This is a simple decoration that I made for my wife and have also taken to and sold at craft shows! The nice thing is can easily batch several out from scraps in an afternoon and have a nice clean look when finished! Give it a shot and put your own spin on it also!!!!

Tools I used:

Mitre saw

bandsaw

orbital sander

pin nailer

wood clamps

propane torch

Supplies

I just used some scraps from my cutoff bin. If you were to buy new materials for this you could easily make 2 out of a 1"x4"@8'

little wood glue

few pin or brad nails

stain

and polyurethane

Step 1: Lets Get Cutting!

Ok after diving in my scrap bin I came up with a few 1x4 pieces and some that I had ripped down to 1.75" wide.

So lets go ahead and get started with we will need

3 - 1"x4" pieces cut to 6" long

I then traced out 3 stars ( I made a posterboard stencil so I could easily duplicate the hearts. )

and i used my little bandsaw to cut these out. (could use a jigsaw or scrollsaw)

For the frame I used the pieces that were previously ripped down here. I put 45* angles on them but if you would rather do a simple butt joint on them go for it! The way I did it the 2 sides outer points are 7.5" and the top and bottom are 12".

Step 2: A Little Glue and Fire!

OK now I didn't have any pictures of the exciting sanding process as not enough hands to contain the excitement! So after all that fun I let my propane torch give the hearts a warming kiss to make some grain pop!

Then we went ahead and glued the 3 6" pieces long end together and added a little pressure to hold!

(tip if they slide around as you squeeze them together put a dash of table salt in-between the pieces)

After that has set lets get the frame on. again a little glue! This time I like to use the pin nailer to give it all a little reinforcing! (somehow I lost my picture of it together with it all clamped up...)

Step 3: Slap Some Color to It!

I used a white minwax water based stain on the hearts! It gives it some color and lets the grain pop through for some fun individual looks!

and I used espresso penetrating stain (also by minwax) for the rest of this piece.

Now just let it sit and dry!

Step 4: Lets Finish Strong!

Now with stains dry!

I put a little glue on the back of the hearts and get them in place.

after the glue sets I go back and pop a couple pin nails into the back to make sure they stay in place.

I then finished it with a spray on polyurethane!

When I made this I was able to batch out half a dozen in just an afternoon and I was in no rush couple breaks and letting everything dry! Makes for a nice gift, wedding, mothers day, birthday, valentines, or just because you made it! Let me know what you think! and if you liked this please vote for me!!!