heartornaments.pdf      

I guess this idea came to me almost 10 years ago when my little boy was just born and my daughter was still interested in doing fun crafts with Mom!  We had recently moved into a three story home with a fabulous staircase and I was looking for a pretty way to decorate it for Valentine’s Day.

As most craft projects begin, I went to my local craft store to see what was available and found unpainted wooden hearts!  Eureka! A marvelous craft project was born. 

If you’d like to try this in your home, just print out the materials and instructions and get busy!!

Materials List:

• Wooden or cardboard hearts
• Light sandpaper
• Craft paint
• Small craft brushes
• Paint pens
• Glitter, sequins, etc. if desired
• Paper towels to protect the surface
• Drill and drill bit
• Co-coordinating ribbon

Instructions:
1) If you are using wooden hearts, you may want to drill the hole in the top first and soften any rough edges with a bit of light sandpaper. The cardboard hearts I found came with ribbons already attached.

 
2) Paint both sides of your heart in one of your favorite Valentine’s Day shades!  I used a combination of red, pink, lavender and white so all of the hearts would co-ordinate with each other.

3) Paint pens come in handy if you want to write someone’s name or add any intricate details.  We painted our entire family’s names, our pets and babysitters too.  It’s been nice to remember pets who have passed and friends who have moved along the way.

4) The last step is to add the ribbon so you can hang your valentine hearts.

We don’t live in the house with the wonderful staircase any more, so in our last home, I hung the hearts from red berry garland across my fireplace.  One year I even pinned the garland around a large doorway opening and tied the hearts there.  You know how it is, if there is a will, there is a way!!

I am just about ready to set this project up for Cameron.  At 9 he can be pretty neat at painting and he is very creative.  It will be a nice couple of hours of quality time together that keeps him away from TV, video games, and Legos!!  Enjoy!

Shari

 
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