Friday, January 20, 2012

Valentine's Day "LOVE" Decor

Although it seems like we just celebrated the New Year, Valentine's Day is just around the corner.  I have decided to begin to get ready by putting together some decorations.  I had so much fun wandering through Craft Warehouse last weekend finding various items that I could pull together!  Here is what I came up with:



To replicate this, here is what you will need:

1 unfinished wood frame (6 3/4" x 20") w/ pop-out wood tile (see left side)
1 wooden heart
4 mini clothespins
7 sheets of assorted paper (I used the Echo Park "Yours Truly" collection)
"Love" vinyl
Black ribbon (54")
Pink acrylic paint
Black acrylic paint
Varnish
Pink glitter
Mod Podge
Paintbrush/dish
Foam brush
Hot glue gun


The first step is to paint the frame, heart and clothespins.  I used pink acrylic paint for the main frame, and the black acrylic paint for the heart, clothespins, and edges of the wood tile.  On the main frame, I would start with the inner edge, then move to the front side.  Do not worry about paint the outer edge, as you will be covering that later with the ribbon.



It will probably take 2 coats of the pink paint, and 3 of the black to cover adequately.  A couple notes - I painted the sides of the heart and covered all sides of the clothespins.  You can paint as much or little as you want.  While the paint dries, you should cut the paper to the following sizes:

*4 pieces 5" x 3" (for the letters)
*1 piece 5 1/2" x 5" (far left section of frame)
        --you will also need to cut a 3 1/8" x 3 5/8" square, centered vertically,
           from the right side of this square in order to fit it around the pop-out
           tile)
*1 piece 5 1/2" x 12" (right section of frame)
*1 piece 5 1/2" x 1 5/8" (to complete right section)
*1 piece 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" (pop-out tile)

Next, you can apply the vinyl letters to the appropriate pieces of paper (follow the application instructions that came with your vinyl).


The heart is probably my favorite part of this project! Once the black paint has dried, use the foam brush to apply a very thin layer of Mod Podge (if you haven't worked with Mod Podge before, a little bit goes a long way!).  Then, cover the heart generously with pink glitter.  You can then shake off any excess glitter onto a sheet of paper, and add it back to the bottle.


At this point, you should be ready to assemble what you have done so far.  First, apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the inside of the frame and attach the background paper.  Remember - thin layer - using too much will cause the paper to bubble.  Use the same technique to apply the square to the pop-out tile.  Once you have glued down all the background paper, you can also use the Mod Podge to attach the heart to the pop-out tile.  At this point, your project should look something like this:



The last two steps you will need your hot glue gun, or some other strong adhesive.  Starting with the bottom outer edge of the frame, apply a small amount of glue and press on one end of the ribbon.  If you are using a hot glue gun, it should only take a few seconds to hold.  Apply addition dots of glue every 2-3 inches, pulling the ribbon tight before attaching.  Once you have gone all the way around the frame, place a final dot of glue on the end you started with to attach the end of the ribbon.  You will probably have a couple inches of ribbon left over, so just cut off any excess.



Finally, you are ready for the final step.  Clip the clothespins onto the letters and space the letters out how you want them along the frame.  Put a small amount of glue on the back of each clothespin and attach it to the frame.  Here are a couple more pictures of the final product:


I hope you had as much fun pulling this together as I did.  Feel free to apply your own twist and personality - I would love to see what you come up with!

Go check out "14 Days of Love" at Cherished Bliss for other great Valentine's Day ideas.
Cherished Bliss

2 comments:

  1. SUPER CUTE!!! AMAZING! This turned out FABULOUS! Thanks for sharing at my party!!! Happy Valentine's Day!!! XO, Aimee

    I'm your newest follower!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Aimee!! There were SO MANY great posts on your party!

    ReplyDelete

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