How Too Make Pink Candy Hearts

Recently I brought some candy melts from Hobbycraft, along with some heart moulds specifically designed to use with the candy melts, some lolly sticks and foil sweet wrappers

The candy melts were something I wasn’t familiar with but thought they would be fun to make with the kids.

The whole concept is really easy. Simply pour the disks of pink candy into a non metallic bowl, melt in the microwave and then spoon into the moulds.

I found that by spooning a small amount of candy into each mould and then banging the mould gently on the work-surface, the candy distributed much easier.

While I was spooning in my last couple of hearts I noticed that those I had already created were already beginning to set. This was great but the melted candy mix in my bowl was also getting hard so I had to melt this in the microwave once more (which the packet states its fine to do).

The instructions didn’t really indicate if these were ok to pop in the freezer but given the mixture was no longer warm I couldn’t see the harm in doing so.

This made the whole process much quicker and within about 30 minutes I was ready to remove these from their moulds.

I had decided that as I was just trying these out for the first time, I’d leave the whole lolly idea for another time.

One thing I must say is how easily these just popped out of the moulds. I didn’t really need to make an effort to remove them. They came out complete with no broken pieces left behind. I did however, have an air bubble or two leaving a small hole in the base of some pieces of my finished candy.

As for the taste test, the kids thought they were ok but didn’t rave about them. Me I really didn’t like the texture nor the taste very much. I kind of expected these to be like lollipop candy but they were more like chocolate. They reminded me of them cheap white mice you used to get in a bag of penny mix.

There are more flavours in the range but I can’t see myself buying these again. They are a nice idea for birthday parties as with the moulds I guess you can create any shape or design of candy you desire but then again you can just melt down everyday chocolate for the same effect.

Its simple, these were not what I was expecting… Lollipop candy this was not!

Disclaimer: I guess this has turned into a bit of a review! Note, I wasn’t paid to write this nor did I receive a free product. The candy melts were an online order, that I paid for myself!!

Mothers Day Crafts – Mum Heart Magnets

I love this craft idea by my 10 year old daughter..,.

Miniature mum magnets, designed to put a smile on any mummy’s face this Mother’s Day.

To make these cute set of three magnets you will need the following…

Plaster
Mini heart moulds
Assortment of acrylic paints
3 Alphabet acrylic beads in the letters (M, U, M)
Round magnets
Mod Podge

Additionally you will require some
Water (to create your plaster)
Old credit card (smooth of plaster)
Fork (to mix plaster)
Paint brushes
Additional brush for mod podge.

To make up you plaster see our last post (click Here) it simply involves just adding water.

Pour plaster into moulds & level of with an old credit card.

Leave to set, you can place in the freezer for a speedier process.

Carefully remove hearts from the silicone moulds.

Alice then used a range of different paints to decorate her 3 hearts.

Once your paint is dry cover in a coat of mod podge and secure one of each of your beads to the centre of each heart.

Once dry add a second coat of mod podge.

Stick your magnets to the back of each heart.

Now place on the fridge.

There are many ways to give these magnets an element of surprise.

Check out what Alice did for me!

Miniature String Hearts And Magnets

I love hearts and have lots of pretty hanging hearts (shabby chic style) around the home. Today I’ve decided to make my own string hearts & some mini magnets out of plaster.

Here’s what you’ll need to make these.

Bag of plaster
Small heart silicone moulds
String or twine
Assortment of paints (acrylic)
Round magnets
Mod podge
Porcelain pens (optional)

Tools…
Paint brushes
Old mixing bowl
Something to stir the plaster (I use a fork)
Scissors
Water (for plaster)

First make up your plaster with the water adding the water slowly in till the plaster forms a thick spreadable like paste, then pour it into you heart moulds.

Take your string or twine and place it so the string runs along one row of your hearts. The string should be slightly submerged in the plaster, work quickly as the plaster dries fast. Use a wet paint brush to cover the string in plaster.

Take an old credit card and run it along the hearts taking off excess plaster to create a smooth finish.

Leave to set… Tip: Placing in the freezer makes this a much faster process. Once set, carefully remove the hearts from the silicone moulds.

You should now be left with a string of unpainted hearts plus single hearts that will soon become magnets.

