brunch for my valentines

I wanted to do something sweet for the fam this Valentine's day, but with it falling on a Monday I decided that a leisurely weekend brunch would be a better way to celebrate.  Better still, by using things I had around the house and the addition of a few savvy purchases, the whole morning only cost about $20 {including the food and cards}.  See below for how it all came together...

photos © cake. 2011

Last week I posted on Facebook that I found some pretty fabric at Ikea and hobnail bowls at Michaels for a steal.  They became my inspiration for the brunch, and using the fabric as a tablecloth and the bowls as serving pieces, I put together a simple continental style menu.  This included greek yogurt with whole strawberries, honey, pecan granola and cranberry scones with fresh squeezed orange juice & lattes to drink.

Above the table I hung two garlands that I crafted from items around the house.  The top garland is made from doilies and cupcake liners, folded to look like flower blossoms {fun tip: when folded just right they look like hearts} and strung along a length of baking twine.  The lower garland is created from felt sticker hearts in a variety of colors and sizes. I sandwiched the stickers together with along a length of twine- which was more time consuming than you would think, but much easier than trying to cut and glue all the hearts from scratch.

Of course I had to give some cards to my family, so I created a few custom Valentines through my membership at Tiny Prints {If you haven't heard about this service yet- try it out for a while. It seriously rocks}.  I also came upon some free printables from Hello Lucky and they were so cute I decided to print them on sticker paper and use them to label the envelopes. 

Everything turned out great and I hope it offers you some last minute inspiration for your celebration. Happy Valentine's day!