When gingerbread hearts meet a bowl filled with chalkboard paint you end up with adorable little hearts that you can leave messages on with chalk, hang as decor, or use as gift tags.
I’m so excited to share this fun DIY Valentines’ Day decoration idea with you. Remember last week when I showed you a fun valentines Day craft to do with your kiddos? Well when I baked ornamental gingerbread hearts I went a little overboard with my double batch and had way more hearts than I needed. As I was pondering what to do with the leftover hearts, I came up a crafty idea to cover then in chalkboard paint and make little message hearts out of them. Well, these turned out way cuter than I expected, and are the perfect addition to our Valentines Day decor.
There are so many fun things that you can use these for this Valentines Day.
Hang them from pictures with sweet little messages on them. This would make an unbelievable gift for Grandparents, or Dads for Valentines Day. Add them to cloches or bell jars to add a little message.
Hang them as decorations on light fixtures, valances, and more. I used our thankful tree from thanksgiving time and made it into a love tree using our chalkboard ornaments. I emptied the vase and then refilled it with two bags of red hots. I put the sticks back in and then hung the hearts all over the tree. The hearts are filled with loving words and all of our names too.
Making these sweet ornaments was really very simple. All you need is you baking supplies, a small amount of chalkboard paint, rope, paperclips, and ribbon or twine to hang them. Here is the step by step on how to create these little cuties.
1. Make and bake gingerbread hearts in assorted sizes. Refer to my post on making ornamental gingerbread hearts for instructions and a link to a great recipe. I hung a rope from two of the handles on our kitchen cabinets to hang and dry these ornaments.
2. Pour some chalkboard paint into an old unused Tupperware container. Unfold a paperclip and slide it through the hole you created in your heart for dipping. Slide your paperclip through the hole from the backside of the heart and dip it into the paint so that it is completely coated.
3. Hang your dipped heart over the paint container on a string until it has stopped dripping. Once the drips stop let it dry on the string over a paper plate.
4. Dip and hang all of your hearts until they are dry. It is best to leave your paperclip as straight as possible after you hang them so that you can smoothly pull it out without it peeling the chalkboard paint off of the heart.
5. Once dry remove the paperclips by pulling gently (and as straight as possible. You may loose a stitch of paint here and there, but it can easily be touched up after.
6. Write a sweet message onto your little heart with chalk.
7. Add a sweet little red ribbon and hang to decorate for Valentines Day or use as gift tags! I used a toothpick to push the end of my ribbons through the hole in the ornament.
8. Stand back and admire your crafty hearts and share some with someone you love!