Use your paint brush to paint your hearts in any designs you like. Give two coats as a base for a good strong colour. Leave the hearts to dry for around 25 minutes in between coats.

I gave mine 2 coats of ivory and then added baby pink to detail. I also used a porcelain black pen to add detail to some of my hearts.

Once all the paint is dry, you will then need to give your hearts two coats of mod podge as a finish. Allow about 20-30 minutes drying time between coats.

Once fully dried you can use some mod podge to stick on the round magnets. Self adhesive magnet tape isn’t strong enough for these hearts as they are too heavy.

Hang your string of hearts from a dresser, hook or handle. Place your magnetic hearts on a magnetic notice board or maybe your fridge.

You can decorate your hearts any way you like. Experiment with colours, pastels or bold. I’m currently making some pastel pink hearts for my daughter. I plan to secure some miniature craft pegs to the back of each heart so that it works as a memo or somewhere to display artwork. Given shes very girly we may even add a touch of glitter.

Love to know what you think?

Beautiful Vintage Inspired Cookies

Its Valentines Day tomorrow and if I was sending a special someone a gift I’d send these.

The Cookies are made by the Queen of Hearts Cookie Company. They are homemade and each individual cookie is then decorated by hand in some truly exquisite designs.

I was so lucky to be sent a large box of cookies to try.

Every single small detail has been thoroughly thought out, from the packaging and presentation in which your cookies arrive in, to the actual design of each cookie.

Mine arrived securely packaged to avoid breakages. Within the packaging I discovered a pretty purple box sealed with pretty decorative lace tape.

Inside the box within a covering of tissue paper I found 13 of the most prettiest cookies I’ve ever seen. The sheer prettiness of these made me want to display them on pretty vintage china plates laid out on a country table with strict instructions that these are just for show and no one must eat them! Of course that could never happen in my house not with 3 cookie monsters on the prowl.

Our cookies came in a mixture of shapes and sizes. Within our box there were 4 large hearts, 2 circular flower cookies and 7 small hearts.

The colour pallet chosen is one perfect for the occasion of Valentines.

The small red hearts are stunning with the little gold cherub design, making them truly unique to any other design of cookie I’m yet to see.

I love the black and white flowers that have been so delicately iced and then finished with pretty gold edible beads.

The large hearts below have been covered in a thick layer of black icing making the beautifully piped white lace stand out brilliantly.

The remaining small hearts feature a delicate flower that acts like a corsage for the heart… Very pretty on the eye.

The cookies taste wonderful. They are flavoured with vanilla and are of a wonderful texture.

The Queen of Hearts Cookie Company is ran by Sarah a very talented mother from Lancashire who is passionate about her cookie designs.

It all started with her idea to create her own mother some cookies for Mother’s Day, cookies that were inspired by the vintage china that dressed the tables at her summer wedding.

There are some beautiful cookie designs over on the Queen of Hearts website and it seems there is no design to difficult for this company to achieve. These are true designer cookies that have even been created for celebs. If your looking for cookies for any occasion, whether it be Valentines, birthdays, tea parties or a wedding, then I’d highly recommend you check them out!

Gluten Free diet? Just contact the Queen of Hearts and they will make your cookies Gluten Free.

I know what I’ll be ordering my mum for Mothers Day this year!

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post! I was not paid for writing it but did receive a beautiful box of cookies free of charge in order to share my own honest opinion.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Hearts! A symbolic symbol of love. We hang hearts from a chain, wear them on a jumper and send them on a Valentines card. Me… I cover my house in them! Yes, I love hearts and I have them popping up all over the home.

Recently I discovered that Next had the same ideas as me when it came to hearts in the home. They have a massive selection of heart decor featured on canvas, bedding, lamps, cushions and more besides.

As I browsed I instantly feel for a number of really pretty items and found myself lusting after endless heart themed accessories for the home.

If like me, you like a bit of vintage & shabby chic, you’ll love whats on offer at Next. I couldn’t resists taking a few screen shots of some of my favourites.

Cushions

1) Kirstie Allsopp Heart Applique Cushion £25

2) Hearts Appliqué Cushion £14

3) Heart Love Cushion £14

4) J’adore Heart Cushion £14

I think number 3 is my upmost favourite. This would sit nicely on my bed.

