Valentine’s Day – are you in the “love it” or “leave it” camp when it comes to this holiday?  As you can guess, I’m on the side of “love it,” because it’s such a cute holiday!  Because of that, I wanted to share a quick and adorable Valentine’s Day craft that you can make for yourself or to give away as a sweet gift.  These Easy DIY Scrap Wood Valentines are a great way to use up any wood scraps you have stashed, or are very inexpensive to make with craft wood from the store!  

Plus, you can customize this project to match your own personal taste, so you don’t have to make yours quite as “rustic” as mine!

Supplies Needed for Scrap Wood Valentines

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• This music sheet (download the 760 px option and print it on cardstock like what’s linked below)
• Scrap wood in size of your choice OR pre-cut wood just like this
• Plain cream or white cardstock
• Permanent double-sided tape
• Clear drying glue that’s suitable for use on wood
• Glitter (I used red and silver)
• Matte Acrylic or Chalky Finish Paint (I used this kind in Romance (red), Relic (dark gray), and Primitive (cream))
• Chip brush
• Letter stamp set
• Scissors
• Pencil
• OPTIONAL: stain or stain wipes (and disposable gloves)

Instructions for Making Scrap Wood Valentines

The first step of this project is optional, but if you’d like, you can stain your wood piece prior to painting it.  I stained my wood so that I could give it a distressed look with some of the stained finish peeking through the paint.  I used my favorite stain wipes for this part because the stain dries quickly and is odorless!

After the stain dried, I dry brushed chalky finish paint onto the wood blocks.  I did a streaky application so that the stained finish would show through in parts.  

While the paint dried, I printed out this sheet music onto a piece of cardstock.  (Tip: the New York library has digitized thousands of publications within the public domain and made them available for free!  That’s where I found this sheet music.)  Then I drew a hearts on parts of the lyrics that talk about love and all that good stuff, and cut them out.  

Next, I attached double-sided permanent tape to the back of the hearts, and pressed them onto my wood blocks.  

I then used letter stamps to put some sentimental sayings onto the blocks with paint.  I made my lettering a bit uneven to give an imperfect and rustic look, but you can definitely make yours look more refined!  

Once that paint dried, I outlined the paper hearts with glue, and sprinkled glitter onto that.  Even though I was going for a rustic look on these wood scrap valentines, I had to add a little sparkle.  That’s just me. 

And that is all it takes to make these adorable scrap wood valentines that you can display in your home throughout the holiday, or give to a friend as a special little gift.  So sweet, right?!?  

I made this project on FB Live, too, so check out the video!

And, if you’re looking for some other Valentine’s Day project ideas, check out my Holidays Project Gallery!

-Bre

You May Also Like this DIY Modern Metal Wreath Project!  

Hey friends- Thanks for your love on my DIY American Girl Doll Bed that I made for the Monthly DIY Challenge earlier this week.  I had so much fun with my first “real” building project and I’m glad you liked it, too!  Now, since Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, I wanted to share my version of a Valentine with YOU; it’s a free printable that’s available in two color combos, and honestly, I think you could display it all year!

I got the idea for this print the other day when I picked up my son from preschool.  His teacher said to me, “I saw you walking into Target the other day and you had the biggest smile on your face.  I could tell you were going to your happy place.”  HA!  It’s totally the truth.  I looooooove Target and regularly find excuses to go there.  (On that particular day, my son needed a new set of Pokemon cards (I made him pay for them himself, by the way), so we really needed to get over there.)

And let’s be honest, I am not the only one who feels this way about Target.  Most women I know share this affection for the big box retailer in red.  I bet you’re one of them.  So download a copy of this All You Need is Love 8×10 printable in the color combo of your choice, print it at home or at your local print shop, pop in a frame and enjoy!

This would be a fun gift to give your girlfriends for Valentine’s Day, too!  Just click here to download:

Black & White Print

Pink & Red Print

These prints are for personal use only, please!  I hope you enjoy them!  Please “pin” to share the love!

Love and Target; what more could a girl need?

Happy Valentine’s Day, friends!

Bre

Paper mache boxes are a craft store staple.  I see them all the time yet I never buy them – mainly because I never know what to do with them.  But last week my kids and I took a field trip to Hobby Lobby (it was a field trip because it was SO FAR AWAY), and three paper mache heart boxes found their way into my shopping cart (thanks, kids).  

They’re pretty cute so I decided to embellish them a bit and make them look a little more festive for Valentine’s Day.  With some hot glue, paint, and scrapbook paper, I gave them a total facelift!  

