During a recent shopping trip to old town my girlfriend Veronica and I came across these adorable old world style Christmas ornaments in one of our favorite boutiques. I wanted to scoop up dozens of them for my Christmas tree, but at $5 a piece I knew it would cost me an arm and a leg. Veronica took one look at them and promptly told me that we could easily make them ourselves. I love her “can do” attitude!!! So I promptly purchased a couple to use as our inspiration pieces. WOO-HOO!
Supplies:
- 2 inch wooden hearts
- Dremel tool with sanding bits
- Wood stain in color of choice
- Rag
- Acrylic paint; red & white
- Paint brushes
- Mod Podge
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Jute twine
- Holiday theme twine
It took a little time to find wooden hearts that would work for this project but we were able to find these 2″x 2″x1/2″ wooden hearts on Amazon. Overall, it cost me about $2.25 to make each ornament, less than half of what the ornaments at the boutique cost.
They aren’t quite as thick as the ornaments I picked up at the boutique but they will be transformed into a charming old world touch for the Christmas tree. They are an affordable alternative and they are nice and lightweight so they won’t weigh down the branches on the tree.
You could use these hearts just as they are and they would be beautiful. To really get that folk art, old world look and feel, requires getting rid of those hard prominent edges. That means sanding them off. Because these hearts are so small, the easiest way to do that is to use a Dremel tool with a sanding bit attached.
Sanding the edges off, results in a subtle difference, but it’s definitely worth the time and effort to sand the edges smooth if you are trying to achieve a more folk art look.
It will take between 5-10 minutes to sand the edges off of each heart. Take your time with this step. Your patience will pay off.
After sanding the hearts smooth, you could go right ahead and embellish them with paint. But since a good portion of the wood will remain unpainted and show, I wanted the exposed wood to be a bit darker than the pale unfinished pine color.
I used leftover stain in the color “English Chestnut” from a previous project to stain each heart. Use an old rag and dip it into the stain. Wipe the stain onto a heart and then wipe off any excess stain with a clean dry rag. Apply a second coat if you want darker results.
Before, unstained. 
After 1 coat of stain.
Once the stain has dried, it’s time for the fun part! Painting each heart.
Painted centers. 
Painted edges.
Take a deep breath! Painting these hearts is not difficult. Even if you think you don’t have the talent to paint I will show you how easy it actually it is to paint these. Remember, folk art is supposed to look homemade and not perfect, that’s what gives it its charm.
Decide if you want the edges or the centers of each heart painted red. I love the look of both so I painted some with red centers and some with red edges.
Once you have the your hearts painted with the red base coat (it will take 2 coats to get good even coverage) use the tip of a paint brush dipped in white paint and create dots on your hearts.
There’s no wrong way to do this. Remember folk art shouldn’t be “perfect”. Any imperfections are what give these hearts their unique charm.
Next it’s time to add painted scrolls to the edges. Use a fine tip paintbrush and add scrolls to the edges.
TIP: Practice painting scrolls on hearts with red painted edges. That way if you aren’t happy with how it looks, that way you can easily paint over it with a couple coats of red paint and try again until you get it looking the way you like it.
Once the hearts are painted, seal them with a coat of ModPodge. Use a matte finish for the best look.
Now it’s time add hangers to each heart. Use jute twine for a more rustic look or holiday twine for a more festive look. I used both and I love the look of each!
The ornaments I purchased had an eye hook screwed into the top for the hanger but I decided to keep it simple and glued the jute twine hangers directly onto the wooden hearts.
Truth be told I was having trouble screwing the eye hooks into each heart, they kept breaking off when I tried screwing them into the wood. So I decided to save them to make more cork ornaments instead! Learn how easy it is to make them here. Seriously, this is the easiest craft you will ever make!
Place a small dab of hot glue in the crotch of the heart and add a loop of twine pressing it into the glue for about a minute until the glue hardens.
I added a bow to each heart, because I think it looks so very charming and adds to the old world style, but you don’t need to add a bow if you don’t want to.
That’s it! Look at how stinking cute these look! Utterly charming, and they will add such a lovely folk art, old world style to your Christmas tree.
All ready to be hung on the tree!
I hope you decide to give this little project a try. The results are so very appealing and they aren’t a difficult project to complete. I love the pop of color and old world charm they give to my Christmas tree.
Want to learn how to make those dried citrus ornaments? Like the one hanging behind the painted wooden heart above? The ones that look like nature’s beautiful stained glass when they are on your tree? Check out how easy it is to make them here.
It’s definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! I hope you are having fun this Christmas season with your family and creating memories with your kids that will last a lifetime! May all the blessings of the season be with you in the upcoming weeks as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus. He is after all the main reason for the season!
Did You Make These?
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For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Remember…Jesus ❤️’s you!