Pictures and Mirrors

1 Heart Landscape Canvas £20

2 Floral Heart Canvas £15

3 Heart Rocco Mirror £125

4 Heart Canvas £10

I adore the mirror, it does have a price tag of £125 but I imagine it looks stunning on the wall and would look great in my hallway. I also really like the heart canvas is and what a steal it is for a tenner!

Lighting…

1 Rattan Heart Stick Table Lamp £60

2 Pink Beaded Heart Wreath £18

3 Pink Heart Line Lights £15

4 Putty Lit Heart £14

Oh so pretty! The heart fairy lights are so girly and would be perfect for my daughters bedroom! Also loving that pink heart for her room too… Really
sweet.

Furniture…

Oh I’m just loving the Heart Photo Screen, its simply stunning

and I’m already saving my pennies for this one.

This Screen cost £99 and holds 27 photos.

Random Homewares

1 Heart Detailed Chalkboard £12

2 Large Wooden Hanging Heart £14

3 White Heart Cake Stand £10

4 Ceramic Heart Wall Plaques £25

5 Pink Sparkle Heart Rug £35

As you can see I was now getting greedy…Its hard not to when there are so many lovely items available?

Above (number 1) is the sweet chalkboard that comes with a little heart chalk easer. I would love to hang this in the kitchen to remind me of important dates and events.

Lastly, staying on the topic of events, its Valentines Day tomorrow, meaning I couldn’t think of a better reason for checking out next and grabbing some heart decor for your home. After all you know what they say? “Home is where the heart is.”

Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post! I was not paid to write this and I did not review the products. I simply thought I’d share the love.

Decopatched Valentines Gifts Made With Mod Podge

As some of you who visit the blog may have already guessed, this girl loves hearts, and what with it coming up to valentines day, its the perfect excuse to get crafty with hearts. Today I’ve decided to make some pretty sweetie jars with matching heart magnets.

The Jar is one I’ve had ready to decorate for some time. I brought a few of them on a bric a brac stall at a bootfair last year.

The hearts are made of paper mâché and already have the magnets attached. They are of a good size and once papered, look amazing on the fridge or a magnetic notice board. These can be brought from Hobbycraft and are available both in store and online.

So for this project I used 2 large heart magnets and 1 jar. (Pairing a jar with a magnet to make a gift set)

Both the gift set and Individual magnet have been decorated differently but were both extremely simple to create.

The first Tutorial is for my Retro Heart Magnet and Jar Gift Set.

You will need…

Medium size jar (the type with a glass stopper lid)

Large sized paper mâché heart magnet (Hobbycraft)

Funky heart Decopatch paper (Hobbycraft)

Ultra fine baby blue glitter

Mod podge (Gloss)

Thick – Satin blue ribbon (Baker Ross)

Bright red ribbon (Thin)

Dark red ribbon (medium thickness)

1 Red & 1 blue self adhesive button (baker Ross)

White acrylic Paint

Sweets or other items to fill jar

Tools…

Craft Knife
Scissors
3 Paint brushes (painting, mod podge, glitter)
Small sponge (to wipe excess mod podge)
Ruler
Pencil

First the heart magnet….

1) Give your heart magnet 2 coats of white acrylic paint as abase. Allow to dry in between coats and be careful not to get any paint on the actual magnet as it may affect how magnetic it is.

2) Take a sheet of your Decopatch paper (comes in a packet of three) and cut in half using a craft knife and ruler fir support. Place one piece aside for your jar. Now with a craft knife and ruler cut paper into squares so that you can easily piece them back together like a jigsaw.

3) With Mod Podge or Decopatch glossy glue get Decopatching. I’ve explain the art of using Decopatch to decorate almost any object or surface in numerous post here before. So, without going into to much detail I’ll explain in brief… Basically cover the heart in mod podge, lay the paper onto the heart and apply another layer of glue over the top. For this project you will want the pattern to be perfect (not all mix match) So join the paper together to form the pattern (like wallpapering).
Tips… Only apply the glue to the area you wish to cover, instead gluing each section as you go therefore avoiding any areas starting to dry and becoming tacky.

If you have small areas in need of covering, then patch them up with small strips of paper.

Now leave to dry.

Note. Decopatch Glossy Glue & Mod Podge (gloss) can both be used as a glue sealer and finish. Both glues dry clear and are both easy to use. I’m using mod podge as its much faster when drying.

