While Thanksgiving and Christmas tend to have quite a broad range when it comes to decorating styles, from classic to coquettish for the latter, Valentine's Day always feels a bit more cut-and-dried. You have the hearts, the shades of reds and pinks, the chocolate, the teddy bears…. After a good number of years decorating this way, it can all start to feel a bit stale. But it doesn't have to. With Valentine's Day just a week away, switch it up this year with a slew of creative and crafty Valentine's Day decor ideas to make your home, office, or wherever you're decorating feel as fresh and fun as a new crush.
These budget-friendly crafts aren't your average Valentine's Day decorations. While there's absolutely nothing wrong with the usual cheesy decor decked out in X's and O's, these DIYs are a bit more elevated—think sultry lipstick signatures and luxe tablescapes. While the classic colors still make an appearance here, expect to see a few other complementary hues like rich greens, corals, and purple in the decorating mix. You can easily set up a few of these in one night, which is especially handy since the day of love is so close. They're perfect to surprise your significant other when they get home from work.
These unique DIYs add a personal, heartfelt touch to your space. There's always a time and place for a fancy dinner, but sometimes a night at home is really all you need. So channel your inner Cupid, press play on your favorite rom-com soundtrack, and get to crafting on these Valentine's Day decorations. Maybe it can even be something you and your partner do together as a sort of Valentine's Day pregame.
Make a Gift Tag They'll Cherish
Valentine's gifts should be on display days leading up to the 14th the same way Christmas gifts are. Like everything else in your house, make the gift wrap aesthetically pleasing, starting with a unique and special gift tag made of air-dry clay. After they open their presents, they'll get to put the tag on display. Get the tutorial at It All Started With Paint.
Bring Them Flowers That Won't Wilt
Whatever reason you don't want to bring fresh flowers into the home—whether it's because of a pet or allergies or lack of diverse floral options—you can still put in the effort by making them their own bouquet with crepe paper and wire. The delicate paper almost perfectly resembles the petals. Get the tutorial at Lia Griffith.
Make Minimalist Centerpieces
For those of you who love Valentine's Day but pink and red don't fit in with your minimalist aesthetic, try making these neutral heart-shaped centerpieces. They're so simple to make, but they look like something you could've bought at your favorite home goods store. Get the tutorial at It All Started With Paint.
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Put Out a Bowl of Fortune Cookies
These paper fortune cookies are so unique and relatively easy to make. The soft colors would look beautiful in a bowl on your kitchen island or breakfast table, and it's such a fun way to tell your Valentine what the plan is for the night. Get the tutorial at Lia Griffith.
Decorate the Cake
Don't leave your baked goods out of the fun when it comes to Valentine's Day decorating. Show them how much you care by taking things a step further and adding a handmade banner on top of the cake that you now have to buy or make your Valentine with a message just for them. Get the tutorial at It All Started With Paint.
Set the Mood Lighting
Give the big light a break and set the mood with ambient lighting you make yourself. These Valentine's Day themed paper lanterns are nice, subtle ways to add the typical colors throughout your home while giving the room a more romantic atmosphere. Get the tutorial at Lia Griffith.
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Don't Forget About the Plants
Within every inch of your home lies room for you to insert at lease some kind of Valentine's Day decoration—including the plants. If your partner is the one who goes around watering the greenery in the morning, surprise them with these cute, crafty plush hearts between the stems. And if it's just you at home, these are still such adorable decorations. Get the tutorial at It All Started With Paint.
DIY An Elegant Wreath
Nothing says "elegant" like white roses. These fake florals will add a level of class to your door and your collection of decorations that will make you want to leave it up all year round. Plus, it's cheaper to make than it looks. Get the tutorial at It All Started With Paint.
Declare your love for your Valentine as soon as they walk through the door with this darling balloon framing kit that spells out the word of the day: love. It's bright enough to immediately catch their eye when they enter the room, and it'll look so good when they want to show it off on Instagram.
