How to Make Hanging Hearts
Valentine Decorations
Looking for some DIY decorations for Valentine’s Day? If you want some Valentine hearts to hang on your front door then this is the Valentine decoration you’re looking for. Get creative with this DIY decor that will be your next craft project this “Heart’s Day!”
I’m a fan of decorating for the holidays, and I love designing and creating something new. This year for the up and coming Valentine’s Day, I decided to make some hanging hearts for my front door. Wreaths on my door rarely happen because I prefer creations of originality and uniqueness, something that hasn’t been done before. I think these hanging hearts are just that!
SEE ALSO: 14 Funny Valentines Day Cards You Can Make Yourself
Here’s what you’ll need for this Valentine door decoration:
- heart outlines
- scissors
- lumber
- scroll saw
- spray paint (I used berry pink, apple red, white, grape and clear)
- sand paper
- drill press or drill with drill bit
- rope or twine
- E6000 glue (optional)
Step 1
I started out with four different sizes of hearts. Just Google “heart outline” and find the heart shape you like best, save it, and use any program that you can insert a picture into. Then resize the heart to four different sizes. I used Microsoft Publisher for this part, and the sizes of my hearts ranged from about 6 3/4″ to 3 1/2″. I printed these outlines, cut them out by hand, and then I traced them onto my lumber.
All of the lumber I use is hand-milled by my husband Grant from logs he cuts down. Of course, you can just go to the lumber or hardware store and pick up a board. You don’t need very much for these hearts (depending on their sizes). I used 1.5-2′ of lumber, about 1″ thick.
Step 2
After tracing the hearts onto the lumber, I used my scroll saw to cut them out. I love, love, love my scroll saw!
I didn’t sand the hearts before I painted them, but instead I left them rough (again, our lumber is hand-milled, so it is extremely rough). The purpose of leaving them unsanded before I painted is to get a more ‘rustic and distressed’ look for the finished product. You’ll see!
Step 3
Next comes the painting. Since I cut four hearts, I went with four different colors: berry pink, apple red, white and grape (I’m a huge fan of Rustoleum 2x coverage spray paint, and that is basically all I ever use).
Step 4
After both sides have been painted and dried (see spray can for directions), sanding was next. Like I said before, I left my hearts rough, so that when I finally sanded them smooth they had an awesome worn and distressed look to them. And I purposefully sanded the edges more than the rest. The best part about this technique is that there is no such thing as right or wrong, good or bad, perfect or not perfect… It’s all up to you! Finally, I applied a finish coat of clear spray paint (matte or gloss, I used matte because I have a bunch of it around).
Step 5
The rest of this project is determined by how and where you want the hearts to hang. I prefer to random and sporadic look, so when I drilled a hole in each heart, I drilled them in slightly different spots – either the top center or off to one side on the top. Use a drill press or a drill with a drill bit that is slightly larger than the diameter of the rope/twine you will be using. For example, I used 1/4″ rope and drilled a 5/16″ hole.
Step 6
The rope I used came from a local hardware/ranch store, and it’s almost more of a twine than a rope. I cut two 5′ sections of the rope (from the 40′ roll) and tied them in a “bow” in the middle. I’m not an expert “bow-tier” but I did my best. 
Step 7
After the bow was tied, I tied one heart to each of the four dangling pieces of rope, at varying heights. I didn’t use any specific knots, but I put the rope in through the front of the heart and tied the knot in the back. Again, I’m not an expert ‘knot tier’, so to ensure the knots wouldn’t come undone, I applied some E6000 around all the knots, including the big bow (keep the glue hidden in the back!).
And there you have it. A unique, cute and non-wreath Valentine’s door hanger!
Did you enjoy our tutorial on how to make hanging hearts? Let us know in the comments section below what your thoughts are on this Valentine decoration. Do you have any other DIY projects you’d like to share? Share it with us and we’ll give it a try. We love doing cool DIY projects by making craft projects, home decor projects, upcycling ideas, recipes, tutorials and anything you can do yourself. That’s why we created this site, we want people to be more in touch with their creative side and realize that there’s a lot of things that they can do themselves. We’d love to hear from you and create a community of DIY enthusiasts where any project is just a click away. Stay connected with us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram!