My kids painted our front porch as a family project last spring (aka keep-everyone-from-driving each-other-crazy Covid project). The porch was fresh and neat and perfect… until I messed it up by spray painting this wooden heart. (I did spread huge plastics all over. I have no idea how the stains got there, really.)

I say it was worth it. My kids aren’t sure. Take a look at that breathtaking heart 👇… and tell me what you think :).  

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Why Lace & Paint Heart Art:

I’m always a fan of crafts that look like a work of art and are shockingly simple to make. And Valentine’s day crafts for adults that are sophisticated – yes easy but no cheesy. Would you believe this is a 3-step project? Definitely wins the award for Valentine’s day DIY crafts that come out professional. And it brings all the loveliest things together: Hearts. Lace. Antique pink.

Experimental First Attempt:

First question was how to make it look properly lacey. Should the bottom layer of paint be white, or the spray paint? (Guess what I did in the end. It’s not as immediately obvious as you’d think!). 

Thankfully, I had some past experience with this “lace art”. When I painted those coasters, I tried out both options. See how the one in the middle looks kinda off, and the others really look like lace? Yep, that was my answer. Paint the base white, and spray paint with color.

So, I got the “figuring out” part out of the way, and you can get it right the first time. Here goes!

What You Need:

• White (or ivory, eggshell, etc) acrylic paint 
• Paintbrush 
• Heart cutouts (they come in a large range of sizes)
• Lace (as wide as you can get if you’re using a big heart)
• Masking tape
• Spray paint in the color of your choice (I used Rust-Oleum’s Vintage Blush)
• Lots of newspaper or krafting paper to cover your spray painting area 😏

What to do:

Step #1) Paint the wood with your white/cream/ivory paint (probably best to avoid a really glossy one for this project) and let it totally dry. 

Step #2) Lay the lace over the heart in the position you want and secure it on the underside with tape (tightly to make sure the lace lays flat). 

Step #3) Spray paint the entire heart, over the white paint and lace, and let it dry really well. (As in – longer than you think it needs! Taking off the lace too early will mess up your beautiful design.) 

Step #4) When it’s completely dry (and preferably when there’s a crowd of people around to go ‘oooooooooooh’) gently take off the lace!

What you just created!

A masterpiece.

A dainty, delicate design that looks like you spent 10 hours hand painting it

A perfect Valentine’s day gift for someone artsy. (err.. let’s be honest, you’re keeping this one!)

Maybe you did a whole batch of these as Valentine’s day crafts to sell (send us a photo please!)

What else:

Once you start painting love-ly things, it’s hard to stop. Creativity is flowing, and you need something paintable in front of you quick. woodpeckerscrafts.com to the rescue: we have 32 swoon-inducing cutouts for Valentine’s day wood crafts for your craft binges 😊.

Tried this out? Planning to? Have questions? Have another cool Valentine’s day craft idea? Let me know in the comments! I’d love your input.