Decoration: Valentine's Day - Sanded Layered Hearts

Inspiration: I remember making these in school a long time ago and wanted to try making one on my own.


How I Make Them: I cut my shape out of many pieces of different colors of construction paper (I used basic construction paper since it sands better). For the heart I used about 20 cut out shapes. For the butterfly shown below, I used at least 40. I punched the hole in each shape next, trying to get as close to the same spot as I could on each piece. Then I glued the layers together using Elmer's School Glue. I let that dry over night. The Elmer's School Glue causes it to warp a little - that's good! Warping will help when we smooth it out with sanding. After it's dried well, I start sanding. I took an old shoebox lid and taped a piece of fine-grit (120) sandpaper inside it. Then I sanded my piece from the flat sides. I did both sides, stopping every so often to dump the sanded off particles in the trash. This takes a few days to get done (my arm would get pretty tired from the sanding). When the front and back had the layers exposed in a way I liked, I took a piece of sandpaper and rounded the edges. I smoothed the hole a little with sandpaper around a skinny pen. I wipes the piece clean with a lightly damp paper towel and then let it dry overnight. The next day, I put a layer of Modge Podge on it. I let it dry overnight and then lightly sanded it and did another layer of Modge Podge. I repeated until I had done 4 layers of Modge Podge. Then I let it dry for a week (Modge Podge tends to be a bit tacky until it's really well dried). When it was well dried, I added a ribbon and was ready to hang it.

Alternatives:

• Any shape can be used. I've made hearts, butterflies, moons and stars.
• If you make it thick enough, you can use sandpaper to add more texture to the piece (though I tend to just try to get it flat).
• Instead of Modge Podge, you could try a poly-urethane coating but it might yellow over time. If you don't coat it, the layers will eventually just peel off.

Additional Photo: