I don’t usually do much decorating for Valentine’s Day but this year seemed different. Maybe it’s with all the staying at home and more time on my hands that there was more time to create, but I enjoyed making this easy Valentine’s Day mantel for the season.
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The idea for the Valentine’s Day Mantel really all started when I made the paper lunch sack snowflakes at Christmastime. I loved them so much this year, I just couldn’t get myself to take them down. I thought adding red paper sack snowflakes to them would be a great idea for Valentine’s Day. I ordered mine here. If you missed my tutorial on how to make these, you can watch it right here
Start With Layering
I then began layering the Valentine’s Day Mantel with ribbons and a string of felt beads. I used things I had on hand to keep this project budget-friendly. The little felt hearts I made last week. I literally just tied them onto the felt bead garland. You can see how I made them right here.
First, let’s talk about the centerpiece. This is something you want to add that will really “WOW’ the space. I saw a quiver and arrows on Pinterest awhile back and saved it for future reference. Unfortunately, there were no concrete directions on how to make it, so I just dug in and did the best I could.
The wings are as easy as cutting out the pattern on poster board. I free-handed the shape and that was my starting point. I ordered the white feathers right here. They came 100 in a package and I ordered two. The more you layer the feathers, the more real it will look.
Next comes the quiver which was definitely the hardest part about this project. I used a painters drop cloth and cut a small piece and then tea/coffee dyed it. All this means is, I put it in a bowl with my leftover coffee and a couple of tea bags and let it soak for a few hours. This gives the fabric a more aged look.
When you get the drop cloth, it will be much bigger than you will need for this project, but set it aside because we will be using it for other things later on. I like to always have one or two on hand.
All I can say to create this is fold it and make a pocket. I know that’s not the best explanation but that’s how I did it. A fold here and a tweak there until I got it how I liked it and then hot-glued it in place. I, then, used embroidery thread to do the stitching and added some wooden hearts and tassel with butcher’s twine.
Believe it or not, I do have a pattern for the arrows right here. Just fold, glue and glitter.
Next, use some of your leftover feathers and attach to the opposite ends of half the arrows by, once again, gluing and then place in your quiver.
Finally, congratulations to you if you’ve made it this far. We made it through. So, what is the moral of this story? Even if there are no directions, just go for it and make it your own. You can do it.
Happy Creating
