated with someone under 40 lol! My Granny went with her name because her parents were tragically killed in a car accident by a drunk driver when she was only 23 & pregnant with my uncle, her last baby. Her mom was called Granny (she was much older when she had my Granny & all of her other children were grown!) so she wanted to honor her since we wouldn’t get to meet her. Crazy story, my Maw Maw went with that because her mother was also killed by a drunk driver when she was a teen and her siblings’ children called her Maw Maw. Her father was in the car, but he survived. I think they might’ve been two of the youngest Granny’s & Maw Maw’s in existence lol!
Thank you Niki! I love all those looks together too! I love when I hear about other Mimi’s 😊It’s a great “Grandma name!” My first grandchild called me that when she first started talking and that was all it took! Oh my goodness, how crazy (& tragic) that they were both killed by a drunk driver….I am so sorry to hear that! I can certainly see why they went with the names they did to carry on the tradition of very loved women before them! Thank you for sharing that story.
I love the rustic look of your branch with homemade hearts. What a great version on a classic idea!
Thank you so much! I do love the rustic decor so this Valentine’s DIY project seemed to fit right in! Thanks for reading!
This tree is really adorable! The burlap hearts and chalkboard hearts are just so cute! Great Valentine’s Day decor idea!
Thank you so much! I, too, love the mixture of burlap and chalboard! It’s fun to find Valentine DIY crafts that can blend in with your home decor!
This is so pretty and actually quite simple to make. I love the fact that I can use up anything I find that fits my decor! Thanks!
Thank you Christine! Yes, it really was quite simple to make which makes it a win win for Valentine’s Day decor!
This site always has the best ideas for activities with the kids. Would love to put this together for Valentines Day. Thank you for the instructions!
Thank you so much Stephanie! I do love doing activities with the kiddos! I hope you enjoy giving this DIY Valentine’s project a go!
As a Nana Sue, I totally love this idea! Am going to do this with my little ones and change it out through the seasons! It’s so cute and what a great lesson to teach!
Nana Sue certainly has a fun ring to it….I love that! I’m so excited that you are going to give this craft a try with the grandkids…and I love even more that you are going to change it through the seasons!
I love this! Another great holiday tree idea from you. I love the colors you picked!
Aww thank you! I do enjoy “tree” themed projects! Glad you like it!
This is great! I love the DIY Valentine’s Day Branch Tree. The pictures looks great and it’s a wonderful idea!
Thank you Debbie! It was a fun Valentine’s Day project to do!
I love the tree! I will have to try this.
Thank you Julie! I hope you give this fun Valentine’s Day DIY project a try!
Wonderful idea changing out a grateful tree and making it for Valentine’s Day! I like that you chose a natural color scheme that would work for more home decor versus red or pink. Nice crafting with you for our “love” theme!
Thank you Allyson! I love the natural color scheme too! A little different take for this Valentine’s Day project!
What a lovely tree, with so many different decor ideas! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much Jo! I hope you will give this fun DIY project a try!