It’s the 10th of January and I am so excited to have our group of talented bloggers back for another blog hop! This month the theme is HEARTS and I just know you are going to love (no pun intended!) these projects that are sure to get your creativity flowing for Valentine’s Day… which is just around the corner! I’d love for you to pin our collage below, check out my Heart Carved Tree Stump below, and then HOP to see all the other fabulous projects by some of my friends!
1. Landeelu sharing an Easy Valentine’s Day Wire Heart Garland
2. Little Miss Momma sharing an Easy Heart Envelope Pillow
3. Lolly Jane sharing Glitter Heart Valentine Decor
4. Or So She Says shares Origami Heart Love Notes
5. Simply Kierste sharing Heart Bunting Countdown
6. Six Sisters Stuff sharing Peanut Butter Chocolate Hearts
7. Thirty Handmade Days sharing Printable Valentine’s Day Bookmarks
8. Your Homebased Mom sharing DIY Valentine’s Sharpie Mugs
9. Capturing Joy sharing a Heart Carved Tree Stump
10. eighteen25 sharing Heart Gift Tags
Now for an up close of my little project.
Let me just say that this was probably the HARDEST 10th project to come up with. I mean…”hearts” sounds so easy, but so much has been done, too, I feel pressure to make it extra interesting when teaming up with these creative girls! I tried to do several different projects (which one was a bust, and one I stopped half way b/c I wasn’t impressed), and even resorted to asking my husband and kids for ideas with hearts. The best one they came up with was to get some play dough, and form a REAL human heart with valves and everything coming out of it. While that might have been quite impressive, I just didn’t see how that would translate into sharing for the sake of re-creating. I mean…it isn’t a home decor piece, not so much a kid craft, maybe with edible play dough it could have been a recipe of sorts with a “how to.” But no, I just wasn’t up to that task.
I roamed my house for ideas, and my eyes caught on these cute mini tree stump magnets that reside in my office, I found via Jane.com a few months back. (seller no longer has them in her shop)
I then remembered a really cool Wood Plank Chalkboard project made by my creative friends at 1825, and a new baby was born in my head.  The Heart Carved Tree Stump you see today. I was SO excited, I ran out and found my very own tree stump piece at Joann ($12 then 40% off) and I couldn’t WAIT to get started. It would have been nice to have my own forest of tree’s to cut down, but alas, I live in Suburbia, I don’t have such access.
I didn’t want to go the traditional tree carving route with a pocket knife, though my sweet boys anxiously offered theirs up…so I used a little handheld device called the Dremel Rotary Tool .  I popped on an attachment to route a little line. Then I just traced my pencil markings.
The carving was the easy part. I thought I’d leave it like that, but it really wasn’t visible from a distance. I played a little on the back with a brown stain. I first used a q-tip and it bled way too much. Then I tried to sand it down a bit and re do it. Well, lets just say I’m not super excited with how the stain turned out, but if you look at it with one eye closed, it doesn’t look so bad. Up on my mantel, practically perfection. Ultimately, it was a fun project, but I wanted the worn tree look. I could have just as easily painted in the letters. So if you like it, you decide what look you like!
I just love the wood carving look!! Â Happy blog hop heart day, go visit my friends!!
Visit all of our 10th blog hop projects HERE.
Want more hearts? See my HEART FINGERPRINT ART and HEART BUTTON ART.
