I am not a huge seasonal decorator. Are you? I don’t have lots of tchotchkes and other décor to just change it up every season. I am pretty simplistic in my approach to decorating. I usually decorate maybe one entryway table seasonally and maybe add a few new pillows since I love making them. I decided to create a large DIY “LOVE” art for Valentine’s day a couple of years ago. However, I used untraditional Valentine’s day colors so I can display it year round. It looks like a mini pallet and without the ruffles costs $9 to make.
Supplies:
9 – 1”x 2” x 8’ furring strips (they are $.75 each at Lowes)
hammer and nails or air nailer
square
measuring tape
miter saw
stain
old t-shirts
primer and paint
7 yards of Simplicity Canary Yellow Box Pleat Quilt Binding
hot glue gun
flat paintbrush
wood glue
pre-wood conditioner
1. With your miter saw cut the furring strips to the size you want. I cut 2 @ 26” and 2 @ 32”.
2. With wood glue on each edge and a square shoot nails into the sides of your board to create a frame.
3. Cut 22 furring strips @ 28”. Using your air nailer, nail the furring strips down onto the sides of your frame. I used a nickel for spacing between boards.
4. Don’t patch up any of the holes or sand the furring strips. We are going rustic here. Just give it a quick coat of pre-wood conditioner. This step is important when staining pine because if not it is all splotchy and the stain doesn’t take evenly. Wipe away the excess. Once dry give it a coat of stain.
5. I used my Silhouette machine to cut vinyl out hoping to spray paint the letters on with a vinyl stencil. Unfortunately, the vinyl didn’t stick to my newly stained boards. So I ended up tracing the letters on and then priming and painting the letters silvers. Kind of annoying but worth it in the end. I just used the little craft paints for the silver letters.
6. Once dry I sanded the letters down so that the wood would peek through a bit.
7. I traced the heart and then just hot glued the ruffled trim in place.
I love the unexpected in décor. Like pairing ruffles and wood together. Swoon!
Here is the best part. A sweet little handmade chalkboard heart vase that he built for a few years back at the Lowes Build and Grow clinic. Gotta love that kid.
Love this idea? You can see the other one I made for Thanksgiving as well, which similarly, can be used year round.
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