Heart on Wood: 15 Minute Upcycle Project

Try this easy 15 minute Heart on Wood upcycle project tutorial for Valentine’s Day. Ours is on a nostalgic hymn background for shelf decor made to honor my Dad.

Are you ready for this for a quick upcycle project, now that the hard work of New Year’s Resolutions and picking an inspirational word for the New Year is done.

(Did you pick one? Or are you still waiting for the aha moment?)

So, since we’re moving on in the year just as we should,

excited and all looking forward to a brand new 365,

I got enthused about February.

Don’t you think February should be written with hearts in all the circle spaces? You know, the loop in the “e” and the bubble in the “b”… they should have hearts all swirled into the writing of the letters. So that we know that the second month of the year is full of love and good wishes and sweet memories.

My ideas were all about hearts and stuff for February, but then my family reminded me that today is my Dad’s birthday. And it’s two years since we could celebrate his birthday on earth with him. He would be 98 today.

That made me want to create my February project as a tribute for him and the love he showed his family. Ten children. Ten. And every one of us had something to share about him on our family chat today.

This was from my sister:

He never looked for praises, he was never one to boast,
He just went on quietly working for the ones he loved the most.

His dreams were seldom spoken, his wants were very few,
And most of the time his worries went unspoken, too.

He was there... A firm foundation through all our storms of life,
A sturdy hand to hold on to in times of stress and strife.

A true friend we could turn to when times were good or band,
One of our greatest blessings, the man that we called Dad.

allgreatquotes.com

If you knew my Dad, you’d know that this was totally him.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Here’s a little trip down memory lane, a story that shows his staunch spirit. Mom and Dad came south to escape the snow and cold the year of his 80th birthday. Well, they came every year, but this year they happened to be here on his birthday.

Now you would think that on his 80th birthday he would sit in a sunny window in a rocking chair with his Newsweek or Martyr’s Mirror or one of those books he loved to read. And he may have, but at one point, his grandsons came in with the news that they couldn’t leave for work because the truck wouldn’t start. Now this was an old 1 ton truck, and it was always giving little kinds of trouble now and then.

My dad knew just what to do. He put on his parka and outside shoes and added his sturdy hands to the back bumper of the truck with the rest of us. We dug our toes into the dirt and strained to get that hulk of machine moving. It moved, and lurched and snorted to a start. That lurch was just enough that my dad lost his grip on the bumper and sprawled face first into the driveway.

On his 80th Birthday!

You can imagine how scared we were.

But this old faithful farmer slowly sat up, assessed his feelings, wiped some blood on his forehead, and got up, saying, “That old truck can’t beat me!” (He may have been just a little perturbed at that old truck for downing a man who had survived many such episodes in the past.)

Then he waved my husband and his grandsons off to work. Just another day.

He had 16 more birthdays after that.

Toolbox Supplies for the Heart on Wood Project

Here’s the junk I salvaged from my stash to make this project:

1. A piece of 2″x 6″ lumber from our scrap wood pile. It’s about 8″ long. Maybe more.
2. Jute twine.
3. A vintage song sheet print from thegraphicsfairy.net. The song I tore out of an old book is “By The Crystal Sea.” It’s a song about what your loved ones are doing as they wait for you to join them by the “Crystal Sea.” Very sweet hymn.
4. A scrap of red paper, torn into an asymmetrical heart, about 5″ x 4″
5. Ephemera: in this case, a gold metal heart. I wanted a vintage key, but I didn’t have one. And then I added the numbers 2 and 1 left over from a clock project. 1921 is the year Dad was born.
6. Brown and/or reddish brown ink pad for antiquing
7. Stampendous Frantage shabby pink embossing powder for the edges of the heart. When it was still warm from heat embossing the heart, I curled the edges a little. The edge is a little torn in some spots, too. I think I should have used a darker frantage powder because this makes it look snowy, and that’s not what I was going for.

The Finished Project

This heart on wood upcycle is one of the fastest and easiest projects to do for a cottage core look.

I think it could even pass as Early American decor.

But you can change it very easily into any theme you wish. Leave off the antiquing stains and use ribbon instead of twine and your look would be elegant. Change it to a love song and it can be for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, taking the place of a card. Write your message on the back with marker.

There is no right or wrong way to put a project like this together.

We’d love if you would tell us, even better, show us, your variation of a heart on wood upcycle!