Little decorated wooden hearts are so simple and inexpensive. You can make them into a work of art that captures both the eye and the heart. In this post, you’ll discover how to transform simple wooden hearts into cherished keepsakes using a blend of stamping, embossing, and decoupage techniques.
These little wooden hearts came in a package from the dollar store. They didn’t have holes. Since I wanted to hang these, I drilled holes in each one before decorating them.
If your wooden heart does not have a hole at the top, and you want one, now is the time to drill one before decorating.
To ensure that the holes are all in the same position, trace around one of the hearts first. Then fold the heart down the center, open it up, and punch a hole near the top of the folded line. Use the paper heart as a template for drilling so that all the holes line up. I used a 1/8-inch drill bit.
When I drilled the hole in the first heart, some of the wood around the hole in the back splintered. To keep that from happening to the remaining hearts, I placed a small piece of painter’s tape over the back where the hole would be.
Decorated Wooden Hearts
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Supplies:
- Gold embossing powder
- Folk Art Antiquing Medium
- Writing and decorative Stamps
- Brown ink stamp
- Letter Beads
- FolkArt Gold Treasure Brilliant Metallic Acrylic Paint
- Ephemera, buttons, beads, ribbon, lace, and a variety of embellishments
Directions:
Give all of the hearts a base coat of white multi-surface craft paint. Allow the paint to dry. Then, use a piece of brown paper bag to sand the hearts. Next, apply another coat of paint, allow it to dry, and sand it with the brown paper bag again.
Paint or Decorate the Sides
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Initially, my plan was to use paint and antiquing medium to cover the sides of the heart. Then, I thought a piece of thin trim glued on top of it would look good. Ultimately, my choice was to paint the sides of each heart with FolkArt Gold Treasure Brilliant Metallic Acrylic Paint.
Decorated Heart #1
Faux Rice Paper
How to Make Faux Rice Paper Gift Tags
This first heart is covered with faux rice paper. If you don’t have any, you can find out how to make your own using decorative paper napkins or decorative tissue paper by clicking the link above. Use Mod Podge or Multi Medium Matte to adhere the napkin to the front and repeat on the back. Next, I lightly antiqued the edges with antiquing medium.
For decorating this wooden heart, I used a piece of off-white gimp. I pulled out matching embroidery floss to thread through the buttons. A little glue on the button back holds the threads in place.
While I had the embroidery floss out, I created a little coiled piece by applying a tiny bit of glue to the ends of the floss and simply coiling and gluing both ends of a piece of floss.
Some leftover quilled flowers seemed perfect for this little heart. You can find directions for making quilled roses ◄ here.
Begin placing decorative elements on the front of the heart until you have a pleasing composition. Then, adhere the decorations with Tacky Glue. Be sure not to cover up the hole at the top of the heart.
Thread two ends of a piece of ribbon through the hole and make a lark’s head knot.
How to Make a Lark’s Head Knot
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- Take the ribbon and fold it in half to create a loop at the midpoint.
- Pull both loose ends of the ribbon through the loop you created.
- Pull both ends of the cord tight. This will secure the lark’s head knot in place, ensuring it holds firmly to the object.
- Tie the ends together and trim the ends at an angle.
I decided to make a little ribbon bow from the same pink ribbon and glued it just below the hole in the heart.
Decorated Heart #2
This heart began with decorative tissue paper. Simply cut around the floral element with sharp scissors. Use Mod Podge or Multi Medium Matte to adhere the cutout to the wooden heart. Then, stamp the wooden heart with clear embossing ink.
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Next, sprinkle gold embossing powder over the wet ink. Then, remove the excess. I used a tiny brush to remove some of the excess.
Well, I just found anti-static powder, which is a game changer! Using this powder makes the embossing powder slide cleanly off of your surface, leaving only the stamped area. I’ve ordered a bottle for future projects.
Use a heat gun to melt the embossing powder.
Use antiquing medium to antique the edges of the heart. Then, adhere the buttons. In retrospect, I wish I had added embroidery floss to these buttons. 🤔
Lastly, the two ends of a thin navy satin ribbon thread through the hole and make a lark’s head knot.
Decorated Heart #3
This heart is covered with a napkin. First, remove the plain white layers of the napkin. Lots of times, these layers are easily peeled off. If the layers are a little stubborn, take a piece of Scotch tape, press flat on the plain layer, and pull up on the tape. The layer should tear and pull away easily.
Use Mod Podge or Multi Medium Matte to adhere the napkin to the front and repeat on the back. I think it just looks better to have the same design decorating the back. Next, lightly antique the edges with antiquing medium.
You can see in the picture above that I had planned to apply trim to the edges. I nixed that idea and instead painted the edges with gold paint. The little sentiment came from a bag of ephemera from Hobby Lobby.
The lace is glued in place across the front. Then, flip the wooden heart over and trim the lace to overlap slightly on one edge. Glue the lace in place.
Add Decorative Items
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Now, decorate with ribbon, beads, rhinestones, mini keys, etc. I strung the letter beads onto 1/8-inch-wide navy satin ribbon. To string the beads, I cut one end of the ribbon at an angle, applied Tacky Glue to the end, and rolled it between my thumb and forefinger. When it was dry and stiff, I just ran the ribbon through the bead holes.
The little metal key is also strung onto the string. You can see in the first picture above that the key didn’t really show up well. So, I coiled a piece of off-white embroidery floss to glue behind the key. A little overhand knot on each end is glued to the heart holding the ribbon, beads, and key in place.
Thread the two ends of a thin navy satin ribbon thread through the hole. Make a lark’s head knot. Finish with a perfect little ribbon bow glued in place.
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