Let me tell you guys a little back story about my bar cart procurement. During the holiday season last year, I saw the most awesome gold and wood bar cart at Target, but it was $129.99 and I went back and forth more that one person should on whether or not I should get that thing. I was trying my best not to spend extra money, and so I decided to pass. Then, post Christmas, I went into Target just to see what was on clearance and see if they had any Valentine’s day stuff out yet and what did I see? That same bar cart, the very last one, was on clearance for 50% off! Between that and my red card discount, I ended up snagging the cart for $61. Super score!

So I brought the cart home with me and immediately began styling it. I searched Pinterest for ideas and used what I had to create a fun Valentine’s day bar cart complete with both booze and treats. Because what goes better with a cocktail than candy?!

Styling a bar cart is really no different than styling a shelf or a mantel. You need layers and varying heights to create visual appeal. I began with my placement of my bar cart. I already had this piece of DIY art hanging up in the corner of my dining room and of course a bar cart goes perfectly in a dining room, so it was a natural spot to put it. I love the way the gold and wood of the bar cart looks against the gold and teal of the art, don’t you?

And since I was trying to go for a Valentine’s feel, I added several pieces that I surprisingly picked up in the Target dollar spot. These include the amazing hot pink bottomed stemless wine glasses that were 2 for $3 (!), the galvanized looking pink bottomed wine bucket ($3), the XOXO banner ($1), and the two pink lidded jars on the bottom shelf ($3 each) that are filled with heart marshmallows and other heart shaped candy.

Now remember what I said about adding height to your bar cart? Having the bar cart placed in front of this large piece of art helps to elongate the visual impact of the cart, but the cart itself needed a little height variation too. To accomplish this I of course added some bottles of alcohol. I pretty much just used what I already had on hand. These used to be stored in my pantry, but they look much better here! I also added a few faux flowers in an assortment of pretty pinks and oranges to the wine bucket. A few large scale blooms mixed in with the arrangement creates even more visual appeal. You may also see in the photo above that I have my agate slice coasters up there too. Because, agate is everything.

As for the bottom shelf, I decided to fill that with all sorts of treats. I have a few pink and red striped bow boxes that I purchased at TJ Maxx on clearance as well as the two pink lidded candy jars I mentioned earlier. I also put bowls of my Valentine’s day chocolate bark and pink iced donuts down there for a little bit of extra sugar. Because you can never have too much during Valentine’s day. Or any day for that matter!

Now that my bar cart is styled and ready and the rest of my living room and dining room is decorated, it is time to invite some friends over for a little celebration. Oh and if you are eyeing those big crepe paper napkin rings on the table, you should go check out the full tutorial for those in my guest post on Over the Big Moon today.

Or if napkin rings aren’t your thing, why not check out the tutorial for these secret message bowls I have over on the Eighteen25 blog today? Because there is no such thing as too many Valentine’s crafts!