How to Design a Valentine Tree

Why I Designed a Tree FIlled with Love

As the Christmas season was coming to an end, I decided I wanted to enjoy our pretty tree a little longer. I knew I could get away with keeping our faux Balsam Hill Pine up through January dressed in its wintery guise, but what excuse did February have? That’s why, this year, I created a Valentine's Tree. Read on to see how I did it.

Transitioning a Christmas Tree

We created a pretty simple Christmas tree this year so the transition was easy. I first removed all of the Christmas balls but kept all the white lights and icicles. This step was very quick and with a semi-bare tree, I was able to then plan for February-appropriate decor.

Making a Valentine's Tree Topper

I considered keeping our glowing Moravian Star tree topper but decided that a Valentine's tree needed to better reflect Valentine’s Day. I considered a grapevine heart wreath covered in dried flowers but decided I’d like to just use found materials and make my own. This is how I did it.

Start with a basic shape

I took an old cardboard box and cut two identical free-form hearts. I then hot-glued a 10” doubled-up piece of floral wire about 4” deep inside the two panels and extended it out the bottom, so that I’d have something to wrap around the tree’s top branch. If I do it again, I will also extend the wire from each side so the heart has more stability when topping the tree.

Once the wire is secured, hot glue the hearts together. This step helps the topper to be more ridged and stable.

Designing the front of your heart topper

Start by designing one side of the heart with your dried flowers and moss. I used my professional-grade Ryobi glue gun, some reindeer moss, and the dried flowers I harvested this year. If you want to learn how to dry your own flowers, see my blog: Learn how to dry your own garden flowers. I didn’t have much of a design or plan, but I just kept filling in the cardboard as I went around the heart and eventually, one side of my heart was completely covered.

Designing side 2

When I finished side 1, I realized leaving the second side of the heart blank wouldn’t look very nice from the side view, so I cut up a coloring book, quickly glued it to the surface of the heart, and glued some leftover moss around the edges to finish it off. In retrospect, I would cover this side first with contact paper or something simple to make the job easier. You could also fill the back side with moss if you have it.

The Heart-Shaped Tree Topper

Here is the result. Not bad for a trial run. Later I’ll show you how it looks on the tree.

Hanging hearts on the Tree

Now the rest of the tree needed some LOVE-ly decor. I found these pretty heart ornaments in rose gold online. They are sold in sets of 45 so I only ordered one set. You can also get them in silver, pink, gold, red, and a pink, red & white combo.

Accenting with Vintage Valentine Cards

I also found some vintage Valentine ornaments to add some character to my tree. There are many types of interesting card ornaments to choose from on Amazon, so look around. Some are more childish which would be nice if you are creating this for your children or grandchildren.

The Unveiling

When all the little rose gold hearts and vintage Valentines were hung, I added a few large dried flowers and some colorful felt ball garlands that I had lying around.

I am very pleased with how this turned out and I’m happy I started a new tradition for our home. Don’t worry, if you’ve already removed your Christmas tree this year, you can plan for next February or grab some fallen branches from outside and place them in a garden pot to make a smaller Valentine’s Branch Tree. Anything is possible. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Preserve Flowers for Creative Projects

After designing and creating something special with flowers, I always hate to see them whither and eventually die. Recently I began preserving the flowers I love so that I can use them again in the future. This autumn I’ve been practicing a lot with the beloved Dahlia Flower and I’ve had fantastic results. I’ve even been known to disassemble a bouquet and create a small everlasting wreath with its components to help better commemorate the event.

Various Methods of Drying Flowers

Sometimes, when I have abundant, hearty stems like lavender, I dry traditionally by hanging small bunches upside down. Other times, with flowers like hydrangea and tiny spray roses, I find I can just place them in a vase without water and wait. Often they’ll even dry with a lovely sculpture-like essence, creating art without any effort at all.

Dried spray roses in simple vase.

Preserving Flowers with Silica crystals

Another method for preserving flowers is to cover them in Silica Crystals and allow the crystals to extract the moisture from the flowers.

I like to use my favorite Micro Pruning Snips to remove foliage and stems unless you want the stems for your project. I then sprinkle about 1” of Silica Gel Crystals into the bottom of a Rubbermaid container so that it evenly covers the whole surface. I then carefully place the flowers either face up or face down on that layer of Silica Crystals, spacing them tightly, being sure they are not touching. Once the flowers are laid out in the container go ahead and pour more Silica Crystals over them and completely cover every part of the flower. Next, cover the container tightly with the matching lid and place it in a cool, preferably dark, area for about a week. Some flowers take less than a week to dry, so feel free to experiment.

Delicate dried Dahlia Flowres.

Removing preserved flowers

For this, I recommend buying a small, slotted spatula similar to the one below so you can retrieve the smaller flowers one at a time. I gently scoop under each flower and lift allowing the Silica Crystals to fall back into the container. I lightly tap each flower on all sides to release any remaining crystals. I place all the newly preserved flowers onto a tray side by side and when I am sure there is no moisture, I store them in a container with air vents as a last measure to ensure they don’t get moldy.

Gently scooping dried Dahlia Flowers out of the Silica Gel Crystals.

Creating with Dried Flowers

Once you’ve preserved enough flowers have fun creating wreaths, flower branches, or even small pieces of wood (pictured below) and use them as table cards or gift toppers. Or do as I do and just place small dried groupings in a pretty vase and enjoy them for a long time. If you do want to create wreaths or toppers, I recommend buying a quality glue gun. I do a lot of designing so I purchased a professional-grade (cordless) Ryobi Glue Gun and I love it. It does get very hot so be careful when gluing, but honestly not having a cord to deal with is so nice. The battery and charger are included.

Mini spray roses glued to a tiny piece of wood.

I hope you enjoy preserving all the pretty flowers you encounter. Feel free to drop me a line and share your creations. -Kimberly

Your Supply list:

Hearty Fresh Flowers (without a lot of delicate & loose petals)
Micro-Tip Pruning Snips
Rubbermaid Storage Containers with Lids
Silica Gel Crystals
Mini Slotted Spatula
Professional-grade Glue Gun