Whoever came up with the suggestion of turning Valentine's Day into a second Halloween is a genius.
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Last year, I had some fun with this when I shared Halloween-themed Valentine’s to send your spooky someone, creepy treats to serve him/her and a few sources of inspiration for decor.
But this year, I wanted to take it up a notch…and actually decorate a bit for Valoween! I grew up in a household where we decorated for most of the holidays. It wasn’t always a lot of decor – sometimes just a centerpiece on the kitchen table did the trick – but it’s part of what gave me my love for holidays. (You can read more about that over here.)
I could always take or leave Valentine’s Day. The color scheme and symbols didn’t do much for me. Give me black and bats any day!
So when I started seeing friends over on Instagram turn Valentine’s Day decor into something a bit more sinister…I decided I needed to join them.
I’ve turned the new Spooky Little Apartment into a Halloween lover’s lair this February. I still have a ways to go to fully deck out for the holiday – plans to create a Valoween tree didn’t happen this year – but I’m on my way to having a little stash of Halloween-themed Valentine’s Day decor now.
Here’s how I turned Valentine’s Day decor into Valoween decor:
I started with a handful of heart items I picked up at Target and Michaels, including some plain white paper hearts, a heart-shaped wood box and a rustic heart door hanging.
Here’s what they all turned into…
Jack-o-Lantern Heart Box

Originally this guy was plain wood on the inside, but I quickly took care of that with a bit of orange paint! I coated the inside with some basic acrylic paint, painted the outer edge black and when it was dry, drew a jack-o-lantern face with a black paint pen.

The outside of the box was already pink, which fit into my black/orange/pink color scheme perfectly.

He’s found a home on my bookshelf, but it could easily double for a little coffee table decor or a place to put your TV remotes!
This box came from the dollar section of Target, but if you wanted to create your own you could check your local craft store for something similar.
Skeleton Heart Door Hanging

I was surprised by how happy I was with how my skeleton heart turned out! When I saw this door hanging, also in the dollar section at Target, it was pretty boring – the whole heart was a basic farmhouse white and begging for a little color.

And who doesn’t need a black heart at Valentine’s Day? It took a couple of coats of black acrylic paint (can’t beat this one for just 70 cents) to coat the original paint job.

Once it was dry, I used a white paint pen to draw on my skeleton bones. They’re totally imperfect, but that’s kind of what I love about it.

The original hanging string was a little drab, so I switched it out with some red and pink baker’s twine (similar) I had on hand. It still looked like it needed a little something though…

So after looking around at what I already had on hand, I added a few strips of Halloween fabric and a strip of light pink (similar) for a little accent. I absolutely love how this turned out!
Pumpkin Heart Banner

And finally, if you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you likely know I’m obsessed with banners of all kinds for decorating. Valoween is no exception!

I grabbed these plain heart cards at Michaels and painted them orange, black and light pink with acrylic paint. Then I divided them up, and some got jack-o-lantern faces using a paint pen.

Others got a heart-shaped doily in pink and white topped with these adorable Valoween cards Hazel made. (Grab them for just $5 in her Etsy shop to print at home as many times as you want!)

I also had a moment of genius when I remembered ALL that Halloween washi tape I bought dirt cheap at michaels.com last July and decided to add it to some of the hearts. It was the perfect accent.

Then I strung them all up using baker’s twine and ended up with this…

My start at Valoween decor! (The skeleton heart is on the door at the right of the photo leading to my writing space which was the whole reason I moved.)
(Also…do we need to talk about what the heck is going on with my TV screen because it was NOT on when I took these – EEK! Told y’all I live with a ghost now!)
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Did you decorate for Valoween?
I’d love to see your decor too! Tag me in your photos on Instagram or drop by my inbox to share.
I hope this has inspired you a bit to turn regular old Valentine’s Day decor into something more appropriate for us Halloween lovers. These aren’t revolutionary ideas, but I think it’s fun to share the transformation!
Happy Valoween,




Candace Jedrowicz
Eeeeee! So fun!
Miranda | Spooky Little Halloween
Thanks Candace!
Rain San Martin
My favorites are the Valoween banner and box you made. So cute and fun!
Miranda | Spooky Little Halloween
Thanks, Rain!
Jen Mullen
Such great ideas!
Miranda | Spooky Little Halloween
Thanks, Jen!
Chelsea
I love what you did with the heart! I remember seeing that and couldn’t think of what to do with it. Your idea was perfect! The imperfect bones really add to the charm. I would never have thought to add the little ribbon hang too. Too cute.
I didn’t really do anything for the holiday this year, although I had plans to. I want to make little devil horn heart Valentines. Kind of Halloweenie, right?