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

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