Framed Hardware Heart
This project began with a photo my friend posted on her Facebook page. It was a tray of hearts all made from random pieces of hardware.
I loved it and decided I needed to give it a try... with a little encouragement from my friend. Challenge accepted!
I went straight to my basement workshop to see what I could use and how this was even possible.
It was!
Take a look...
The first thing I needed to figure out was how the hardware in the inspiration photo was stuck together. I have plenty of random pieces of hardware but I wasn't sure how they stuck all those pieces together.
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 decided that something metal might be the answer so I grabbed a piece of aluminum foil. I drew a heart on the foil with marker.
I gathered a drawer full of hardware pieces.... hooks, nuts, washers, screws, and a whole bunch of things I had no idea what they were.
I coated the inside of the heart with E6000 glue and began filling the heart with hardware.
I let it dry overnight. My first thought was that the E6000 along with the hardware would peel right off the foil but it did not. The hardware was stuck forever in the foil.
So, I cut out the heart, foil and all.
Now I had a pretty flimsy hardware heart because the foil was thin so I glued the foil heart onto a piece of cardboard then cut it out. It was thin cardboard from a shoe box and it was all I needed to give the hardware heart some stiffness. I used Aileenes clear tacky glue to glue it down, it's good to have in your arsenal for many things.
I needed a hanger for my heart so I glued a washer in the center of the heart.
Now it was time for paint. I used my favorite gold paint, spray painted the heart and let it dry. You can spray paint your heart in any color and you can also get this paint at Michaels with a coupon!
Once the hardware heart was dry I found a small frame from the dollar store and covered the surface with light colored burlap.
The burlap comes in rolls from Michaels in all colors.
I tied a red and white striped ribbon through the washer at the top of the heart.
Lastly, I hot glued the gold heart to the burlap frame.
It's adorable! Challenge completed!
Please pin for later --->>
I still don't know how the hardware in the original inspiration photo was held together but this worked perfectly for what I had in mind.
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