Happy Heart Sachet Wall Art

wall art

May 7, 2012

Happy Heart Sachet Wall Art

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Here’s a last-minute Mother’s Day gift you can make for someone you love! Carla Schauer created this wall art sachet by dye-staining a wood shadow box to house a heart she dyed and then stuffed with fiberfill and dried lavender. So it’s sure to smell good all year long. As a finishing touch, the heart can be personalized with a special hand-written message like “Happy Home, Happy Heart.”

Carla Schauer is an independent designer, licensed artist and a lover of color and patterns. Her designs include memory art, 3-dimensional crafts, scrapbooking, card making, mixed-media art and home decor. Carla also creates surface art for licensing. Her work can be seen at her website, and on her blog.

Here's the tutorial:

SUPPLIES:

Rit Liquid Dye: Fuchsia, Sunshine Orange, Aquamarine
Wood Shadowbox Frame, 5”x7”
2 Squares, 10” x 10”, Cream Twill Fabric
3 Yds. Thick Cotton Baker’s Twine
Chipboard Sheet, 5” x 7”
Fray-Check
Polyester fiberfill (small amount)
Fabri-tac Permanent Adhesive
Cream Textured Cardstock
Brown Ink Pen
2 Orange Brads
Large Craft Needle
Fabric Scissors
Dried Lavender (optional)
Clear Polyurethane (optional)
Dyeing Supplies: Latex Gloves, measuring cup, measuring spoons, 3-cup microwaveable container, sponge brush, plastic wrap, plastic table cover

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cover work surface with a plastic table cover.

2. Shake all dye bottles before measuring dye. Wearing latex gloves, measure and mix 3 Tablespoons Fuchsia dye with 1 cup very hot water in a microwaveable container; stir well.

3. Wet one fabric square in warm water. Remove and squeeze out excess water.

4. Immerse wet fabric and one yard cotton twine in dye solution. Push down on fabric with a spoon to be sure dye penetrates the fabric.

5. Cover container with plastic wrap. Place container in microwave and set on high for 2 minutes. When plastic wrap is cool, remove container from microwave.

6. Remove fabric and twine. Rinse in cool water until water runs clear. Then wash in warm water with mild detergent, rinse and dry flat. Iron to remove any wrinkles

7. Dye second fabric square and one yard of twine in Sunshine Orange, following steps 2 – 6.

8. Wearing latex gloves, measure ¼ cup Aquamarine dye with 1 cup very hot water in microwaveable container. Immerse remaining 1 yard of twine in the dye solution. Cover container with plastic wrap and heat in the microwave for 2 minutes. When plastic is cool, remove twine and rinse in cool water until water runs clear. Wash in warm mild soapy water, rinse and dry on paper towels.

9. Use this same dye solution to stain the wood shadowbox frame. If necessary, cover dye solution with plastic wrap and reheat in the microwave for 1 minute. Using a sponge brush, brush dye on shadowbox frame. Let dry and reapply additional coats of dye until desired color intensity is reached. Let frame dry completely. Note: If desired, apply a coat of polyurethane to give wood a more finished appearance.

10. Cut chipboard to fit in bottom of frame. Cover chipboard sheet with Fuchsia dyed fabric; trim away excess fabric. Glue covered chipboard in place. Glue Sunshine Orange dyed twine around perimeter of frame to cover edges of fabric.

11. Cut Sunshine Orange dyed fabric into heart shape and apply Fray Check to edges to prevent fraying.

12. Cut 18” Aquamarine dyed twine, separate 3 strands, and twist strands to form thinner twine thread. Knot end. Using a craft needle, hand stitch around perimeter of heart, leaving a ¼” border. Lightly pull loose end of thread to create desired gathering of heart shape.

13. Glue heart in center of frame, leaving top of heart unglued and open. Loosely stuff heart with fiberfill and dried lavender (if desired) to create fullness. Glue top of heart closed.

14. Loop Aquamarine dyed twine into daisy-like petal shapes and glue together to form flower.

15. Spiral and glue Fuchsia dyed twine into a small round shape and glue to center of flower. Glue completed flower to bottom left of heart.

16. Using dark brown ink pen, print or write “Happy Home, Happy Heart” on cream cardstock. (Note: Phrase could be printed out from your computer.) Then cut around phrase so paper measures 4” x ½”.