clay valentines

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and this time of year I love finding unique ways to create all things hearts! A fun alternative to making paper valentines is actually using oven bake clay.

I started by sculpting little hearts out of polymer clay.

I used tooth picks to create arrows for my hearts so I pushed the tooth pick through each heart.

Next, I baked the clay hearts (according to the directions on the package).

Once the hearts cooled, I use permanent pens to doodle all over them! 

  

And last, I transformed those tooth picks into arrows by adding some paper details.

There you have it! Cute hearts that make a great little Valentine's Day gift!

wire hearts

There are truly hundreds of ways to get creative with wire and recently my mom came up the sweetest way to transform wire into hearts. I love this idea because it is so darn simple and a perfect little project for any time of year!

1. Start with floral wire. We used 24 gauge steel wire. Gather 4 pieces together. The length of the pieces of wire will depend on how big you want. Heart above measured around 11". 

2. Next, twist the wire into one inch sections all the way down. 

3. Open up each of the one inch sections until you have something that resembles a chain.

4. Bend into a heart.

Hang hearts on the wall, on a door knob, glue to a blank card, slip into an envelope, create a garland! The ideas are endless!

I've shared lots of valentine tutorials and projects over the years that have likely gotten lost in my archives! So here are some of my favorite heart themed projects:

1. valentine cards 2. valentine arm warmers 3. homemade marshmallows 4. award ribbon valentines 5. valentine stones 6. healed hearts 7. altered candy box 8. put a heart on it 9. rustic valentines 10. heart branches

rustic valentines

If you are a regular around here you will know that I love using simple supplies in my projects and I love using anything from nature (especially branches). So I decided to put a fun and rustic twist on traditional valentines!

1. I started by gathering branches and cut them into chunky sections. 2. Next I carved the bark away. 3, 4. Then I used my wood burning tool to burn designs into the wood.

5. I used recycled grocery bags and cut hearts out. 6. I added a a few embellishments with a white paint pen. 7. Last I glued those hearts onto twigs and placed them into the branches.