Decorate a Vintage Valentines Tree

A flocked tree is decorated with handmade hearts and draped with soft hand-dyed ribbon. Vintage valentines are tucked into the branches along with gold hearts and pink mercury glass ornaments for a tree that's truly one of a kind.

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Welcome to the first Thrifty Style Team of the year! We are a group of bloggers who love to decorate our homes with inexpensive finds, DIYs and crafts and share them with you once a month. Thanks to Julie of Redhead Can Decorate for keeping us on track! We've got lots of thrifty goodies to show you today, be sure to check out all the links below!


I never used to decorate for Valentines day. However, a few years ago as I was sadly putting away the Christmas decor and saw how dark, uninspiring, and  empty-feeling my home was during the bleak months of January and February, I decided to change that!

Valentines decor adds back a little of that cheer and color to a winter home! This year, for the first time ever, I've decorated a vintage Valentines tree and I'm loving it!

A Valentines tree is an easy way to extend the magic of Christmas just a little longer. If you're someone who hates packing away your Christmas tree, you just might want to decorate it for Valentines Day!

I don't recommend running out and purchasing a bunch of Valentines decor to decorate your tree! Remember, this is supposed to be a thrifty project! Look around your home and see what you already have. What Christmas decorations can do double duty as Valentines decorations? Do you have ribbons you can use? Consider making your own large scale Valentines by printing free images you find (more on that in a bit).

We ended up with the flu over the holidays, and it lasted a looong time, like weeks! So putting away all the Christmas decor didn't happen until a few days ago. I have some favorite pink mercury glass ornaments that have a vintage vibe, and I decided that a pink and white vintage Valentines tree needed to happen this year!

I used the slim flocked tree that we had in our main bedroom (see our blue and white Christmas bedroom  HERE). It was decorated simply with draping ribbon and blue and white decoupage ornaments. After I removed the ornaments, Mr DIY and Abby carefully dragged the tree into the living room where our large tree had been.

Unfortunately it developed a bit of a twist and lean, and I didn't notice until it was fully decorated, so I decided to just leave it as is and enjoy the quirkiness! The reason it's got a lean is because instead of the tree stand, I wanted to use a basket. Mr DIY and I whipped up a concrete/PVC stand that sits inside the basket (a great hack to use when your stand is broken!) and holds the tree. Woven baskets like this one are rarely completely flat on the bottom, hence the lean.

After removing the blue and white ornaments, I left the white ribbons in place. I added more ribbons, in fact I made my own hand dyed blush ribbon from some fabric I had on hand, and I'll be sharing that tutorial in a few days. It's a great money saver and really quick and easy to do!


The only ribbon I tied is the one used as a topper, which I tied into a bow. The rest of the ribbons are simply draped over the branches for a loose, airy feel.

I hung my blush pink mercury glass ornaments, as well as some gold heart ornaments I found a couple years ago at Hobby Lobby in the Christmas aisle!



Next I added all my DIY hearts that I have made over the years, the white painted salt dough hearts, the DIY beaded hearts and the gingham painted hearts. Last year I used the salt dough hearts as a mantel garland, you can see that HERE. I love being able to reuse items in a new and fresh way!

Are you sensing a theme here? I used anything pink and white that I had to decorate this vintage Valentines tree, with the exception of the vintage Valentines themselves. The colors on these vintage Valentines are muted with lots of pastels, so they worked really well with the other ornaments.


I found all of these sweet vintage Valentines images at The Graphics Fairy. They were free to save and I printed them onto white cardstock and cut them out with my paper trimmer. You could hang them, but it is so easy to tuck them into the branches of the tree, and I love the truly vintage vibe they add to this sweet tree.


Finally, I made some velvet yarn tassels in blush pink. They are so soft and fluffy and they add a little more color to this Valentines Day tree. Of course, you could use any color of yarn to make these tassels, they're fast and easy and the wood beads add a little touch of modern.


I actually prefer this tree unlit because you can really appreciate the ornaments and decor. On the nearby mantel, I left up the greenery garland from Christmas (see my Christmas mantel HERE), and replaced the dried oranges and berries with a strand of tiny salt dough hearts. The lights on this garland are just enough twinkle to make this room feel magical, even in the shorter and often gloomy days of winter!



