Making something out of nearly nothing…I love to do that…
Take these hearts for instance. They’re made out of scraps of moldings. End pieces that didn’t make the cut…Not big enough for a big baseboard project, just cast-offs...
Have you ever had a day like that, where every moment felt like a cast off…a scrap of something bigger?
Boy, I have.
Maybe that’s why I’ve got a soft spot for scraps…
Those cast offs, can often be turned into something useful and even beautiful…
And with a little change in perspective, I’ve learned to see the potential for beauty in those days that feel like scraps of something bigger…
Of course it’s helpful to be on the beauty-hunt when you’re dreaming up projects…can’t you just see my sweet little hearts when you look at this pile of left over moldings?
I’d love to show you how we turned junk moldings into something beautiful…do you have a second?
Here’s All You Need:
*Pieces of Moldings (look for them at your local home improvement store)
*Paint (all of your favorite colors! I use Americana Decoart Acrylics)
*Americana Decor Crackle Medium (to give the new moldings a vintage look)
*Small piece of Thin Plywood
*Wood Screws
*Liquid Nails
~First I squeezed out puddles of my paint onto a paper plate…
~then I brushed my moldings with lots of different colors…no pattern involved here…just paint!(when the top coat of paint crackles, these different colors show through- so make certain the colors are cohesive)
~When the paint was dry, I brushed on a generous coat of Crackle Medium…
When the crackle medium was dry (I used a heat gun to dry it quickly), I painted a coat of paint over the crackle medium- (I painted it on thick)—*I used a blue/gray paint and a tealish green as a top coat on my moldings- because those are the colors I wanted for my hearts …
As the paint dries, it crackles! It’s just amazing how this stuff works…(I’m going to crackle an end-table next!)When the paint is dry…draw or print a heart and cut your moldings to the correct length…
Use your pattern to draw a heart onto your thin plywood and cut out the shape… this piece of plywood will replace the paper heart as your pattern…
***you can use a jig saw if you don’t have a band saw***
Using liquid nails, glue your moldings onto another piece of plywood… Make sure they’re in the order you want them in your finished product…
Notice the way the moldings are glued on in a jagged fashion…that’s because I placed the ‘prettiest’ crackling in the most noticeable places on the heart… Let the moldings dry over night…
Trace your heart pattern onto the back of your molding piece (on the plywood)…we used short wood screws and attached the plywood to the moldings to make sure they stayed together !
Now, cut out your heart!
Sand the edges smooth and a little rounded…
Then paint the edges! I used the Crackle Medium on the edges but you certainly don’t have to!
I painted the back of my hearts, but again…you don’t have to! 🙂
To make them look even older you could do a little sanding on the front…I absolutely love them…
And to think they started out as scraps!
Have a beautiful day today my friends xo
This is part of my Year of Reckless Crafting
For this post I used Crackle Medium!
hi Robin, WOW I cannot believe you made those fab Scrap Wood Hearts!! AH Mazing!! I can but wow that was a lot of work and tools I haven’t begun to use. How adorable and fun and rustic. LOVE them. Thank you so much for linking up to our Something To Talk About Link Party again and here’s to a great week, xo Lisa
Very nice to see a Valentine’s Day project that isn’t red! Love the crackle and you did a fantastic job of explaining your techniques and the steps involved. Thanks for sharing.
Judy
judypimperl.blogspot.com
These are adorable and yet another reason why a band saw is on my wish list! I found you via the link party at 2 Bees In A Pod and will definitely be back to check out more of your projects. Hope you have a great week!!
I love this heart post. It makes my heart so happy to know that something that might’ve been ignored or tossed out, became a treasure.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
This is a wonderful project, Robin! Looking around to find things that were cast off and then making them into something beautiful! Kind of like what God does with us! 🙂 I love green, so could imagine painting these in a moss green. You make me want to go out to our barn and learn to use our band saw!
Hugs my friend!
Love those, but I don’t have a clever husband like yours!
I love these! Such a creative project and is great for Valentine’s Day or really year round. They would make a great gift too. Love the color you used and the crackle finish. Thank you so much for sharing and linking up!
Beautiful. Can’t wait to try this project: however, I am a little confused. You put all the colors on randomly and then crackle, dried and then top coated. Doesn’t that cover up everything you have already done? Please help. I must have misunderstood.
Vicky, yes…I put all the different colors on first so they would show through the cracks…you could simply put one color on the wood-then use crackle medium-then put on a (pretty thick) topcoat of another color paint…the last coat of paint is what activates the crackle medium- and what you see in the cracks is the 1st paint color/colors you put on… does that help at all? If not, let me know and I’ll try to help some more 😉 xo
These are the most original scrap wood hearts I’ve run across, and I love them! Thank you for the tutorial!
These are so pretty! Great work! Thanks for sharing!