One of the most loving days of the year is just around the corner, and whether you’re excited about Valentine’s day or you’re just in it for the heart-shaped candy, it’s the one day of the year that revolves around celebrating love and the people you care about—which is more important than ever right now. 

Decorating for the holidays can be a great way to spruce up your living space and increase the overall positivity the room gives off. It doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg to make your room valentine’s day central either. Valentines is known to be a holiday with some of the easiest (and cutest) decorations. Plus, it’s the perfect excuse to take a break from studying so you can spread a little love, get creative, and make your dorm look loved-up for V-day.

You don’t have to be a natural born Pablo Picasso to create valentines day decorations that will fill your dorm with some much-needed love. It’s as simple as drawing or cutting out hearts which is basically kindergarten 101, just minus the glue-eating. Whatever artistic level you fall under, our list of DIY ideas will spark the creative side in you.

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Garlands

Garlands are one of the best ways to bring a little bit of personality and fun to any room. You can easily make them out of almost anything from paper to pompoms as long as you have string to tie it all together! It creates a nice pop of color when hung above windows, doorways, or on empty walls in need of some decoration. 

Paper Garland

Forget about Rock, Paper, Scissors--We’re talking about Paper, Scissors, String. The main three ingredients needed to make a beautiful valentine’s day-inspired garland. Some of these garlands may require you to brush up on your scissor-cutting skills, but all of that training in elementary school prepared you for this moment. You’ve got this! 

This folded-heart garland is easy enough to complete in less than 25 minutes. 

All you need is 

• your choice of paper
• Scissors or a paper cutter
• string or twine
• a stapler
• a hole punch.

The design is simple, but the 3-D aspect of the hearts makes it fun and a little more creative than your run-of-the-mill garland! And adding additional colors like pink, white, or purple could create an even more festive-valentine’s look.

Hot tip: Try placing a small heart in between each bigger heart to give your garland more dimension! 

This candy-inspired paper-garland is a fun way to incorporate the most traditional Valentine’s day candy hearts into your decorations! 

All you’ll need to make this sweet decoration is: 

• Paper
• String
• Scissors or a heart-shaped paper cutter
• Something to write with 
• Hole puncher 
  

If you don’t have a heart-shaped paper stamper lying around, you can achieve the same perfectly proportioned hearts by using a stencil and tracing the shape on paper. Or you can ditch the perfect proportions and cut the hearts by hand for a more homemade look. Once that’s done, choose your favorite short and sweet valentine’s messages or write whatever you’d like to make the garland personalized to you. 

Pom Ball Garland

Pom pom garlands are one of the most simple decorations to hang around the house for any holiday. You don’t need any special skill set to make this garland, unless you want to use homemade pom balls, which take a bit more time. Otherwise, store bought pom poms work just as well and can be found at any craft store. 

All you need for this garland is: 

• Pom poms made from yarn, felt, or wool 
• A sewing needle
• Embroidery floss 
  

To put your masterpiece together, thread the needle with the embroidery floss and poke it through one pom ball, continuing with each ball until your creation is complete. 

Hanging Picture Garland 

Hanging picture garlands are a great way to personalize your valentine’s day decorations by including the people you love. Also, this is the type of decoration that can stay up year-round and you can replace photos with new ones as you go!

All you need to create one is: 

• Photos of friends and family
• Yarn or string
• Tape or clothespins 
• String lights (optional)
  

You can use polaroid photos or regular photos, as long as you create enough space between each picture for the garland to hang correctly. If you have more photos than you know what to do with, you can create multiple hanging garlands that cover a full wall. 

Another fun use of pictures for a valentine’s decoration is OCM’s Love to Travel Wall Art Kit. This wall art combines two of greatest gifts life has to offer--love and travel. 

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Flowers 

Flowers sales go through the roof on valentine’s day because nothing says I love you more than picking out a beautiful arrangement of flowers for someone. Flowers aren’t only a great valentine’s gift though, they also make great decorations! 

Since Valentine’s day is a one day gig, unlike some other holidays, it’s not crucial that you use real flowers when decorating. Plus, fake flowers are a one-time purchase that you can continue using year after year.

Whether you choose real flowers or fake flowers, there are dozens of ways to use them to your advantage when creating your own valentine’s day decor. Check out some of our ideas. 

Fun Heart-Candy Flower Vase 

Anyone can put flowers into a vase, but what about a vase filled with heart-shaped candies? Turn up your flower game with this colorful, fun flower arrangement that will make any room that much cuter this V-day. You can use any type of hard-candy you’d like or mix and match to add some extra color to your vase. 

