• The first thing to do is draw the heart on your foam core board. I used an old piece of foam core that I had used previously as a sign.

•  Use an exacto knife to cut the heart out of the foam core. It does not need to be perfectly smooth.
• Take your newspaper and rip a couple pages into strips. I used the notice section of the newspaper that has smaller print.

• Lay the newspaper out over the heart to see where you want to place the strips.
• Use Mod Podge to attach the newspaper to the foam core board. I applied a coat to the entire heart and then laid the pieces of newspaper on top of the mod podge. I did several layers for a more layered look. Don’t be afraid if the newspaper gets a little wrinkled, this adds character to the project.

• Once you have the newspaper applied to the heart, put another layer of Mod Podge over the top and let it dry.

• Then take the tan ribbon and measure around the edges of your heart. Cut the ribbon a little longer than what you think you will need. Use a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon to the edges of the foam board.

 

• Cut your burlap into 4 inch strips. Then attach the burlap to the back of the foam board heart. Start at the side of one of the curves of the heart. Apply a glue small strip of glue along the outside of the heart, lay the edge of the burlap on the glue and every 2 inches or so make a fold and glue it down so that the burlap border looks gathered. When you come to the end of the first piece of burlap, attach it to the second with your glue gun by making a seam, facing toward you and hide it in one of the folds.

• Turn the heart back over so the front is facing up. Take one of the brown coffee filers and scrunch it up from the middle, pulling the middle down and flattering it at the bottom so the top of the coffee filter looks like a flower. Apply the first coffee filter to the place where you want the point of your heart to be. Then apply the other coffee filter flowers to the board, placing a dot of glue on the board and pushing down on the base of the flower. Keep the coffee filters close together with no gaps. Make your heart as big as you like.

• When you are done making the coffee filter heart, apply the ribbon to the back of the foam core board.

• Place three dots of glue on each side of the top and put one edge of each of the three ribbons on the glue. The brown tan ribbon goes in the middle.

The post Burlap and Coffee Filter Valentine! appeared first on Tatertots and Jello.

I am really happy with my kind of industrial Heart and Bow Valentine Wall Hanging. I think it’s fun and different

Here’s how to make it:

• 1 dowel rod (I suggest 1/2 inch, although you could use 5/8 or 3/4)
• 1 length of Galvanized ducting (it’s the flat aluminum thing with the sides folded over, like this one at Lowe’s). Mine was about 60 inches long.

• Small scrap pieces of galvanized metal (I always have some left over from past projects like the Lighted Marquee Heart – like this roll of galvanized steel flashing.)
• Festive decor items like my heart garland
• Misc. tools and supplies like glue, tin snips, gloves, hacksaw, drill, etc.
• Large round can, cookie jar, or the like
• Ribbon or other way to hang the heart
• Bonus: if you have a rivet tool, it will make one step a bit easier. You probably don’t unless you’ve had to do a lot of duct work.

Here’s what to do:

Put your gloves on. Galvanized metal can cut your hands.

Shaping the heart is the hardest part, so let’s do it first. I chose the galvanized duct join because it’s folded over on itself (like a flattened paper clip), which adds enough strength for the heart to stay in the proper shape. If we had used regular galvanized aluminum it wouldn’t have enough strength to stay in place. (I envy those with a supply of barrel straps and the equipment to shape them properly!)

First, fold the heart in half to create the 90-degree bend at the bottom of the heart. You don’t have to fold it past 90 degrees. Next, you’ll start the bend in the heart about halfway up each side – I left 14 inches of straight before I started bending the curves. And this is where it gets a bit frustrating — again, because the metal is folded on itself, it does not want to bend into a smooth curve. Just do your best. Find a can, pot, or other round object you can bend the metal around and make the best curve you can. Leave about 2 to 3 inches in the middle to connect each side of the heart together.

Once you’re done cursing the bending process, you can join the two halves of the heart with a strong glue or with rivets — we happened to have a rivet gun from duct work at the 1905 cottage, so we used a couple of rivets.

Adding the arrow shaft is the next step. Lay the dowel rod on the top of your newly shaped heart and position it where you like. Mark the spots where you want it to go through the heart. You can use a metal punch (or an awl) and tin snips to make the hole. In my case, I just used a big drill bit and pushed hard. Ideally you want a hole that’s just the same size as the dowel.

Before you insert the dowel, trim it to size. Again, lay the dowel rod on top of your heart and estimate how long you want it to be on each side. Using whatever saw is handy — a hacksaw, a miter saw — cut the dowel to size. I then used a hacksaw to make a small (1/4-inch deep) groove in each end of the dowel. Make sure your grooves are at the same angle so your arrowhead and feathers will be flat.

Insert the dowel. If it slides around in the heart, use a dab of glue – hot glue will do — to hold it in place on both sides.

