I am so excited to share an adorable Valentine’s Day craft project with you! Today I am showing you how to make clay hearts. They have a beautiful aged look to them and I love how they fit in with my Valentine’s Day decor!
Awhile back, I taught myself how to make clay hearts. I saw the idea online and knew right away that I had to try it. I shared it with the girls in my membership group then and they loved it. Since it has been a couple of years since I shared it with them, I thought it would be ok to share it with all of you now. I can’t wait for you to check them out!
How to Make Clay Hearts
This was the first time that I had made these clay hearts so I had a few kinks to work out. I like sharing the goofs that I make so that you can learn from them and save time making the same mistakes.
I really wanted to use wax to finish my hearts and give them an antique look. So I started to use a clear wax before I distressed the hearts with a darker wax. But my hearts broke under the pressure of trying to apply that heavy wax. So I switched to the brown glaze instead.
Part of the problem was that the wax is thick. Which is just as it should be, but the application process was too much for my heart. Another thing was that I tried it on one of the hearts I made towards the beginning. At that point I was making them thinner. I definitely suggest making your hearts a bit thicker. Around 1/4 inch or so.
I was a little bummed because I wanted the aged brown look to stay pretty light like it would have with the wax. But that just didn’t work out for me. I still LOVE the way the hearts turned out with the glaze. It just wasn’t what I had originally pictured.
But that’s the way crafting (and life!) goes, right? You start out with an idea and then try things until they work. That’s part of the adventure!
Design Variations
I love the way my hearts turned out. The aged look and neutral colors are the perfect fit for my home decor. If your style is more colorful, though, you can absolutely add pinks and reds to your hearts.
There are a few ways that you could add color to your clay hearts. If you like bold colors, you could paint them with chalk paint or acrylic paint. You could also use red and/or pink foil flakes to add color to your hearts.
If you prefer color but in more muted shades, you could use a mix of paint and clear glaze. I love clear glaze because you can add paint (I use chalk paint) to it to get any color you want. Just add a little paint at a time until you get the right shade. And don’t go more than a 50:50 ratio of paint to wax.
How to Display your Clay Hearts
There are so many ways that you can display your pretty clay hearts. I knew that I wanted to hang some. I also wanted some to lay in a bowl with other items. For the hanging hearts, I just used a large skewer to poke holes in the tops of the hearts. I picked different spots at the top of each heart so I could layer them on top of each other.
For the bowl hearts, I left some flat. And I also curved the edges up on a couple so they would have a little more dimension. I was really happy with how well the clay held that shape. Sometimes gravity is not my friend. But, in this case, it worked out great!
I also worked some of my clay hearts into my mantle decor. They give such a cute added touch of Valentine’s Day and vintage! I know not everyone has a mantle but you can do this on top of a bookcase, a cupboard, or a table.
How to Make Clay Hearts Supply List
- Air Dry Clay
- Non-stick cooking spray
- Rolling pin
- Thin spatula or putty knife
- Protected work surface ( I used a large plastic cutting board)
- Heart cookie cutters (I used a few different sizes and an antique one that was scalloped).
- Scrapbooking stamps ( I used one with handwriting, a polka dot one, a small bevel and a small heart).
- Large skewer to punch a hole in the top of your hearts if you plan to hang them.
- Country Chic Chalk Paint in Crinoline
- Brown glaze ( I used Tiger’s Eye by Country Chic)
- Chip brush
- Wet rag
- Seam binding or ribbon to hang your hearts
How to Make Clay Hearts Instructions
- Spray your work surface with the cooking spray to keep your clay from sticking to it.
- Grab some clay from your bag and roll it out with your rolling pin to the thickness that you want. I tried 1/8″ and 1/16″ but really liked the the 1/4″ thickness for my hearts.
- Then use a heart cookie cutter and push it down into the clay. Just like you would cut out a cookie. Remove the excess clay from the sides and save it for your next heart.
- Next take one of your stamps and gently press it into the clay. The clay won’t stick to your stamps so don’t worry about spraying them with cooking spray.
- With my bigger hearts and stamps, I only used one stamp per heart. With some of my smaller hearts, I combined smaller stamps to make my own designs.
- Once your heart is stamped, use a thin spatula or putty knife to lift the heart off your work surface and set it aside to dry. If you are going to hand your hearts, use a skewer to poke a hole in the top before you leave it to dry.
- Once your hearts are dry, (14-24 hours) paint them with the Crinoline chalk paint. I chose this color because I wanted them as close to white without being actually white. You can try any color you like!
- After the paint dried, I went back in to age my hearts. Use a chip brush to apply the brown glaze to the top and sides of your heart. Make sure to get down into the stamped parts. Then take a wet rag and wipe off the glaze from the top and sides. This will leave the brown behind in your stamps and details, giving them an antique look.
- As I was glazing my hearts, the brown got onto the back of them. Since I plan to hang some and others I made in a curled shape, I wanted to make sure that the backs looked clean. So I let the glaze dry and then went back and painted the back of each heart again. This gave them a much cleaner look.
- For the hearts that I wanted to hang, I used seam binding. Some of it I had tea stained to give it an older look. You can use any ribbon or lace that you want to.
The Wrap Up
And that’s how you make Valentine’s Day clay hearts! They really are simple to make, too. Once I worked out the kinks (which you can now avoid) I was off and running.
I would love to see how you use these clay hearts in your own home. So if you post any pictures of them on social media, tag me so I can check them out! As always, I hope you love this project as much as I do. Happy crafting, friends
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