2.03.2014

Spoon Heart Valentine's Day Garland


If the title of today's post made you furrow your brow and go, "huh?" I wouldn't be surprised :). What the heck is a spoon heart garland you ask? Well, allow me to give a little background and explain. Remember last year when I made plastic spoon flowers and attached them to a vase a-la-Anthropologie?


And I got to thinking...maybe plastic spoons could be made into other shapes too. Since Valentine's day is coming up and all, how about making them into some hearts? Then, to take it a step farther, since I have a love affair with garlands (as evidenced by this book page one and last year's recycled magazine page heart one), I decided to string these guys together and make them into a garland too.

Want to make one yourself? It's pretty simple!

Supplies needed:
  • Plastic spoons
  • Tea light or candle
  • Matches
  • Paint
  • Paint brush
  • Twine or string
  • Scissors

Step 1: Gently heat the spoon over the tea light to melt the plastic at the intersection of the handle and bowl in order to remove the handle. 


Obligatory disclaimer: be careful when working with open flames. Plastic is flammable and will catch on fire! I slowly heated the spoon so that the plastic would melt, but not burn.

Once the plastic gets hot enough, you'll be able to twist the handle off of the bowl easily.

Step 2: Melt two spoons along one edge until plastic starts to melt, and then stick them together in a heart shape.



It can take a little finessing to get them to stick together properly, but after making a couple, you'll get the hang of it!

Step 3: (Optional) Melt outside edges slightly to mold spoons into more heart-like shape.

Step 4: Paint spoons.




I used some coral paint I had left over from a Valspar test pot and a cheapo paintbrush to paint these guys. I painted both sides and really only needed one coat to get good coverage. This paint job wasn't meant to be super durable, so I wasn't very precise with it. :) If you need a more durable finish on plastic, there are paints made specifically for that purpose - this latex paint isn't one of them!

Step 5: Hot glue string to backside of hearts and hang.







I used embroidery thread, but you can use any string for this. I put a dab of hot glue on each side of the heart and then pressed the string into the glue. By doing it this way, the string formed a loop at the top, which made it easy to make sure they hung evenly. I lined them up on another long piece of embroidery thread and once I had the spacing right, I tied a knot in the string to keep them spaced out evenly.

The garland looked like this once I finished it:




Pretty cute, huh? The melting process made the spoon hearts a little bit imperfect, but I actually like that! They're certainly not store-bought :). I'm totally digging my unique little piece of inexpensive Valentine's Day decor!

Are you decorating for Valentine's Day? I think it's fun to add little touches of pink and red around the house and buy into the sappy romantic feel for a couple of weeks each year!

---------

11 comments:

  1. I have wished every one of the an upbeat valentines day yet one individual I have wished it in an increasingly close to home way. Love is intended to shared throughout the entire year for one day as well as I might suspect there is a requirement for sentiment and it is the ideal reason. best essay writing service.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was on the grocery store yesterday looking for the precise identical thing. I seemed and regarded and regarded and couldn't find something. Assignment Help London I finally requested someone that worked there and that they advised me to observe them and that they took me to this big show of balloons and pulled one down an then tapped it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great post! I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this interesting and knowledgeable article.

    French Tutors UK

    ReplyDelete
  4. We ensure if you want essay papers to buy, they all meet all the academic standards to warrant top grades. Also, we offer grade miners regular bonuses and discounts as part of our loyalty and promo campaigns.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Our Customer Experience Team is here to ensure do my paper your smooth user experience. Our job is to collect and analyze customers’ feedback, come up with new features, and work hard to improve the website.

    ReplyDelete
  6. They will also check your task for plagiarism payforessay net review at no extra cost. If you’re looking for any of these solutions, you’re welcome to use our services.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lay out the spoons on a surface covered with a newspaper or a drop cloth. Using acrylic paint or spray paint basketbros, coat the spoons in the desired Valentine's Day colors. You can paint them in solid colors or add patterns and designs if you wish. Allow the paint to dry completely before moving on to the next step.

    ReplyDelete
  8. "Your writing is improving with each post. Don't stop sharing your knowledge!"Quick Divorce in New York State

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is a cute and easy Valentine's Day craft project. I love that it's made from recycled materials. The hearts are a little backpack battles imperfect, but that adds to their charm.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your post helps me a lot you described all the points in detail
    insta dp viewer</a

    ReplyDelete

If you enjoyed this post, have a question, or just want to say hey, please leave a comment! I read each comment and love to respond (usually by email), so check your inbox if you don't see a response below!