Valentine’s day is almost upon us and it got my creativity ramped up as I wanted to make some unique Valentine’s door hanger. It had to be a versatile design that could be hung on the front door, back door, on a wall, you name it. It could not be a cookie-cutter Valentine’s day door hanger with a cupid, arrow or red teddy. Just something a little bit different. Something a little feminine, long lasting (ie could be left up through spring) and convey the message of love.
The creative process…
I know of no better way to say “love” than with a heart shape. I scanned through Pinterest, Instagram, etc., for inspiration but I was not coming up with a thing.
Then I thought about some of the projects I enjoyed doing the most and what all of you loved and the vision sprang to life.
You all have loved simple paint effects. Check mark!!! I could create something like that.
You also fell head over heals in love with my cherry blossom 3d painting I did last year – click here if you want to see it. Check mark!!! I could incorporate that too!
A heart, flowers, easy to do and a pretty paint effect…VOILA…an idea came to mind.
So let’s get started…
MATERIALS FOR VALENTINE’S DOOR HANGER
- Wood heart (you could probably find one in the craft section at Michaels, the Dollar Store, Dollar Tree, other craft stores or get someone handy to make you one like I did)
- Pink acrylic paint (I used DecoArt Americana Cotton Candy)
- White acrylic paint
- Purple acrylic paint (I used Mont Marte Purple Metallic)
- FolkArt Metallic acrylic paint (Pure Gold)
- An assortment of pink and white faux flowers
- Pink satin ribbon
- Sponge brush
- Round paint brush (one that has been well used)
- Wire cutter
- Hot Glue gun & glue sticks
- Scissors
MAKING THE HEART
If you found a wood heart at a store or had one, skip down to Step 3 – Paint the heart.
Step 1 – Selecting a heart shape
The first step when you are making a wood heart the first thing you need to do is pick a heart shape you like. I simply took a piece of paper folded it in half and drew a heart shape on the one half. Cut it out and gave it to my husband to cut it out in wood.
If you do not want to free hand it, then select a shape on your computer and print it out on a piece of paper. Cut the heart out.
Then place it on top of the wood and trace around it.
While the pictures in this section show a heart with the middle cut out, we will be using a solid heart for this project which you will see once you get to Step 3.
Step 2 – Cutting the wood
Cut the wood out with a jigsaw.
Then sand the edges with a sander.
Next hand sand the edges so the edges are not sharp.
Drill two holes at the top of either side of the heart.
Step 3 – Paint the heart
Paint the entire heart including the edges with pink acrylic paint. Leave to dry completely.
If you are hanging the heart on a french door or on a window, paint the back as well so that it is nicely finished.
You may need two coats of paint to get full coverage.
With a round brush, place your brush into water and then take off excess water by placing on a paper towel. Then lightly tap the brush into the white paint and then dab it onto the heart. If it looks like solid paint, place the brush into water again, lightly tap off and then dilute the white paint with water on the brush so that the white paint blurs. Basically it is going to create a cloudy effect over the paint paint.
Do not cover too much of the pink. Think of a summer sky with clouds floating by and place watered down white in some areas and not in others.
Let dry.
Next, follow the same process with the purple paint. I place the purple paint a little more heavily at the bottom of the heart and less as I progressed up the heart. I also put it in the areas where there was mostly just pink so that it wasn’t covering up the white too much.
Let dry.
Next, follow the process above with the gold paint. You will use even less of the gold paint and it will just be a light wash in some areas to create some sparkle.
Let dry.
I should mention that if pink isn’t a color you like you could always use different colors like red, purple or even just shades of white, cream and gold.
Step 4 – Applying flowers
You can apply the flowers in whatever pattern you like, but I chose to run them up from the bottom and off to the left side and then wrap slightly down into the middle.
My suggestion is to play with the flowers and place them into a pattern that is appealing to you. You will only need the heads of the flowers you are using so using your wire cutter clip off the stems and this will be easier to see how they will look as they will lay flat.
The first thing to do is to place your largest flower in the center most part of where you want the flowers to go.
Then work outwards from there. Once you are getting a nice design, you should start gluing down so that they don’t move around. I glued mine directly to the wood because my flowers were so big. If your flowers are smaller, you could achieve depth by first gluing a foam piece on in the central area and then inserting the flowers into the foam.
Make sure to have flowers curling around the edge of the heart.
Also, tuck a few smaller ones, like buds poking out from the rest.
A few pieces of greenery are nice to have working out on to the wood.
Once you have the biggest flowers in place and glued down, now is the time to come back in and fill in with the smallest flowers and small pieces of greenery.
Step 5 – String ribbon
If you are hanging this on a door, measure from where the ribbon will hang from and to where you want the heart to sit. Add 6 inches to it and then double it and cut two identical pieces of ribbon that length.
I will be hanging mine in a variety of spots to I made the ribbon very long so that I could change it up.
Next take one of the pieces of ribbon and thread it through one of the holes on the heart. Make sure the good side is showing.
Repeat with the other side.
Bring the ribbon up from either side to meet in the middle up as high as the ribbon reaches. Make sure the heart is level. Then tie a not in the ribbon.
Step 6 – Optional bow
Not everyone loves bows but if you do, the long droopy ones are really in style.
Simply cut a very long piece of ribbon (mine was 3 feet) and tie it up by the knotted ribbon and tie into a bow. The pull the loops of the bow so that they are quite long and droopy. Make sure the tails are at least two times longer than the bow.
If making bows isn’t your thing, consider using a bow maker.
Options to a satin ribbon like I used would be a pretty piece of fabric cut into strips and then tied into a bow. If you were going with a different paint theme you could always use burlap ribbons if it is a more casual or rustic style heart.
Step 7 – Optional message
While I did not do this, you could always paint a message on the right side of the heart like “Love you” or “XOXO”. If you aren’t comfortable free handing it you could always use vinyl stencils. These two options would be a great way to make sure your loved ones know this door hanger is just for them!
ENJOY!!!
This project turned out so well due to the denseness of the flowers, the beautiful paint finish and the fact that it isn’t your regular heart door hanger made of red hearts or other typical Valentine decorations.
THANK YOU
I hope you enjoyed making this Valentine’s door hanger. It certainly is an alternative to a Valentine’s day wreath but I think it is the perfect way to show people you love them. If you are living alone, then it is the perfect way to show yourself that you do indeed love yourself and want to make your surrounding areas beautiful and filled with love.
Happy crafting!
SHOP THE POST
Below are photos of some of the items used in this project, along with some cute Valentine’s home decor. Simply click on the photo and you will be redirected to a link for the product. Should you decide to purchase any of these items, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Earning this commission helps me provide content to you free of charge and I am so very grateful for your support. Thank you!
LOOKING FOR MORE INSPIRATION?
How about this sweet old window? Click here for all the details.
Or how about all sorts of Valentine’s day decor ideas? Click here for all the details.