4) Once dry add another layer of mod podge and leave it for around 20 minutes to dry.

5) Once dry take the dark red ribbon and run it around the sides of your heart starting at the tip. Cut any excess ribbon and then use the mod podge to add the ribbon to the sides of the heart adding a layer of mod podge over the top of the ribbon too.

Leave to dry for 20 minutes or so.

6) Once dry stick your self adhesive buttons to the front of your heart like so. Now place to one side.

Now for the jar….

7) Bring forward your other half of Decopatch paper and wrap it around your jar. Start around 5 centimetres down from the neck of your jar so that the paper stops 3/4 of the way up leaving a small area unpapered. Only once you are sure its right add mod podge directly to the jar applying the paper as you go. (Apply the paper as a whole by rotating the glass, gluing and papering as you go). You will notice that you have a little excess paper at the bottom of your jar. Don’t worry! This will be removed soon. Now, add a top layer of mod podge over the top of the paper (ignoring the excess paper) and leave to dry for 20 minutes. Once dry add another top layer of mod podge and sit to dry for the same amount of time as before.

8) Once your jar is papered and the mod podge is dry the paper will be stronger and look very glossy. Now use you scissors to remove any excess paper from the bottom of the jar as to tidy it up.

9) apply mod podge around the top section of paper like a boarder. It only needs to be as thick as your thin red ribbon. Wrap the ribbon around the top of the paper and wipe any excess mod podge quickly with a sponge, to avoid it drying. Now apply mod podge over the top of the ribbon again wiping away excess as you go. Leave to dry for around 15 minutes.

10) Now mix some mod podge with lots of the baby blue glitter. Apply this to the inner section of the jar that is still visible. Also apply some around the neck and top rim of your jar. The mod podge will dry clear leaving a crystallised glittery effect. Drying time is longer as the glue is thicker and no paper is applied. Mine took a few hours to dry fully.

11) once dry tie your blue ribbon around the neck of the jar into a pretty bow.

Dried Mod Podge Mixture

12) for the top section of the lid, place the lid face down on some heart Decopatch paper and with a pencil lightly draw around it. Once done carefully cut out the circle with a craft knife. Decopatch your cut out circle to the top of the jar again adding two top layers of mod podge to the top of the paper. Leave to dry for 20 minutes.

13) Fill with Sweets or anything else you like (tea lights, makeup, pamper goodies, cookies) and fit lid.

Now just use some pretty tissue paper to wrap your heart and jar, place in a pretty gift bag ready to give as a gift.

Fabric Flower Power Heart Magnet

You will need…

1 Large paper mâché heart magnet (Hobbycraft)

Some funky flower fabric (enough to cover heart) Mine is from eBay

Medium thick orange ribbon (Baker Ross)

3 Self adhesive buttons that coordinate with your fabric (I used red, yellow, baby blue) from Baker Ross

White acrylic paint

Mod podge

Tools…
2 brushes (for paint and mod podge)
Scissors
Craft Knife
Ruler

1) Paint heart in white paint as before.

2) use a ruler and craft knife to cut fabric into two pieces one 3/4 in size and the other 1/4 in size. Use ruler to support fabric as you cut. Remove any frying.

3) cover 3/4 of your heart in mod podge placing the 3/4 piece of fabric on top at an angle so that only a 1/4 of the heart is left to cover. If fabric comes over the edges trim or just stick down as I have done. Add mod podge to both the heart and the top layer of fabric just as we did the decopatch paper.

4) Mod podge other 1/4 of heart and add the other half piece of fabric joining the pattern. Again add a coat of mod podge to the top layer of fabric working in the same way as the first piece. Leave to dry for around 20-30 minutes.

5) Once dry add the ribbon to the sides of the heart as we did for our retro patterned heart above. Leave to dry for 10-15 minutes.

6) Now stick on your three buttons like so and you’re heart magnet is set to go.

So… There you have it. Some fantastic Valentines handcrafted inspiration.

Have you made anything for Valentines Day?

Upcycle – Shabby Chic Spice Rack & Jars

Now we all know how much I love to find treasure at jumble sales, bootfairs and charity shops. Its become a great little hobby of mine, I must admit.

