Have you ever wanted to paint a heart?
Getting both sides of a heart symmetrical while painting can be intimidating. When I have tried to paint a heart by hand, often one side gets larger as I try to perfect it. By the time I go back and forth from working on the different sides, the heart ends up being way larger than I intended.
I came up with this shadow painting trick to paint hearts, and I can’t wait to share it with you. I started by grabbing a bunch of scrap wood pieces. You can use canvases or paper too. Use what you have and have fun!
I used some leftover spray paints and sprayed just the top of my wood pieces. I didn’t need the sides covered or for the whole top to be really even. I was just trying to cover the middle of the wood piece well. I will show you why.
After I painted the tops, I sanded my signs a little with a heavy grit sandpaper. I wanted the color to be mixed a little with a rustic appeal. By sanding the signs a little, some of the color was removed to show the natural wood below again.
This next step is how you get your symmetrical heart. Remember the old elementary school trick of folding a piece of paper in half? Cut one rounded half of your heart, unfold it, and ta-da… perfect heart! So, I cut a bunch of hearts out of thin cardboard. You could use construction paper or even paper bags from the grocery store. Just something that will withstand a little spray paint. The hearts were different sizes and styles. I wanted a mix of different looks, and the different hearts helped create that. 
Now, I laid a cardboard heart on each wood sign and spray painted over them with a different color. The heart cardboard acted as a sticker shadow and allowed the new spray paint color to stay off the previous spray paint layer in the shape of a heart. Since this layer of spray paint is the top layer, you do want to spray paint the sides of your heart sign now.
My hearts were pretty perfect. I did a light sand job to rough the edges up a bit more and then the signs were complete! If you have been following me for a while, you might remember I did this painting trick on magnets before too! I think these would be so pretty in a gallery wall display, sitting on a shelf, or even given as a Valentine!
Do you give out Valentines? Matt and I aren’t a big Valentines Day couple, but I have created a number of different Valentines for our kids through the years. This notebook valentine was one of my favorites. It’s non-candy and can be used practically after Valentines Day has passed. Which is also what I also like about this wood sign…a wood sign with a heart is timeless! So, I might have to take a sharpie and write a few notes on the back and give these to my kids and friends this year!?!
What do you think? Would you try this technique to paint a heart? You can personalize this craft in so many ways. Changing the color is one way to personalize it to your taste. If you have scrap wood and spray paint too, then this craft is practically free! Enjoy! If you create some wood signs, I’d love to see them! Tag me with #spoonfulproject on social media, so we can all see your creations!
Surely I’m not a hoarder, right!? There are things that are easy to throw out. Toys the dogs have chewed on, stained socks with holes, and junk mail… no sweat!
I decided I would make some simple heart blocks and books ends. I love the simplicity yet loud message a heart speaks. What a cute little accent these would be on shelves and dressers.
I then picked out some fun colors and painted the blocks. Once they were painted on both sides, I cut a heart out of cardboard to create a stencil. I then placed this in the center of my block and painted the heart in.
I ended up creating several different sized heart stencils. This idea for a sign is similar to 
I love how the blocks turned out. To turn some of the larger ones into book ends, I attached a 4″ L bracket to the bottom of two of the blocks.
I think the blocks and bookends turned out so bright and fun. I really like them.
I donated this round of blocks to a fun home decor sale in our town. The profits from this sale help send kids in Zambia, Africa to school! If you are local to Warsaw or Winona Lake, Indiana, please come check out the Hither and Yon sale October 16-17. You can find more details on their 
I think one of the best gifts we have is the ability to use our gifts for good. What a power. The surprise is that we get something in return. It’s a win-win. I was thrilled to make some creations for a good reason. I just might have to buy one of these blocks back because I really like them.
Breaking habits can be hard. Change can be hard, but it’s a battle worth fighting at times.
I want to be a better judge of my time. I want to be more proactive with my schedule. I don’t want my little girl to say “mom, move your phone. I want to show you my picture.” I want to be drawing with her. I want to reclaim my schedule and life. I want the ideas in my head to be with where I am. Instead of thinking of the next thing I need/want to do. I want to fight to be present in all the little moments.
My memory is bad, and I am learning maybe it’s because my head is full of lots of little distractions that it’s not remembering the big things. I want to fight for that to change. I want to quiet my heart and be present.
So, I will continue to fight for a quiet heart. In my 
Moving is hard stuff. Or rather TRYING to move is hard stuff. Prepping a house, showing a house, and constantly having it ready to show (all while being a homeschool mama and in the house all day, everyday with kids) makes me want to pull my freshly dyed blue hair out. It’s stressful. It’s in me to let chores go, to constantly choose playing, creating, and being outside over housework. When in a situation that I feel like the house has to take priority, I get short, snippy with my kids, get in task mode, and feel incredibly grateful that my husband still loves me. I hate it.
My heart is finding peace in the midst of living something I would wish on no one. My prayers are more frequently that Jesus would grant me strength to seek wisdom and persevere than for our house to just sell quickly. The work might not be with our house, but with my own heart. We are still here for a reason.