Have you ever considered a Valentines tree? It's a great way to make your home feel warm and magical during the darkest and dreariest months of the year! You can even reuse some of your red and white Christmas ornaments!

Be sure you're following along so you don't miss any of my future projects! You can CLICK HERE to subscribe.

My Valentine's decor last year was more colorful, using the traditional red. You can see all my past Valentines projects and crafts HERE.


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Let's see what amazing ideas the rest of the Thrifty Style Team is sharing today! Just click on the blue links below for more details.

Thrifty Style Team Ideas



I Should be Mopping the Floor - Cute Valentines Kitchen Towels

The How to Home - Valentines Day Gift Jar

DIY Beautify - you are here!


Songbird - Wine Cork Heart Ideas

Simple Nature Decor -  Water Color Hearts Tea Towel

The Zucchini Sisters - Dollar Tree Linen Closet Organization

Sonya Burgess Blog - Creating Simple Silhouette Art


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Comments

  1. Not sure I'd ever want to take that tree down! Love the pink, the mix of metallics and all the cute love prints. You amaze me with your creativity and all you do everyday! How do you get it all done?! Hope you link this up on Farmhouse Friday. pinned

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    1. Thank you my friend! Just can't turn off the creativity, LOL!

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  2. Cindy! This is just beautiful. Every detail in your Valentine's tree is perfection...especially those vintage Valentines. The ribbons, and hearts, and tassels all make me smile. Simply gorgeous, friend. xoxo, kristi

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  3. Cindy...you seriously knocked it out of the park...AGAIN! Your tree is perfection and I would never want to take it down. I'm going to make some of those tassels just to have them...not sure where I'll put them but I love the shabby chic look and feel of them.

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    1. Thanks so much for your kind words Mary Beth! I originally intended the tassels for a mantel garland but decided the tree needed a little more color.

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  4. Cindy - Your tree is fabulous...and now I want a "Smooch" heart hahaha. Love your attention to detail and all of your creative additions to the tree - especially the tassels. Sorry that y'all were sick. Hopefully better days are ahead!

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  5. Cindy this is so cute! Next year I am leaving up my Christmas tree a little longer so I can decorate for Valentine's Day! I'd love for you to link up your post at my weekly link party for a chance to be featured! https://www.ourtinynest.com/2023/01/11/weekly-link-party-330/

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  6. What a beautiful tree, love all the vintage hearts. I think next year I’m going to keep my tree up and decorate for Valentines

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    1. Thank you, it's fun and a great way to decor lovers to have something else to decorate, LOL!

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  7. Cindy, I love, love, love your tree! Those sweet tassels add so much. I need to make some of those!

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  8. Oh my goodness Cindy! I am obsessed with your gorgeous vintage tree! All the sweet details and shabby goodness are amazing. Thanks for sharing it with us! Michelle

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    1. Thank you so much Michelle, I'm so glad you like it!

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  9. Julie here! I am so sorry you guys were all sick over the holiday. Now you can enjoy this tree through February to help make up for it. The tree turned out GORGEOUS!!! I like the idea of no lights on, too! It makes it look like it's actually outside after it snowed! Plus it saves on electric 😉. I will be sharing tomorrow on my FB page, Cindy. Thank you for being such an inspiring part of our team!!

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  10. I never really heard of Valentine's Day trees but now that I have seen yours I want one. Maybe next year. Thank you for the inspiration!

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  11. Cindy thank you so much for sharing at my weekly link party! This was one of my favorite ideas of the week and I'm happy to be featuring you! https://www.ourtinynest.com/2023/01/18/weekly-link-party-331/

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  12. Cindy, your valentine tree is so beautiful! I love the feminine pink and white against the flocked branches. The vintage style paper valentines are adorable. Now I wish I'd left my white pencil tree up to decorate for Valentine's Day! Pinned :)
    Rebecca (Zucchini Sisters)

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    1. Thanks Rebecca, I'm so glad you like it and appreciate the Pin! xx

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  13. Just popping back in to say I loved this so much, I'm featuring it on Farmhouse Friday tomorrow. Thank you for sharing it with us and I hope you link up again soon. pinned again!

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