With just days to go before Valentine’s Day, here is a centerpiece with loads of charm. It is quickly and easily put together, see the “how to assemble” photo sequence below. The only hard part is deciding to keep it, or gift it to someone you love.
Start with a glass jar and a cute patterned paper for the insert. Any clean food jar or canning jar works well, as long as you can roll the paper to fit inside the jar mouth. For this project, I am using From My Heart Specialty Designer Series Paper. The beauty of Stampin’ Up! DSP is that it is double sided, with different coordinating patterns front and back (so no ugly side).
Next, you will need lots of hearts. Make sure you use a variety of paper with interesting and unique patterns and colors. You will need 2 hearts of the same pattern to compose each individual pick. I quickly punched out hearts using the Heart Punch Pack from Stampin’ Up!. One punch is a traditional heart shape and the other heart punch has a scalloped edge.
Making the heart picks will require some thin dowels or wooden sticks. Keep in mind that your wood picks need to be taller than your glass jar. I used Tear and Tape Adhesive (strong holding, double sided tape) and Stampin’ Dimensionals to assemble each heart pick. In the following photo you will see the best placement for each.
Secure the heart with adhesive only to the wood pick first. After that, sandwich the second heart (that contains adhesive and dimensionals) over the wood pick and line up with the first heart. The dimensionals help to secure the two hearts back to back as well as buffer the void that the stick creates between the heart layers.
Pretty ribbons in corresponding colors add soft texture and allure. I chose to use traditional red, pink and white for my heart picks. Some are tied in simple knots and others are bows. If your ribbon tends to slide down your pick, roll up a glue dot and use it to secure your ribbon to the pick.
Your jar may need extra love, and a band of ribbon added around the outer rim is just the answer. Cut your ribbon just a bit longer than the jar circumference and overlap slightly where the ends of the ribbon meet. I used the Tear and Tape again to secure the wide ribbon band.
Add ribbon to your ribbon! I used a smaller white ribbon to tie a bow over the larger red one. Next, I punched out 4 small hearts and attached them back to back to the dangling bow strands, using glue dots to secure. How cute is that?
Time to put it all together. If you want your bouquet to be loose and fluid, like wildflowers, just put the heart picks in the jar in any order. This makes if fun to ruffle and mix at will. And if a guest visits or a co-worker pops into your cubicle, it is easy to remove one and gift it away.
If you are looking for some variance in height or a floral centerpiece design, consider adding some styro-foam in the base of your jar (again make sure it fits thru the jar mouth opening). Stab the picks into the foam in different depths. You can also add tissue paper to give the picks something to “dig” into with the same effect.
No matter what pattern paper you use, or what height you keep your centerpiece, this heart bouquet adds sweetness to any space. Not only is it quick and easy to create, but minimal cost is involved. No need to water, weed, or throw away this bouquet…just craft and enjoy.
If you liked this project, share it or save it to Pinterest. I am thinking about making a shamrock bouquet for St Patrick’s Day, then a colorful Easter egg bouquet, followed by a darling spring flower bouquet for Mother’s Day. Leave me a comment and tell me what you are inspired to make!
