Introduction: DIY Plywood Valentines Day Gift/Decoration

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About: Hi there my name is Alan Hatch I am a DIYer, an artist and love making decorations for my yard for the holidays, My instructables site allows me to show you how to do it in the hopes that you will explore your…

What better way to say I love you than with a homemade gift for that special love of your life. This design was made using some old plywood scraps I had laying around the yard and is so easy with just a few tools and some nice acrylic paint that anyone could do it. I added roses for a special effect. It really is nice placed in a hallway or on a shelf. Sometimes the best way to say I love you doesn't involve spending a whole lot of money and it's something your loved one can treasure for years to come.

Step 1: Materials List

1 4x4' piece of plywood enough plywood to make six hearts

1 1x1" lumber for the base

4 dozen silk roses

1 bunch of baby's breath

Any other decorations you may want to use

Red Acrylic Paint

Stencils if you are going to put names on the heart

White Acrylic Paint

1 Package of Floral Foam Green

Paint Primer

Step 2: Hardware Needed

Paint brushes both fine and wide

Jigsaw

scrollsaw blade attachment

Hot glue gun

heart pattern made from some cardboard or foam so each heart is the same in Diameter

Sander

Newspaper

wire cutters

Step 3: Making Your Hearts

  • A simple rule of thumb to get your hearts all the same and correct sizes is to first make a pattern out of card board or foam material that you can use to trace onto the plywood.
  • For this project I made a heart pattern that was 10" high and 11" wide at its widest point. Any size heart will do but this is the size I went with you want the hearts to be the same size.
  • After you have made your pattern start tracing the heart onto the plywood. for this project you will need six. 3 for the front and three for the back.
  • This is a stand on it's own decoration
  • After you have traced your hearts onto the plywood take a jig saw and carefully cut each one. I use a scroll saw blade attachment for this.
  • After you have finished cutting out the hearts you need to sand them to remove any rough edges
  • After you have carefully sanded your hearts the next step would be to prime every space of the heart. you may want to lay some newspaper down so you don't get paint primer everywhere. do the front, back and sides of each heart and let dry thoroughly.
  • After the hearts are dry paint your desired color on each of the six hearts front, back and sides.
  • let dry thoroughly.
  • You may have to use more than one coat of paint for each heart.
  • after drying the hearts you may then add some details like painted hearts or words with your choice of color.
  • you may use any color in this case I am using white acrylic
  • Use stencils if necessary
  • let your hearts dry for right around an hour before you begin the next step

Step 4: Assembly

  • Now that your hearts are dry it's time to assemble the finished piece
  • using a 1x1" board attach the hearts as follows: The middle heart first, I attach this middle heart to the two outside hearts using a hot glue gun.
  • to attach the hearts to the 1x1" board simply use a finish nail gun and finish nails to attach each end and one in the center. Using an extra bit of hot glue can help secure the hearts to the base
  • Repeat this for the other side
  • Once you have your heart statue in place and secure make sure that it is setting perfectly level.
  • Fill in the gap at the top with green floral foam
  • Take your roses and baby's breath or other decorations and cut with wire cutters so that each rose is a single stem.
  • start at one end of the gap and insert roses until you have reached the other side
  • finish it by adding babies breath to fill in any gaps or holes
  • FINISHED