A few weeks back I discovered a wooden spice rack with 12 cute glass jars, all with horrible wooden lids. Now, this definitely wasn’t the prettiest of spice racks, but somehow I had my shabby specs on & could see past its less than attractive appearance! In fact, this shabby dark rack and its jars were now a vision of beauty within my mine and for just pennies (50 of them to be precise) I just couldn’t walk away without it.

So, the spice rack became another of my vintage finds, one needing a bit of tender loving care! So a plan unravelled in my head. One involving antique creams and bright reds, gingham & spotted hearts. I was gonna transform this spice rack into something gorgeous.

Here’s what I used…

Antique white acrylic paint
White acrylic paint
Red Santa acrylic paint
6 red gingham wooden hearts (self adhesive)
6 red spotted wooden hearts (self adhesive)
Mod Podge (Gloss)

Tools…
Large & Small paint brushes
Sand Paper (100 grit)
Sponge (make up sponge for mod podge)

Sadly I forgot to take a picture of the old spice rack all set up and looking horrid. However from the step by step images that include all the parts (yes, rack, jars and lids) you can clearly see why it needed an upcycle.

first step was to prepare the rack and wooden lids for painting. I did this by first washing my wood with warm soapy water. I dried them fully and then gave them all a good rub over with the sand paper. The last step was to remove all traces of any sand paper dust with a small brush before finally giving it another wipe over with a damp cloth.

Once my rack & all 12 wooden lids were all clean and dry I was technically ready to apply a prima to my rack, however, I felt that it wasn’t really needed so instead I skipped this step and went right on to applying my first coat of antique white paint.

I used the biggest brush to paint on the paint but used the smaller brush to paint the racks corners and edges.

If you want to do this then Its important to remember to paint just one thin layer of paint, leave to dry and then paint on another layer this way you won’t end up with drip and brush marks.

I ended up giving my rack 4 coats of the antique white paint and did start to wonder why I ever thought I could skip painting them white beforehand so didn’t make the same mistake with my lids.

With this I painted my 12 jar lids in 2 coats of white paint as a base coat and left to dry.

Once my white paint was dry I then went on to give my 12 jar lids 2 coats of ‘Santa Red’ letting them dry for around 20 minutes between coats.

Once dry all lids got a coating of mod podge that I applied with my thick makeup sponge.

The next step was to add some character to my rack and shabby it up a little. With the 100 grit sand paper I rubbed it along the edges of my stand, removing some of the paint to reveal the dark wood underneath. This gave the impression of age, making the rack look as though it had encountered natural ware over the years.

Next I made sure all dust was removed from my rack with a brush and a damp cloth. With my sponge I then gave my rack a layer of good old mod podge.
Mod podge is great and will give my rack a nice coat of protection.

Making sure all jars were nice and clean I then applied the 6 self adhesive gingham hearts and 6 spotted hearts to the middle of my 12 jars. I gave these a layer of mod podge for protection.

Finally I lined all 12 jars onto my rack, gingham, spots, gingham… and so forth and then stood back to admire.

At this point you can add pretty ribbon or thread 12 miniature tags through some twine, adding the names of you’re spices to the tags before looping them over the jars. This is optional! I didn’t feel the need to do this as I’m pretty good at knowing whats what… Plus if I’m ever in doubt a quick sniff always sorts it out.

So… There it is… My antique white spice rack with a splash of Santa red. I’m really pleased with the results and the difference is actually really big considering I’ve only used a few items to help form this transformation.

Talking of transformations, I’m currently refurbishing a number of furniture items I’ve brought for my bedroom. I’m using Annie Sloan chalk paint and clear wax and hope to share my progress of the next few days.

As for my shabby upcycle, I would love to hear your thoughts?

Shabby Chic Hand Painted Heart and Twinket Set

Valentines day, another reason to get all creative and crafty!

Yes… I know we’ve only just done Christmas and New year but Valentines day is just weeks away and if you’re planning on handcrafting items for loved ones or creating valentines gifts with the kids then Now’s the time to get going… After all last minute is so not fashionable.

I’m actually hand decorating a paper mâché large hanging heart and matching small twinklet box for my bedroom dresser. Its actually not a valentines gift for anyone other than myself (if that counts) but this would make a lovely gift for that special day! Plus, it wouldn’t seem at all right to not share it with you guys.

