All around the country, people have been crafting all sorts of hearts and hanging them in their windows, on their fences, anywhere that is easily seen by the outside world. No one really knows how it started, but the goal is to spread peace, love, and hope to their neighbors, as well as to lift the spirits of the people working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic as they drive to and from work.
Our local community Facebook page has dozens upon dozens of people posting pictures of their hearts with captions such as, “Come and find us!” It creates a fun game for families going on bike or golf cart rides around the neighborhood as they “hunt for hearts” with their kids, who later post picture collages on the local Facebook page featuring the hearts they found!
So my husband and I decided we wanted to participate, because it seems like all of us could use a little more peace, love, and hope in this new COVID-19 world we are living in.
I will share my process with you so that you can get some inspiration to make your own as a fun project for yourself or with your kids (or just for your kids to get them out of your hair for a couple of hours)! It’s more fun if you get your neighbors involved too, from a safe distance of course!
First, my husband cut a piece of wood in the shape of a heart roughly 18″ x 14″, and painted it white. If you don’t have a handy person in your house like I do, there are plenty of other ways you can do this project. For instance, you could use any spare piece of wood you might have lying around and paint hearts on it. Or you can use something aside from wood. People have made hearts out of everything from construction paper to hang in their window, to gluing old CD’s in the shape of a heart on a wood pallet, to red solo cups hanging on their chicken wire fence in the shape of a heart! Most craft stores closed weeks ago, so go hunt around your garage for something you can up-cycle. Old signs, driftwood, large rocks, even the inside of a cereal box. Get creative!
These are the paint pens/markers I used for this project. They are from from ArtShip Design and can be found on Amazon. I will share the link below if you’re interested in buying them. However, you could also use acrylic paint, spray paint, or even just a sharpie!
Please note, this is not a sponsored post, nor is this an affiliate link (however, if ArtShip Design ever sees this and wants to become a sponsor, shoot me an email 😉)! I’m just sharing because I think they are a wonderful product for a multitude of projects.
Next, although it’s hard to see, I sketched out the word “love” in big block letters across the center with pencil. I went through two erasers getting it just right because I am extremely finicky when it comes to art, but I recommend using pencil first because it’s much easier to correct a mistake than it is with paint!
I started using the black marker to outline the pencil, but then decided it would be better to paint the red, white, and blue first and then go back and outline it. I did two coats of all three of the colors to really make the word “love” pop!
I wanted the word “love” to really stand out against the other words I later painted, so I outlined it with a thick black line. I went back over the black lines a second time to give the underside of the letters a thicker outline which gives it more of a 3D look!
Next I wrote the word “one” both above and below the word “love”, and then painted a heart at the bottom so that it reads, “one love, one heart” because who doesn’t love that Bob Marley song?
I wanted to add a few more details, so I painted 50 stars inside the blue part and outlined the silver heart on the bottom, and my piece was finally done after working on it on and off for 3 days (it’s hard to find time to paint when your 5 month old’s bottom front teeth break through the skin, tantrums all day long)!
My husband did the finishing touches by putting 2 coats of standard clear coat paint on top to protect it from the elements, and he hung it on an old sign hanger we had lying around. We stuck it right at the beginning of our driveway which is on a main road in our neighborhood so people driving by can see it.
We are thrilled with how it came out, and within just a couple of hours, the post I made in our local Facebook group has gotten an overwhelming amount of love! This project was so much fun to do!
I am dedicating my heart to my younger sister, who is a biological chemist working on the front lines of this virus.
If you participate in this project, I would love to see your heart(s)! Please leave a comment below showing them off!
💜
StarkButSweet 