XOXO Valentine’s Day Decor

Yesterday I showed you how to make a burlap canvas for only $1.  Today I am going to show you what to do with your canvas!  This little piece of burlap heaven makes perfect Valentine’s decor for your mantle, entry, or any surface begging for a little holiday cheer.  A perfect craft.  A little bit of paint, a little burlap, a touch of glitter and some rustic charm.

Once you have your canvas made you will need these things to make your XOXO Valentine’s Day Burlap Canvas:

• Stencil- I used my Silhouette to cut one.  You could use regular stencils although it would be a bit more time consuming. Download my cut file at the bottom.
• Black Acrylic paint
• Foam brush
• DecoArt Decoupage
• Red glitter – I use Recollections brand from Michaels.

First cut your stencil.  The Silhouette made this super easy.  You can download my cut file below or make your own.  If you don’t have a cutting machine you can just use regular stencils you pick up at the craft store one by one.

I weeded and transferred the vinyl over to the canvas fitting it onto the painted portion of the canvas.  Now this can be a little tricky since the burlap even with the paint is pretty textured.  The burlap doesn’t stick as well as it does to some surfaces, but with a little pulling and holding I got it to stay down well enough.

Next I used black craft paint to dab over the X’s and O’s leaving the heart blank.  Make sure to dab from above instead of stroke the paint on since it is a stencil and the vinyl isn’t adhered exceptionally well.  It will help the paint not bleed under the vinyl as much. Let dry.

You will want the black paint to dry completely before you start the heart so that the glitter doesn’t stick to the black paint.

To create the heart, apply a generous layer of the decoupage to the heart stencil.  Then sprinkle a layer of glitter over the decoupage, press down lightly and then shake off the excess onto a paper and pour it back into the glitter container.

Carefully peel off the vinyl stencil and let the canvas dry until the heart is completely dry.  When you peel off the stencil there will probably be a bit of bleeding of paint on the XOXO.  Use a thin brush and the white paint from your canvas to touch up and bleeding and let dry.

That is it!  A simple craft and an impressive piece of Valentine’s decor that you can use pretty much anywhere around your home.  I would love to hear how you decorate for Valentine’s day in your home in the comments!

Download your Silhouette XOXO cut file here.