House On A Hill: DIY Decor for 2 Holidays

I'm so excited to share this decor project with you! I originally made this for Christmas and I LOVED how it turned out! I really didn't want to take it down yet so...I've converted it into Valentine's Day decor and now can keep it up for another month :)

I posted some of my Christmas DIY decor here - including the project in this post.
My original inspiration for the Christmas version came from a pic I saw on Pinterest, from the Thrifty Decor Chick (she has some awesome projects!)

So...here was our mantel for Christmas, with the newly made NOEL decor:

I loved how this project turned out so much that I wanted to figure out a way to keep it up longer....so...a little letter re-arrangement and making a V and I was in business!

Here's the process (I didn't photo the making of the NOEL, but I used this process below):

I cut a piece of foam board 12inches by 20 inches. (This is MUCH cheaper than using canvas) Then, I used craft paper and cut a piece about 2 inches larger than the foam board I used.

Like this

Then, I used Glorious Gold Gloss Enamels by Americana to paint the craft paper. I did this in no particular fashion - messy looking is the goal!

Let the paint dry....then crumple the paper up like so:

Carefully uncrumple but don't flatten out completely. I then used a rolling pin to roll over the paper to make some creases:

Then I used rubber cement to stick the paper to the foam board (whatever kind of glue you have will probably work fine)

Then fold over the edges and tape. I did an extra fold at the corners for a cleaner edge:

All done:

{I'm in need of a craft table like BAD! I had to resort to my daughter's table for a bit!}

Next up, paint the V. I got the letters from Hobby Lobby (about $1.50 each)

I painted them with Alizarin Crimson Acrylic Paint by Folk Art.

{WHY do they put stickers on things that are TOO sticky and don't come off well?? UGH!}

Then I just hot glued a piece of ribbon to the letter and then taped the other end of the ribbon to the back of the foam board, and VIOLA!

I added some greenery and some red flowers (from Hobby Lobby) behind the candles. I bought the 3 candle plates on clearance at Target for $4.64 each and had a Christmas gift card to use (score!)

The candles are leftovers from our wedding...we had tons of candles...I didn't even use a quarter of what I have.