Decoupaged Cardboard Heart
Valentine's Day is on the way! Isn't it nice to have a holiday every now and then to decorate for?
Do you decorate for Valentine's Day? Truth be told, I decorate a little, mostly with the projects I'm making for all of you!
My husband's and my anniversary are just a couple of days before Valentine's Day, so it just makes sense to have hearts around!
This project is using a transfer paper I found online. I'm using cardboard because it's cheap and the transfer paper because it's beautiful!
Take a look...
I bought this pretty paper online, you can also use the top sheet of a pretty napkin. I bought it in black and white and red and white. According to the website if you wet the transfer paper it will transfer the design to a surface but I had better luck using it this way.
As you're reading through this post please pay attention to the bold blue links that will take you to more information and the products I used for this project. Also the READ MORE sections will take you to related Homeroad projects.
I began this project by making a heart and tracing it onto thick cardboard from a box. My heart is about 7" wide.
I traced the heart and cut out 2 the same size from the cardboard so I could glue them together and double the thickness of my heart.
I glued and clipped them together to dry. The clips, by the way, come from the Dollar Tree!
Once the glue dried, I sanded the edges with a small craft sander to be sure that both layers were the same size.
The next step is to paint the cardboard heart with white craft paint. This will give the cardboard a lighter background for the transfer paper.
When the paint was dry, I coated the heart with white school glue and let it dry. I find that inexpensive school glue works just as well as Mod Podge for this project.
Next, when the glue was dry I laid out the transfer paper, good side up onto the heart.
I placed a piece of parchment paper over the transfer paper then ironed it with a small craft iron.
The decorative transfer paper stuck to the heart beautifully! I used a small craft sander to sand off the edges of the decorative paper.
That's almost it!
Lastly, I used a soft brush and a brown ink pad to add antiquing around the edges of the heart.
I made two holes in the top of the heart with an awl and used rebar wire to create a hanger for the heart. This link will take you to a lifetime's worth of rebar wire!
Please pin for later --->>
It is the perfect decoration to hang in a wreath for Valentine's Day.
Or hang it for a hook like I did on my newly finished board and batten kitchen accent wall.
READ MORE: VALENTINE'S DAY PROJECTS
This is an easy project that can be adapted to almost any shape or surface. The I love you sign was also from Dollar Tree this year.
I hope you enjoyed this project and will sign up for the Homeroad emails so my next DIY tutorial will go out straight to you!