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No one wants their Valentine's Day ruined by a house fire because someone forgot to blow the candles out. Instead of making a centerpiece for the table with real fire, choose the artificial route and make a heart-shaped ring of fire using LED tea lights and faux rose petals.
Hang Mood Lights
If part of your Valentine's Day plan involves a romantic flick or two, set the scene with one of these pre-lit curtains. They consist of a pleated sheer fabric accented with micro lights, which are the perfect touch for a low-effort decoration scheme.
Make a Photo Backdrop
Snapping a sweet photo (whether it's of you and your partner or galentines) is always a good idea. After all, you're creating memories! Don't stick with a regular fabric backdrop—create one yourself with metallic heart-shaped balloons.
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Keep It Healthy(ish)
We're all for edible Valentine's Day decoration ideas, which is how we discovered these heart-shaped strawberries dipped in melted chocolate. All you need is a box of fresh berries, chocolate chips, and skewers for dipping.
Go All Out
No matter how small your space is, you can still create a maximalist spread. Start with letter-shaped balloons, throw in some light-colored greenery, and the rest is up to you!
Incorporate Some Pink
Every Valentine's Day decoration idea on our list is DIY friendly, but these hand-painted bottle-brush trees are for more experienced crafters. Be prepared: It will get messy, and it takes a while to decorate a whole blush-toned forest, but it's worth it. Peep the tutorial on South Lumina Style's blog.
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Dress Up Mason Jars
Mason jars are easy to come by and serve quite a few purposes, which is why the trusty containers have shown up in plenty of people's cabinets. If you have a few to donate to your Valentine's Day decorations, slap on a layer of matte paint and add a few rustic details, including some twine, stickers, and maybe a glittery heart.
Decorate Candles
If your Valentine's Day plans involve a romantic dinner at home, set the mood with tiny votive candles. Here's our suggestion: Wrap the perimeter with decorative tape and glue a faux blossom to one side. The best part? These candles come in a set of 45 for only $10.
Make Heart Art
Personalized art is always a good idea—especially when the art is homemade. All you need are a few blank canvases and whatever materials you want to decorate them. We're feeling the pom-pom hearts, but to each their own.
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Mix Candy and Flowers
This is one of the DIY decorations that looks complicated, but it requires only three (or maybe four, depending on how extra you want to be) materials. The first is a wide vase, the second is a bunch of candy hearts, and the third is a few fresh stems of your favorite flower. If you want to go the extra mile, tie a bow around the whole thing and set it on the dining table.
Hang a Minimalist Wreath
A minimalist wreath is another Valentine's Day decoration that looks harder than it is to make. All you need is a large metal ring, faux flowers, wood slices, and ribbon to fasten the whole thing to the door.
Kate McGregor
Kate McGregor is House Beautiful’s SEO Editor. She has covered everything from curated decor round-ups and shopping guides, to glimpses into the home lives of inspiring creatives, for publications such as ELLE Decor, Domino, and Architectural Digest’s Clever.
Meghan Shouse
Assistant Editor
Meghan is the assistant editor at House Beautiful where she writes about interior design, pop culture, and furniture.
Insights, advice, suggestions, feedback and comments from experts
Based on the search results, it seems that the article is about creative and crafty Valentine's Day decor ideas. The author suggests switching up the usual Valentine's Day decorations and offers budget-friendly DIY crafts to make your home, office, or any space feel fresh and fun. The decorations mentioned include unique gift tags made of air-dry clay, crepe paper bouquets, minimalist heart-shaped centerpieces, paper fortune cookies, handmade cake banners, DIY ambient lighting, plush hearts for plants, elegant wreaths, balloon framing kits, LED tea light centerpieces, pre-lit curtains, metallic heart-shaped balloon backdrops, heart-shaped strawberries dipped in chocolate, maximalist spreads, hand-painted bottle-brush trees, decorated mason jars, decorative candles, personalized art, candy and flower arrangements, and minimalist wreaths.
Please let me know if you would like more information on any specific decoration idea or if you have any other questions.
