DIY 3D HEART ART

Weren't we just decorating for Christmas a few days ago?  I can't believe it's almost time for Valentine's Day!  I don't generally do a lot of decorating for the lovely day, but it is fun to sprinkle a few festive reminders of the holiday here and there.

Feeling a bit crafty and thinking along the same lines as the 3D paper ornaments I made for Christmas, I made a little piece of 3D heart artwork to tuck in a vignette or shelf.

I started with a few simple supplies that I had on hand- an open frame (or remove the glass of a regular frame) and patterned paper.  I also used mat board, rubber cement, Elmer's glue, and hot glue.  Note:  I took my paper to our church and used the die cutter for my hearts, but you might have a paper punch or cutting machine that would work well also.  If all else fails, trace some hearts that are all uniform and use your good old scissors to cut them out.  ;)

Glue patterned paper for the backing to a scrap piece of mat board or cardboard cut to fit the frame opening.  I like to use rubber cement or spray adhesive for a smooth finish.  

Glue hearts that will be the base on backing board, arranging them in the order you wish.  I liked this arrangement because we just so happen to have 4 people in our little family, but you could do whatever number of hearts you want, according to the size of the heart you've cut out and your frame size.  I think even one in the middle with lots of space around it would look nice.  

Fold the rest of the hearts exactly in half, right sides together.  

Choose 3 patterns to layer on top, and one more for the center.  Fold the heart that will be in the center in half with wrong sides together, glue closed.

Assemble by gluing each heart together with a thin line of glue along the back of the middle fold (think of it as a spine), then hold it in place on the heart underneath it.  I used Elmer's school glue for this part.  Repeat until all are glued together (gluing each fold on top of another, keeping glue line thin and just down the fold).  I found it easiest to glue the 3 middle hearts together, then the top 1/2 heart, folding them across themselves each time for a few seconds to keep them straight and allowing the glue to dry for a few minutes.   

Lastly I  glued all of the hearts already assembled to the heart glued down to the backing paper.  For that last step, I used a hot glue gun because the glittery paper wasn't working well with regular glue, and you'll want a quick drying glue to secure the last pieces together.  

Then, pop it in the frame.  I like to secure it with a few glazier points (demonstrated here) if it's a wood frame or even just a few drops of hot glue around the edge.  It won't take much and if you just add a few tiny dabs of glue it will be easy to pop it off when you're ready to change out the picture.  

I think my little afternoon craft project turned out pretty cute!  Do you do much decorating for Valentine's Day?