Hi friends. It’s Cathy (also known as Nana) with a fun and fast seasonal refresh for a little corner of your house using removable fabric wall decals.
My mom was an elementary school teacher for many years before she started her teaching aids company, and her need to update the classroom decor every season was almost embedded in her DNA. She noticed that it inspired her students to look at lessons with fresh eyes and curiosity. So when we created a little book nook for our grandkids, I couldn’t wait to add fresh seasonal twists year round. And here’s the first one of 2025: Valentine’s Day! Featuring Mej Mej removable fabric wall decals ... and some favorite children’s books about love and friendship.
Since we’ve embraced lots of blue in our new house (our blue period), I decided to go with the Small Watercolor Hearts in blue and gray. (There are 8 other colors choices. Or you can go with Rainbow Hearts, for a bright pop of fun.)
This is the way it turned out! And it’s so great that I can save them for next year. It took me 10 minutes to take down the Evergreen Christmas trees, (and save them on their backing) and 20 minutes to install the Valentine‘s hearts. PS I went with small hearts, because my little wall is only about 6’ x 8’ but our Large Watercolor Hearts are super popular, too. You can see a video of some tips and tricks on our Instagram feed.
Above left is a picture of me taking down the Christmas trees ... And saving them for next year on their backing. Above right is minute #12 of the Valentine’s install ... after giving the top hearts a quick trim (our secret to creating a wallpaper effect without the cost or effort of hanging wallpaper). Then I filled the shelves with favorite books about all kinds of love, from The Runaway Bunny to Love is a Truck! (There is a lot of truck love around here these days!)
Before our little fellas came over for the big reveal, I just couldn’t help myself and decided to add a little Valentine’s Day Countdown. But after recent weeks of Christmas daily treats and 3 December birthdays, we knew we needed a little sugar vacation. So, we challenged ourselves to come up with a daily surprise that a four-year-old would like, even if it wasn’t covered in sprinkles.
I ordered these cute little Seed Envelopes, and Jim and I came up with fourteen activities that we knew the kids already loved to do with us. They are simple little things, but for some reason, to have them printed on a special “ticket” made them seem like a bigger present than gummy bears. And, I didn’t even add the sprinkles that I was thinking about adding. (I admit it ... sometimes I am an over-surpriser!)
Here are the activity ticket envelopes tied to this very excellent set of Mid Century Shelving from West Elm Kids. (I’m not sure they still carry them in white, but they do have two shades of wood: acorn and blonde.)
It wasn’t quite February yet, but we let our little guy open the first one. And it was magical. He reacted as if we had given him a chocolate truck! His first Valentine ticket simply said, “Make lemonade with Nana,” which is one of our favorite things to do together. So, he decided to cash in his ticket then and there and we made lemonade for everybody. Then he asked if he could open one more. “Yes you may.” Cause that’s what Nanas say.
Happy February ... enjoy every little minute with your precious valentines.
xo Cathy, Jim, Julianna and Anton
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