Valentine Ornament Tutorial

So many people have been emailing me about these ornaments that I thought I would post some specific instructions so that you can make them too!

Supplies: In addition to the normal supplies you use on many projects you will need to gather the specific supplies for this project; bamboo tiles, valentine-type rectangle images, 18 gauge wire, charms, german scrap & gold marker.

For the adhesive, I used a product by Plaid called Royal Coat Decoupage Finish 1401 Clear Satin Finish. I have used ModPodge on other projects but wanted a satin finish instead of the matt finish I get with MP. You can try out different products and use what you like. Gel medium would work too.

1. Cut out your images to size and take a black magic marker to outline the edges. I did this so that they would look more like a vintage photo. You don't have to do this, it's just what I did. :-)
   
2. Use a bristled paint brush to apply a light coat of the adhesive to one side of the tile then place the image on top of the tile. After the adhesive is dry, take the paintbrush and apply a light coat on top of the image and tile to seal it. This is the first coat and I ran the brush side to side horizontally. After this was dry, I put a second coat...this time up and down vertically. After this was dry, I applied a 3rd coat....this time at an angle. This process helps to eliminate the brush strokes that might be left in the adhesive. :-)
   
3. When the tiles are dry enough to touch, apply the German scrap to the side using the same adhesive. You do not need to overcoat it. Leave this all to dry overnight.
   
4. On the 2nd night, I did the same process to the back side with the other images, in my case the faux postage stamps. When it was dry enough to touch, I took a gold Krylon pen and inked the ends of the tiles in gold and left it to dry overnight.
   
5. On the 3rd night, I added the wire, charms, and hanger. For the wire assemblage, I used 10" of 18 gauge goldtone craft wire, put a loop in the middle of it, hung the charms from the loop and then ran the ends up through the two holes of the bamboo tile. At the top of the tile, I folded the wire over and made a wrapped wire loop. If you don't know how to make a wrapped wire loop, let me know and I will get you the info. I use this all the time in jewelry making and I think it really makes the ornament look professional. Anyway, I used the same wire for the hanger...6" piece coiled with a loop at the bottom to attach to the tile ornament.

See how easy this is? It just takes a couple of nights because you don't want to leave your fingerprints in the decopauge...or do you? Hugs and thanks for asking about the valentine ornaments, hope all your "valentines" are good ones.