the Creative Orchard: February 2016

Happy Valentine's Day!!! When my husband and I first met and starting dating at a young age, we actually used to celebrate Valentine's Day but once we got married it kinda stopped. Our Wedding Anniversary is one month before Valentine's Day so every year it seemed a little unnecessary to celebrate BOTH by spending extra time and money for cards, gifts and dinner. But now that we have kids and they are getting older and have started to celebrate it at school, the holiday has slowly creeped back into our lives. After 11 years, I decided to finally break down and celebrate it with home decorations to make the kiddos HAPPY!

So for the first time ever, I actually decorated for Valentine's Day! I thought an area in our Family Room located in the center of our home would be the best place. Then I brainstormed a few theme ideas and came up with "CAMP CUPID" which includes a Cupid's Cocoa Stand, S'mores Snacks, Cupid's Archery Game and lots MORE! Surprisingly decorating turned out to be a lot more fun and affordable than I had expected. By utilizing things I already had around the house that went with the aqua, pink and red color scheme plus reusing Wintery looking items from Christmas decorations, all I really needed to purchase were a few Valentines props from Target's Dollar Spot to help everything come together beautifully! Below are photos of the entire DIY "CAMP CUPID" in case anyone would like to decorate their own someday! Also, scroll down for some CREATIVE TIPS that I have provided to help you along the way. Please leave a comment if you have any questions...

How to make your own "CAMP CUPID"...

CREATIVE TIPS:

DIY Play Tent - Use a wooden sawhorse, shower curtain, throw pillows, blanket and xmas tree skirt to make a pretend play tent in less than 10 minutes!

Bring the Outdoors Inside - Decorate by bringing the outdoors inside, keep out some of your xmas decorations such as a greenery wreath, garlands, tiny trees, bottle brush trees, decorative skis/sled, lanterns, pinecones, etc. Anything made out of natural wood also gives a woodsy vibe.

Cocoa Stand/Station - Create a Cocoa Stand/Station by either making an entire DIY pretend play stand out of pallets and leftover wood boards like I did -or- just decorate a small area of a table, tray, dresser, desk or counter. Display a container of cocoa, cocoa packets, bowl/jar/bag of marshmallows, cup of sprinkles, vase/pitcher of straws, napkins, etc. I also included other cocoa/chocolate themed sweets such as pudding cups, bags of brownies, cakes, candies, cookies and popcorn.

S'mores Snacks - Create S'mores Cookies by using Kraft Jet-Puffed pink heart marshmallows, Keebler S'mores sandwich cookies and Wilton heart shaped sprinkles. Make S'mores Popcorn by mixing Kraft Jet-Puffed pink heart marshmallows, plain white popcorn, pink/red Sixlets chocolate candies or M&m's and Malt-o-meal honey graham cereal, then drizzle melted chocolate chips all over the top.

Fake Campfire - Create a pretend fake campfire by sewing/hot glueing faux logs and rocks out of felt then stuffed with poly-fill. Then take a big pot/pan and fill bottom with a strand of white xmas lights then top of with small sheets of red felt to resemble a fake fire. Plug the lights in and you're done!

Cupid's Archery Game - Create a target using a chalkboard easel, covered in wrapping paper, then hang decorative wood/cardboard cut-out hearts. Make a handmade archer's bow out of pvc pipe and add color using spray paint and/or decorative washi tape/stickers, then make a sliced notch at the top and bottom to tightly hold kite string. Then create the pretend arrows out of small wooden dowel rods, felt feathers and a styrofoam heart arrow tip. Children should be supervised by adults at all times! Be safe and have fun!!!