I’ve made some beautiful heart twinklet boxes covered in pink rose Decopatch paper and posted them here on the blog last year. My initial plan was to cover both my heart and twinklet in shabby chic inspired Decopatch papers but I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to try something a little different.

I instead decided to paint my heart and twinklet with antique white and jet black acrylic paint. To give both heart and twinklet a really good finish I opted for Mod Podge gloss lustre as this would give it a great shine and strong protective seal.

What I Used…
Large Paper Mâché Hanging Heart
Small Embossed Paper Mâché Twinklet
Antique White Acrylic Paint
Jet Black Acrylic Paint
White Lace Paper Trimming
Mod Podge Gloss-Lustre-Lustre

Tools…
Medium size paint brush
Small brush (for detailing)
Sponge Applicator
Glue brush (for mod podge)
Scissors

What I did…

1: The first step was to use my medium size paint brush to cover both heart and twinklet in a coat of antique white paint. One coat isn’t enough, so leave items to dry then apply a second coat of paint. I found that this paint dried really quickly (30 minutes at the most) which was great as I had to work on one side at a time allowing drying in between.

2: Once both coats have been applied and items are fully dried its time to add the detailing to both box and heart. I started with the heart twinklet box first. With the jet black paint and small paint brush I applied black paint to the embossed areas on the twinklet. This is a little tricky and fiddly as the embossed area is rather hard to see. I had to be careful not to overdo it but also decided to add additional pattern to make the design more bold and appealing. If you decide to do this, my tip would be, not to rush the process. Remember your applying extremely dark paint to a very light colour. Mistakes would mean a re-paint in the lighter colour and it would likely mean a number of coats to cover such mistakes.

3: While waiting for the twinklet to dry I started work on my heart. Again I used my jet black paint to add detail to the heart. The heart isn’t embossed yet I wanted to add the same type of design & effect as that on my twinklet as to create a matching set. With this I very carefully applied the paint to the heart doing my best to create a similar pattern as to that on the twinklet. As I had already needed to add extra pattern to the twinklet in a freestyle way, this actually wasn’t much different and therefore turned out to be easier than first expected! With this I was lucky to escape any mistakes that needed painting over.

I decided to apply the black painted design to half of the heart on each side. I felt this would look much better than covering the heart entirely in the pattern… Sometimes less is more! Note… If you would like to try this idea, you will need to first apply the pattern to one side of your heart, allow it to dry for at least 30 minutes, before turning over and painting the pattern on the opposite side.

4: I then brought forward the lid of my twinklet box and hand painted a similar pattern around the lids edges. I then left the lid to dry for around 30 minutes or so.

5: I then took my dried twinklet lid and with my mod podge I applied my paper lace trimming around the edging of the Twinklets lid, as shown below. I used the Decopatch technique to apply the paper trimming and again left to dry for around 30 minutes.

6: Once my twinklet was dry I painted the paper trimming in the same antique white paint (a second coat can be applied if desired)! I then left my twinklet lid to once again dry. (Good job this stuff is fast drying or I’d be here for months!)

7: Once both items had there detail applied and were fully dried, it was time to apply the Mod Podge. First you must give the mod podge a good stir (remember a little mod podge goes a long way). I covered both my items in a coat of Mod Podge with my sponge as an applicator. Remember as this stuff dries it gets really tacky and you will need to be careful not to apply more stokes of mod podge as it dries or this will make your items look bumpy and untidy. More Mod Podge can be applied once the first coat is fully dried.

8: Once the first coat of Mod Podge is dry (I’d give it an hour though it is likely to be touch dry much quicker) You can then apply a second coat. I applied my Mod Podge with a sponge as opposed to a brush because brush stokes can often be seen when using Mod Podge. A sponge looks more even and the end result is much better. Finally, I decided to leave it for a few hours to ensure my items were fully dry. Tip: To save time apply the Mod Podge to both sides of the heart and then dry by hanging your heart on a metal pole or similar! Just remember that your heart needs to have room to hang freely, not making contact with any other objects or surfaces as to allow it to evenly dry.

9: To finish I tied some pretty white ribbon to the hanging loop of my heart and some foam to the inner section of my twinklet (i did this by using my twinklet lid as a template on some self adhesive foam).

