Tole Painted Quilt Heart 'Welcome' Sign

This simple craft teaches you how to make one of those cute wooden heart signs that looks like a painted quilt.

Materials:

Wooden heart - about 3 inches big, ½ inch thick
Wooden heart - about 2 inches big, ½ inch thick
Beige Raffia - 15 inches long, small handful
Ribbon - ½ inch wide, 6 inches long. Blue and white country check.
Paint - red, white, black
Paintbrush
Craft Glue
Pencil

Instructions:

1. Cover the large heart with an even coat of red paint. Cover the smaller heart in an even coat of white paint. Check the “Step 1” picture in needed. Let dry.
2. Glue the white heart on top of the red heart. Make sure to glue it in the middle of the red heart, as shown in the “Step 2” picture.
3. Using a fine brush, make tiny black lines around the white heart, as shown in the “Step 3” picture. This creates a “quilted” look. Let dry. You can lightly create the dots with a pencil first if needed.
4. Take a pencil and decide where the word “Welcome” will be placed on the white heart. Use the pencil to lightly draw in the word, so you can fit it in perfectly, as shown in the “Step 4” picture.
5. Using a fine brush and black paint, outline the word, as shown in the “Step 5” picture. Make the word lines slightly darker than the dotted “quilt” lines. Let dry.
6. Tie your ribbon into a small, perfect bow. Make sure to pull everything tight. Trim the extra ribbon hanging from the ends. Glue the bow to the very top of the red heart, as shown in the “Step 6” picture. Let dry.
7. Now you have the basic sign done. Figure out how you want to hang it up on the wall or door. You can use ribbon, raffia, wire, or string. I cut a small fistful of natural brown raffia, about 15 inches long. Just loop the raffia around to make the “hook” the sign will hang from. Tie it together with a string if needed, and securely glue it to the back of the red heart, as shown in the “Step 7” picture. Let dry and you’re done!

Notes:

If you’re new to Tole painting and cannot master the fine lines, there is a way to cheat. Use a thin, black, sharpie pen instead of black paint. Now you can make the fine black lines with ease. Be warned though, if you plan on learning more about Tole painting, you’ll need to learn how to create those fine lines eventually.

If you don’t like the extra raffia hanging down, just trim it so that it ends behind the red heart. Or add another bow at the bottom of the heart to decorate the raffia with.

by Aysha Schurman