When I was a little, I simply adored the heart-shaped Valentine candy boxes that lined the grocery and drug store shelves. Frilly, lacy, ruffle-y, covered in flowers- the busier, the better, as far as I was concerned. Each Valentine candy box was a gaudy piece of art that I couldn’t get enough of. And as I was brainstorming ideas for Valentine’s Day décor projects this year, my mind tripped back a few decades to those boxes…and a repurposed 5-minute wreath idea came to life!

So busy, so pretty…

And here’s the kicker- a vintage Valentine candy box in all its frilly glory does the work for you, right? There’s no embellishing needed (it’s got PLENTY of bedazzledness going on already!)…it just needs to hang from a nail on a door. That’s why you only need a few minutes to create this…once you have the perfect Valentine candy box to upcycle, of course. This post contains affiliate links for your crafting convenience.

So, with vintage Valentine candy box in hand (well, two of them…), I gathered a few more crafting bits and pieces, such as ribbon, my crafting shears, and an awl (or any strong point, like a small nail, that can pierce the box).

Start the timer for 5 minutes!

To add a hanging mechanism to my Valentine candy box, I just needed to punch small holes in the bottom half of the box- evenly spaced and near the top of the heart. After measuring and marking punch-dots on the back, I placed the box bottom over a short stack of scrap wood, and carefully tapped holes through my marks using my festive craft hammer and awl.

Prepping to pierce!

Then, I cut a short length of ruffled ribbon to hang my Valentine candy box from. And you won’t believe the CUTEST thing I found to connect it to the box!

I Heart Brad(s)!

Heart-shaped paper fasteners! (Or brads…I always called them brads in the past). But, how perfect (and crazy easy) is that?

They work perfectly!

A view from the inside…

And that’s it! Now I had a super simple-to-make wreath for Valentine’s Day, and it literally took me 5 minutes to create.

But I have to confess, I did two more completely optional steps…which added a few more minutes to my crafting schedule…

First, I used my hot glue gun to freshen up the flower on the center of my Valentine candy box. It had gotten smushed over the years and the petals needed some help staying open. Of course, not every vintage Valentine candy box will need this…

Carefully un-smushing her petals…

Then, as added security, I used double-sided tape inside the candy box to keep it closed while hanging. It was already pretty secure on its own…but this was just simple insurance for my piece of mind.

Just to make sure she stays closed…

NOW I was done! Still…pretty darn close to a five-minute project, even with the optional steps! Isn’t she pretty? Like she was always meant to become a wreath…

Ta-da!!

A couple of other things to note…

• You could easily do with this with a plain Valentine candy box! Simply add the embellishments yourself, using whatever lace, ribbon, or silk flowers you have.
• Because the paper brads can be easily removed, just tuck the ribbon hanger and brads inside the box when you store it for the rest of the year- then they won’t get lost!
• If you’re interested in either vintage Valentine candy box, I’ve listed them in my Etsy shop!

Now, I don’t have many repurposed Valentine’s Day project ideas, but please feel free to check out my other projects before you go…

Craft (and Heart) On!

S

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