All you’ll need:

• Flowers (real or fake)
• A vase 
• Candy hearts or another candy of choice 
  

If you do decide to use real flowers and you’d like them to live longer than a couple days, it’s recommended to place a small vase inside of the larger one to fill with water for the flowers. 

Heart Flower Wreath

These heart-shaped wreaths are Valentine’s day’s version of the typical Christmas decoration. Fake flowers are recommended for this DIY, but if you want to get fancy, real flowers will work just as great. 

What you’ll need:

• Grapevine heart wreath or any heart shaped wreath
• Artificial flowers 
• Wire cutters or heavy-duty scissors
• Hot glue gun
  

Cut enough stem off of the flowers until there’s about 1.5 inches of stem left. Arrange the flowers onto the wreath by poking the stems through the openings of the wreath. Once positioned in a way that you like, hot glue the stems in to keep the flowers in place. And just like that you have a beautiful heart wreath. 

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Pillows and Blankets 

Decorations don’t just have to be creative pieces that you hang up on the walls or put around your room. You can also incorporate decorations into your bedding to turn up the love in your living space. It’s as easy as placing a blanket and some pillows around to bring a pop of color out. 

Since this Valentine’s day most of us will be spending it indoors, OCM has some fantastic options to bring a little bit of love to your dorm room this valentine’s day including this super plush, pink blanket that will create a pop of color and keep you extra cozy all through the season of love and this pink pom throw pillow to add some comfort to your bed. If those aren’t your style, there’s also a more understated ‘LOVE’ Applique decorative throw to bring the Valentine’s message without all of the pink. 

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Wooden Decorations 

DIY wooden decorations seem to intimidate some people, but they’re just as simple as the others. These decorations involve no saw, or cutting of any kind so they’re do-it-yourself and injury free! 

Hanging heart board 

This hanging wooden heart-board is a cute and easy way to replace a wreath on your front door or inside of your house this valentine’s day. 

All you’ll need is:

• A large wooden heart-shaped board 
• A smaller wooden heart-shaped board 
• Twine or rope
• Several boxes of conversation candy hearts or plastic heart beads 
• A colorful marker or paint marker (paint preferred) 
• Hot glue gun
• Modpodge 
  

Using your choice of paint colors, paint the large and small heart boards and set to the side. 

Once dry, hot glue the small heart board to the center of the larger heart board and press down until firmly adhesed. 

Take your conversation candy hearts and begin hot gluing them around the large heart until the entire surface (besides the small heart board in the center) is covered. With your choice of paint or colored marker, write your short and sweet valentine’s message in the center of the board. 

Take your mod podge and paint a thin layer over the entire finished board. Let dry and add another layer of mod podge. Use your hot glue gun one last time to apply the rope or twine to the back of the board for hanging purposes. And there you have it! The cutest, sweetest hanging valentine’s decoration! 

Mason Jar Decorations

Mason jars are one of the most versatile materials available for crafts and decorations.  They can be used for organizational purposes, candle holders, mugs, vases, and more. 

Glittery Heart candle holder 

These glittery candle holders are the cutest way to light up your dorm this valentine’s day and they’re so simple to make. 

All you need is: 

• Mason jar(s)
• Pink or white acrylic paint
• Paint brush
• Painters tape 
• Foam heart
• Pink or white glitter
• White tea light candles
• Ribbon
• Mod podge 

Start by sticking the foam heart onto a piece of painters tape and cutting out the shape around it. Arrange the heart-shaped piece of tape onto the mason jar, close enough to the bottom so the candle will be visible. 

Paint the entire jar pink or white using a paint brush and remove the painters tape once the paint has dried. Use another paint brush to paint on the modge podge, avoiding the area where the heart is. Generously pour the same color glitter as the paint used all over the mason jar and shake off excess. 

Let dry completely, tie a ribbon around the top, and add your lit candle. There you have it. A beautiful Valentine’s candle holder. 

Thumbprint Mason jar Vases 

This is the DIY decoration for anyone who isn’t afraid to get a little messy. These mason jar vases let you channel your inner child through finger paints! You’ll create painted hearts on each spread around the jar using your thumbprints. 

All you need to create these are: 

• Mason jars
• Red, white, and pink acrylic paint 
• Paint brush 
• Mod podge (optional) 
  

Paint the mason jar a base color of your choosing and once dried, roll your sleeves up and dip your thumbs into another color to create the heart shape around the jar. Let dry completely. Cover with mod podge. Who said finger painting was just for babies? 

Hopefully these DIY options give you some ideas to create beautiful valentine’s decorations to fill your dorm room with love this Valentine’s season! Happy crafting and Happy Valentine’s Day!