So… here it is…

You can use other colours to create any look you desire. These colours work really well for me though I think something like a striking hot pink pattern against a black background would look pretty amazing. Note to tell self… “Create hot pink heart & black heart for daughters bedroom!”

These would also make perfect Valentines gifts. Maybe adding a piece of jewellery inside the twinklet or maybe a few homemade truffles… Yummy.

Thanks for reading and would love to know what you all think.

Personalised Wooden Christmas Hearts

These wooden Christmas hearts can be hung from the tree as decorations or used as keepsake gift tags.

Here I’ve made some personalised Christmas hearts for the children decorated using the first letter of their name. The other hearts feature mini glittered hearts and Gingerbread men.

To make some of these keepsake Christmas decorations and gift tags you will need…

7 Large Plywood Hearts (or how many you wish to make)
Plywood Letters (for personalising. I’m using G, A & H for Alice, G and Harley)
2 x Medium plywood hearts
2x Mini Wooden Gingerbread Men
Red Acrylic Paint (Christmas Red)
Blue Acrylic Paint (Duck egg)
Gold, Silver, Red Glitter
Bronze Glitter (Ultra Fine)
Wood Glue
Decopatch Glossy Glue (or Mod Podge)
Selection of Ribbon (I’ve used red, gold, silver, blue)

Tools…
Glue brushes
Paint brushes
Drill to make holes

Firstly, I drilled two holes at the top of each end of my large hearts.

I then painted them each in two coats of Acrylic paint, Christmas Red and a shabby duck egg blue. I did this for both sides allowing each an hour in between to dry.

Once the paint was dry I added one coat of acrylic glaze to each side of the heart.

While my hearts were left to dry I started work on my letters and shapes.

One at a time I covered one side of my letters and shapes in Decopatch glue. I then quickly covered them in the different coloured glitters using shakers. I did my letter A in gold, G in red and H in silver. The hearts were covered in gold and silver glitter (I even made a blue one for a later project). As for my mini gingerbread men, these were covered in a very dark ultra fine bronze glitter.

I then left these to dry for an hour.

In the meantime I brought forward my duck egg blue hearts and covered these in some shimmer (gold glitter added to a little Decopatch glossy glue). The red hearts stayed just as they were.

Once my letters and shapes had dried I added another layer of Decopatch glue over each, followed by a second coating of glitter.

As soon as I’d covered all my letters and shapes in a second coat of glitter I took a clean brush for each item and added my final layer of Decopatch glossy glue directly over the top of my glitter. The glitter is still wet at this point so be aware that your brush will get a tad sparkly (this is why I recommend a brush for each item). There is no need to wait till the glitter has dried as by adding a good amount of glitter to your items it will mean you only remove any excess. The glue will look very white and make the glitter seem extremely mat, however, Decopatch glue dries clear and glossy adding that bit more sparkle to your glitter.

Once you have completed all your shapes leave them someplace safe to air dry for an hour or so dependent on their drying environment.

Once everything is dry you are now ready to attach your letters and shapes to your painted hearts. This is best done with the use of a good wood glue.

My wood glue was super fast drying so I didn’t need to wait long to move onto the final stage of this project. Be sure to read the instructions on that of your chosen wood glue, as to allow yours to dry for the required time stated.

Now all that’s left to do is add the ribbons, threading them through the back of the heart and then tying them into a pretty bow.

Finishing Touches (optional but effective)

The children’s names were added to the personalised letter hearts in a black permanent maker. I also choose to use one of my hearts as a tag on a gift for a friend. I like this idea as the wooden tag can then be kept as a keepsake! I feel its a really personal touch. So, on this heart, I wrote a sweet little message on the back before wrapping her actual gift in brown parcel paper, tying with pretty ribbon and finally attaching my wooden heart to the ribbon… Very effective!

You can hang these hearts anywhere in the home. The tree, dresser, over jars as to create decorative storage or even in that of the children’s bedrooms. Use them just at Christmas or continue using them throughout the year, its up to you!

Reference Section

Large wooden hearts plus letters and shapes I brought from HobbyCraft online.

Decopatch Glue – HobbyCraft

Glitter Shaker – Baker Ross Limited

Ribbon – Selection from various shops and craft markets

Acrylic Paints – Hobbycraft