I like to think outside the box, especially when I’m crafting. When I did my after Christmas shopping, I made sure that I got some items that could be used for Valentine’s Day & St. Patrick’s Day.  This centerpiece was made with a lot of those 75% off sale items.

One of the first things that I got on my shopping trip was some red glitter branches.

I filled a container (purchased last year after Valentine’s Day) with some floral foam, cut the branches into manageable pieces & inserted them into the foam.

   

I’d also gotten some red decorative filler which I used to cover the floral foam.

   

This year, I found some heart vase filler.  I wanted to hang them on the branches, but I needed some hooks.  I used some Christmas ornament hooks, cut them in half & using some jewelry pliers, I made loops on the end of the hooks.

 

I found the heart vase filler at Walmart.  They are made of foam, so they are light enough not to weigh down the branches.  They came in glitter & a harder surface that was shiny.

     

To make the hearts so that they could be hung, I poked a hole in the top of the heart with the end of a small paint brush.  Then I put the end of my glue gun into the hole & filled it with hot glue.

        

Then I just inserted the smaller end of the hook into the glue.

I also used some red beads glued to the top of some of the hearts as a hanger.

         

For the shiny hearts, I had to cut an opening in the top.  The covering was harder than the glittered hearts & I was afraid that poking it would split the heart.

I also had some Ashland Decorative Gem filler from Christmas.  I just used some red sewing thread as hangers.

The red thread blended in with the branches and the clear gems lightened up the centerpiece.

I had some left over foam shapes from last year that I thought I’d use up.

The ‘Be Mine’ shapes were the same shape as each other.  I thought that I could make a sleeve to cover some of the cut ends of the branches.  I put some hot glue on the back side of one of the heart shapes, leaving the bottom bare.  Then I placed another heart on top of the back of the first heart.

When the glue had dried, I could open the bottom of the heart & slip it on to the end of the branch.

Another after Christmas sale that I used were some red mirror ball ornaments.  I knew that they’d work for Valentine’s Day decorating.

To bring some lighter color towards the bottom, I inserted some of the foam shapes in front of the red gems.

And I don’t know if you noticed, but nothing was glued in.  This centerpiece can easily be taken apart & used for other projects.  I know that I’ll be using some of the red for the 4th of July.

Happy Creating everyone!

I’ll be joining:

Create With Joy for Friendship Friday Blog Party 159