Crafts DIY and health blog: DIY Valentine's Decorations For The Person Who Hates Valentine's Day

Sunday, February 1, 2015

DIY Valentine's Decorations For The Person Who Hates Valentine's Day

Ok, so I don’t necessarily HATE Valentine’s Day….. It has lost its luster over the years. Mostly I just don’t want to plaster pink hearts all over my house. Don’t get me wrong, I like the color pink just as much as any other girl, there’s just something about fat naked babies, arrows, and the color red that makes taking down all of the Christmas decorations even more sad and painful.

Also, under most circumstances, I actually do HATE the color red. Unless, it’s red sequins, in which case, I might consider it. ;)

Speaking of sequins, I’ve always been a fan of sparkly things. I attribute this to 18 years of dance and sparkly costumes:

So, keeping in theme with Valentine’s day, my distaste for red, my love for glitter, and some inspiration from this lovely lady here at this blog, I came up with my own decorations that you can make too!

Here’s how:

What you’ll need:

LOVE Canvas:

– 12×16 Canvas

– Mod Podge

– Gold glitter

– Foam Brush (used for both)

– L O V E letters

– Black acrylic paint (used for both)

– Hot glue gun

– Crystal clear acrylic top coat spray (used for both)

Heart Canvas:

– 16×20 Canvas

– Scotch tape

– Gold glitter acrylic paint

– Foam brush (used for both)

– Wooden hearts in assorted sizes

– Black acrylic paint (used for both)

– Elmers Glue

– Crystal clear acrylic top coat spray (used for both)

Here are some of the supplies, so you have an idea what I used. Forgive me, my original plans changed as I officially decided what I wanted to create so some of the items are not pictured and I forgot to take a new photo as plans changed.

LOVE Canvas:

1. Begin by covering the entire canvas with glue (I used Elmer’s and the first layer of glitter didn’t stick well, I would recommend using Mod Podge for this step instead – I used it for the second round of glitterizing ;) and had more success). I glued the edges first and dipped each in glitter before I started on the front surface.

2. Liberally cover the surface with glitter and press down gently to ensure adherence. Let this dry and then pat/shake all excess glitter from the surface (DO NOT DISCARD THE GLITTER!)

3. If you need to, apply a second coat of glue (I used Mod Podge this time around) and re-coat with glitter.

* Helpful hint, I used gloves to keep myself from being covered in glitter

4. After this has completely dried, shake/wipe/pat off any excess glitter and pour it back into its container for other projects.

5. Using a foam brush, paint each of your letters with the black acrylic paint. I did 2 coats.

6. Once this is dry, plug in your hot glue gun and measure out where you want your letters to go so they are even and level. Simply hot glue them to the glitter and let dry.

7. After it has dried for several hours, apply a coat of protectant (Crystal clear acrylic top coat is what I used).

HEART Canvas:

1. Begin by taping the canvas with scotch tape – I made each section 2in wide. I used a ruler and my square to make sure my lines were even and level. Make sure the tape is completely sealed, I ran my hands over all edges a few times.

2. Take the gold glitter acrylic paint and begin applying coats. I waited about 15 minutes between coats for drying. Depending on how glittery and gold you want, you may end up applying up to 10 coats. I just kept applying until the bottle was gone.

3. Remove scotch tape once dry.

4. Arrange the wooden hearts how you want them on the canvas. I took a picture with my phone so I could remember positioning (even though I ended up changing it in the end). I also made a few small pen lines where I wanted the heart to be so that it was centered and level.