Looking for some easy, yet elegant home decor crafts for Valentine's Day? Well, come peek at my collection and decorate your home for the holiday. Valentine's Day is one of my all time favorite holidays. While love is wonderful and should be celebrated, I have never been big on the whole dramatic romantic scene . The fact that I was married so close to the holiday had more to do with a bargain than it did with the date. No, for me, the Valentine's Day excitement is all about the fact that I get to decorate with red . As if I needed an excuse!!

Recently, I shared a few articles about simplifying my decor. They featured before and after shots of my home and were very well received. Most people remarked that they loved the pared down rooms, but the majority of comments and emails were from readers asking me exactly how to simplify the decor of a room and redecorate using subtraction .

Whip up a whimsical box pleat banner or garland from leftover fabric scraps. It's easy to do, sew or no sew and just dreamy in your room. It's no secret that I'm kind of banner junkie. I think that they are super charming and an easy way to decorate for a season or holiday without spending a lot of time or money. They generally store flat and can be made out of anything you have laying around the house - the more whimsical, the better. Exhibit A, today's banner, a box pleat scrap fabric garland that I whipped up after I was inspired by a dream. Yup. A dream.  Weird right?

When I was a small child I was very, very  superstitious. Very. I was brought up in a household where my grandmother would say a novena at the mention of bad news and my mother would say things like don't put shoes on the table, it's bad luck. Black cats, walking under ladders and broken mirrors were taboo. Of course, when I broke a thermometer on the bathroom floor and played with the balls of mercury for a half an hour, no one batted an eye, but shattered glass? The horror! You'd better get the rosary or start knocking on wood. And fast.

Don't you love it when you get something new? Well, over the past few weeks, there have been several new additions around here. They were either Christmas gifts from my family or little things I purchased myself and while none of the items are very large, they have made a giant difference around the house. Would you like a peek?

Hangers don't have to be boring and bland! You can decorate those old wooden hangers with gift wrap paper and watch them become functional and pretty in a few short minutes. So a few months ago, I picked up a bunch of wooden hangers at the thrift store and whipped up a neat decoration for my front door . It was lovely and looked great on my front door, but since I only have one front door, I had a lot of leftover hangers. A lot.

To begin, begin is my phrase for the new year. Resolutions don't work unless you do. A few years ago, when I began blogging, people started asking me about my word for the year. The idea behind it was genius. Rather than a long list of resolutions, that I'd probably give up on rather quickly, I was to pick one word to guide me through the year. I immediately fell in love with the idea and for three years, I happily played along.