Mother nature may be in a bad mood today, but that doesn’t mean your day can’t be filled with love in the air. Get ready for Cupid with a some simple Valentine’s Day DIY projects guaranteed to shine a little love on your home.
Cupid’s Arrows bouquet
Cut two equal sized squares of red or pink felt. Fold the squares in half and draw a half of a heart on the felt with chalk. Carefully cut around the edges of the heart shape. Glue or sew the outer edges of the heart shapes together, leaving half an inch at the center of the top of the heart to fit a dowel or tree branch. Insert the dowel into the dried felt heart and set aside. Repeat two or three more times, so you have a multiple heart shaped arrow heads. To make the bottom of the arrows, cut two equal sized squares of red or pink felt. Fold the squares in half and draw one line from the tip of the center, down to the edge in a 45 degree angle. Next, draw a line from the bottom edge up towards the center in a 45 degree angle. Cut along the chalk lines. You should have two equal sized arrows. Glue or sew the outer edges together, leaving half an inch in the center of the top of the arrow for a dowel or tree branch. Insert the dowel once dry. Repeat two or three more times. Arrange the hearts and arrows in a vase alone or add pussy willow branches to add more depth. We also tried using pine branches to add some additional color.
Love Imitates Art
We found a gorgeous wood frame at a garage sale, which we restored with some pearl spray paint. We removed the glass and set aside the foam core from the inside of the frame to use for our project. If you do not have a frame, use a canvas. Use a piece of construction paper to cut out a large heart. Center the heart on the canvas and use as your guide. Place ball head straight pins or pearl floral pins around the heart shape. Tip: if you do not have ball headed pins, substitute with finishing nails. Use your thumb nail as a guide to equally separate the pins. Once the heart shape has been surrounded with pins, remove the heart. Next tie a knot of red or pink string (we used friendship bracelet string) to one of the pins and begin to string back and forth in random patterns until each pin has been used. You can repeat pins if you prefer a saturated heart. Once you are satisfied, tie a knot of string onto the last pin. Cut the edges off of any excess string. Display somewhere you can appreciate your fine work!
Valentine’s Day DIY Table Runner
Table runners are like the icing on the cake of home accents… the icing tastes so much sweeter when it’s homemade! Create a whimsical table runner by cutting a 9-12 inch wide piece of burlap about two thirds the length of the table. Cut small slits about two inches apart along the edges of the burlap. Leave an inch of space from each edge to prevent fraying. (Note: this looks beautiful in the center as well). Weave fabric ribbon in and out through each slit. Cut the excess ribbon, or let it dangle loose, depending on your style. Lay the runner flat centered on the table and display with a vase of roses (or cupids arrows). If you do not have the patience to weave ribbon, try using a sponge with acrylic paints to make various hearts, X and O stencils on the burlap.
If you do not have burlap, weave a bunch of mixed fabric ribbons into a table runner. Place a piece of cardboard flat on your work area. Pin six to eight ribbons to the top of the cardboard so they are laying vertically. Next, weave various fabric ribbons from left to right, over one ribbon and under the next. You can finish off the table runner two ways… a) tie double knots between each pair of strips. b) Stick fabric tape (Heat N’ Bond Iron-On Adhesive strips) along the sides and ends of the runner and gently hit with a clothing iron. Cut the excess ribbon off, let cool and display.