Living in a small house means I don't have a lot of room to store decorations so often, I'll create decorations that can serve multiple seasons and holidays. Just before Christmas I created this branch centerpiece. Instead of hearts though, it had red ornaments.
Now that I'm getting ready for Valentine's Day, I simply swapped out the ornaments for paper hearts I made (tutorial for the hearts farther down in this post).
To make this, all you need is a piece of scrap wood, a branch, some white spray paint and battery-operated rice or seed lights. Look for a branch where most of the twigs are coming out of one side. This way, you can staple (or as I did, nail) it to the wood. I chose to paint and sand my wood as well. The rice lights are perfect because the wire is so thin and flexible so you can wind it closely to the branches. I added some bling-y rhinestone ribbon to cover the battery case and make it look pretty.
Trying to save money, I decided to make my own hearts rather than buy them but you could buy little hearts to hang on this as well.
1. Cut card stock into small squares, fold in half and cut a single heart the size of the ornament you want. I just did it free-hand but you could print a pattern if you want. Use your first heart as your pattern for the others so they are all the same size and shape.
2. Cut eight hearts.
3. Put glue on top of first heart.
4. Add a second heart on top of that.
5. Continue adding hearts until they are all attached.
6. Apply glue to the center seam of the hearts and attach the string for hanging.
7. Apply glue to the top heart half.
8. Fold it around to meet the opposite heart half and press together, forming the ornament.
I added a single pearl to the bottom of each using hot glue and then they were ready to hang on my branch centerpiece, replacing the Christmas ornaments.
I see a lot of different possibilities with this centerpiece.
Other options may be shamrocks, Easter eggs, pumpkins or fall leaves . . .
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ooo, I like this a lot!! I have done something similar but not with the branch laying down like that, I love this,, the hearts are perfect!
ReplyDeleteThis looks very nice on your table, Lauren. And you can change out the hanging decorations for every holiday. It's funny that you mentioned the battery case showing because I just bought some gem twinkling lights and I really like them, but the battery case is so unattractive that you have to hide it in some way. I love that last black and white picture and the red dangling heart.
ReplyDeleteYou are very crafty, Lauren.
~Sheri
what a great idea Lauren and it looks fantastic,well done xx
ReplyDeleteI love the heart ornaments - they're perfect for my little crafting group to do when they're here next week! We've been meeting for so long that it's hard to find something that we can do that doesn't take too long or (worse) that we haven't already done!
ReplyDeleteYour decoration looks darling, Lauren, and I love the hearts. I'm in Ohio and I showed my sister the valentine book. I bought her one and we will try it! Happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteThis is adorable! Another ornament option: pretty teabag wrappers. Heh.
ReplyDeleteThis is so fun, Lauren! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
ReplyDeleteLauren, how pretty, especially with the pearl! These remind me of Chinese lantern flowers.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE it! I love that you can do so many different things with that. What an adorable idea and I might just have to copy in some form. I wanted to leave my tree up and do things like this with it but decided it looked way to much like a Christmas tree....but this would work so great for all holidays and events. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAdorable!
ReplyDeleteVery cute Lauren! I made hearts similar to this one year and hung from a branch out on my porch. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
ReplyDeletehugs,
Jann
This look is adorable, Lauren! And I love the hearts and how you made them especially with the pearl on the bottom!
ReplyDelete