Cut the arrowhead and the feathers. You still have your gloves on, don’t you? This is where you can be artistic.

As you can see on the left above, I used a paper cutter to trim the arrowhead to about the right size — it’s just a triangle. I made a little sketch of what I thought the feathers should look like, then did my best to cut that shape using tin snips (center and right, above).

Attach the arrowhead and feathers and hold in place with a dab of glue each.

Add your embellishments and the hanging ribbon – and you’re done!

And I love the way it looks along with my Red and White Mantel: 

And be sure to grab these free Red and White Heart Printables too!! 

Do you decorate for Valentine’s Day?? 

Share YOUR ideas in the comments.

I would love to come over and see what YOU have made!

Have a Beautiful day!! 

xoxo

The post Create a Valentine Heart and Arrow Aluminum Wall Hanging! appeared first on Tatertots and Jello.

I’m thrilled to be guest posting on Tatertots and Jello today – a BIG thank you to Jen! Today, I’m going to show you how I created an easy, fun, and festive Valentine’s wreath with a favorite of mine – paint chip samples. Before we begin though, let me introduce myself.

I’m Jenna, Interior Designer and Design Blogger of SAS Interiors.

SAS Interiors is a hybrid site for my Interior Design business and my creative design blog. It’s filled with DIY projects ranging from super easy to more involved creations. One of my all-time favorite DIY transformations is my reupholstered desk chair…

I also share decorating tips and ideas, like how I styled my newly painted laminate bookcases…

I’m always striving to inspire (and get organized). I’m off to a good start this year so far with my newly revamped Family Central Command Center.

But now, it’s time for me to show you how I created this beautiful wreath for Valentine’s Day.

The supplies I used for this wreath creation were:

• Grapevine wreath ( I got mine on sale at AC Moore for $2.50)
• Eucalyptus leaves
• White spray paint (I used a gloss finish)
• Paint chip samples in an array of pinks and reds
• Hot glue gun
• A heart punch or scissors to manually cut out hearts

I started off by creating the flowers.

Using paint chip samples in a range of colors from pinks to reds to purple, and a 1.5″ heart-shaped hole punch, I cut out about 40 hearts. I got this decorative paper punch at AC Moore for less than $10, but as an alternative, you could cut hearts out with plain ole’ “old school” scissors. The hearts may not result as exact, but the idea is still the same.

Then I cut a piece of felt about 3″ round (any heavier material will work as well), laid out 6 hearts around the outer edge, and secured them with a nice-sized dab of hot glue.

Then for the inner hearts, I curled the top edge using a pencil to create the look of a flower.

I layered (4) ‘curled’ hearts in the center, on top of the outer edge of hearts. To complete each flower creation, I added a small 3 dimensional piece of paint chip for the center of the “flower”.

After making a few more flowers of different sizes (they don’t all have to be this large size – differing sizes make it more interesting), I added them to the wreath. Having the back of the flowers on felt, allows the ease of adding them to the wreath. With a dab of hot glue, I attached the felt-backed flowers to the wreath. Once Valentine’s Day is over, the flowers can easily be removed from the wreath, and different embellishments can be added for other holidays or occasions.

This wreath truly was a joy to create and took only about an hour to make (I add the eucalyptus & spray painted the wreath Day 1 which took about 15 minutes, then made the flowers and attached them Day 2 which took about 30 minutes).

This festive Valentine wreath would be great hanging on a front door or inside the home. I have it above my fireplace – it’s the perfect centerpiece above my mantel.

Super cute, right?!

Thanks so much for letting me share a new project with you today! I hope you enjoyed it and were inspired to create one of your own.

And a big thanks to Jen for inviting me to Tatertots and Jello for the day!

If you’d like to connect with me and see more of my DIY, decorating, and interior design ideas, visit me at SAS Interiors, as well Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

* * * * *

Thanks, Jenna!

I love Jenna’s design sense, and her projects are amazing!

She already highlighted one of my favorite of her projects — the Chalkboard Command Center (I even highlighted it again last weekend!).

Her blog is chock-full of great advice on  not just specific projects, but also on how to approach decorating rooms, tackling remodeling projects, and so on,

like these:

Creating an Ideal Home Office

and

Creating a Well-Styled Table Vingnette

and

How to Paint Molding!

You’ll also find inspiring decorating projects, like the great ones she featured at the beginning of this post, and:

 This DIY Pallet Picture Holder

 (One of the things I like best about her projects is that she provides tips about how to build the project. In this post, for example, she tells you how she rebuilt the pallet — and what the easiest way to rebuild them is!)

And this great idea for turning your garage entry door into a kids’ art display!

* * * * *

Head over to SAS Interiors and see all of Jenna’s amazing ideas!

xoxo

The post Valentine Wreath with Paint Chip Flowers! appeared first on Tatertots and Jello.