My Valentine's tree

Each year after Christmas I leave up a small tree for a few months. During January it is decorated with the crocheted snowflakes Mom made for me, and some other snowflake/men ornaments. In February it is adorned with hearts, in March and April it gets Springtime and Easter decoration. I don't have lots of these decorations, but try to add a little to each theme every year.

Here is the Valentine's tree this year. A few of the ornaments were gifts from some friends I've met through an email list.

The cross-stitched hearts are from Grandma & Grandpa Regier's 50th anniversary celebration. We stitched a heart for each family member with their name and birthdate on the back, then hung them from a tree. Grandma kept that tree in her living room, then each time a new member joined the family, another heart was added. When Grandma moved to the nursing home, each family got their hearts. I have my family's and Arlan's, and they make decorating for this "Hallmark holiday" a little more meaningful.
These ornaments are the reason I learned to do counted cross-stitch. Aunt Kathy got the patterns, and each family made their own hearts. Mom had moved to California by then, so it was up to me to make them for our family. I wasn't happy, thinking counted cross-stitch was going to be tedious and difficult. Turns out I loved it and cross-stitch became my biggest hobby for many years.