Now they’re cute little containers perfect for giving to anyone sweet!

Supplies Needed to Make Paper Mache Heart Boxes

Some of these links are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission at no added cost to you if you purchase through them.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.

• Paper mache heart box
• Hot glue and glue gun
• Acrylic paint or chalk paint in colors of your choice
• Paintbrush
• Pencil
• Dark brown wax
• Metallic creme wax in rose gold
• Paper towel
• Scrapbook paper
• Scissors

Directions for How to Make Paper Mache Heart Boxes

These paper mache boxes are so simple to make!  I started by drawing designs on the box tops with a pencil.  

Next, I fired up the trusty old glue gun and covered those designs in glue.  This was a little tricky because, as you know, hot glue gets all stringy.  It was a difficult to get the designs not to look like one big connected heap of hot glue, but by working slowly it went okay.  

After the hot glue completely hardened, I painted each of the boxes with chalky finish paint. 

They looked pretty basic though, and the designs did not really show up all that well, so I took some dark brown wax and brushed it all over.  I made sure to brush it on roughly and really focus on the hot glue designs to add some dimension to the boxes.  This also muted the colors, which I was happy about!

Finally, I decided to really make the hot glue designs pop by highlighting them with metallic wax!  I rubbed a little on a paper towel and passed over the designs.  This really helped them stand out!  

Finally, I traced the bottom of each heart onto some cute scrapbook paper.  I cut the hearts out and laid them inside of each box.  This way there’s a cute little surprise inside each box when it’s opened.  

Fill these babies with some candy and you’ve got a cute little gift for someone special!  

I saw some paper mache heart boxes just like these in the Dollar Spot at Target, too, so keep your eyes out for them!  The possibilities are endless for how to decorate these, but I do really like the vintage look mine have!  

Well now I need to go eat some of these candy hearts from the photos.  It’s the right thing to do . . . I wouldn’t want my kids’ teeth to rot from eating them.

-Bre

You May Also Like This Valentine’s Day Post!  

It’s the second Wednesday of the month, so it’s time for the Monthly DIY Challenge!  It’s the first one of the year – woo hoo!  This month some of my best blogging buds and I are all sharing projects based around a crafting, decor, and organizing staple – chalkboards!  

You’ll find links to all of my friends’ projects at the bottom of this post, but first let me show you my DIY Valentine’s Day Chalkboard!  It’s a super cute way to leave little love notes for anyone who might see your chalkboard!

Supplies Needed for a DIY Valentine’s Day Chalkboard

This post contains affiliate links, which means that I earn a small commission at no added cost to you if you purchase through them.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.

• Craft wood heart cutout
• Red acrylic paint
• Clear chalkboard coating
• Foam brushes
• Chalk
• Optional: white paint marker, scrapbook paper, scissors, and twine

How to Make a DIY Valentine’s Day Chalkboard

In just a short amount of time, you can turn pretty much ANY surface into ANY color chalkboard – just like this fun red Valentine’s Day chalkboard I made for my home!  

First you’ll paint your wooden heart with acrylic paint.  Once it’s dry, add any painted embellishments with a paint pen.  I used a white paint pen to make little dashes around the outer edge of the heart.

After everything was fully dried, I painted on two coats of clear chalkboard coating, making sure to follow the directions on the bottle for dry time, etc.  This stuff is awesome because you can turn pretty much any painted surface into a chalkboard, without having to buy all different colors of chalkboard paint!

I let the chalkboard coating dry for several days, and then I “seasoned” my new chalkboard.  Seasoning a chalkboard is basically just rubbing a piece of chalk all over it and making a mess, which you promptly wipe off.  You do this to make sure the surface is ready to use and to prevent words/art from showing on the chalkboard even once they’ve been erased.

Next, I cut out a scrapbook paper “X” and “O,” and attached them to the top of my new chalkboard with twine.  Then I wrote a sweet little something on my chalkboard, tossed some chalk hearts on there, and washed my hands.  I actually despise chalk.  🙂  

So yeah, I might not be changing my chalkboard’s message anytime soon, but if I do, I’ll just wipe it off like a regular chalkboard!  The clear chalkboard coating really works.  

If you liked this project, please remember to “pin it” to share the love!  

And now that you’ve seen my chalkboard project for the Monthly DIY Challenge, please pay a visit to my friends’ fantastic chalkboard projects, too!  I know they’d love to have you stop by.