How to Make Vintage Inspired Valentine Art

I’ve been in a Valentine kind of mood lately, working on a couple of ideas that I’ve had in mind. Today I’d like to show you a project that can be hung on a wall or set on a shelf.

I’ve used some vintage music paper for the background, followed by a layer of craft paint and then some pretty scrapbook paper. In between, I sprayed it with copious amounts of “aging mist” or strong coffee in a spray bottle. And then voila, vintage inspired Valentine art!

Materials:

1. 8″ x 10″ Canvas (stretched or on board)
2. Vintage music paper
3. Mod Podge
4. Foam brushes
5. Craft paint
6. Scrapbook paper
7. Scissors
8. Cardstock

Cover the Canvas with Vintage Music Paper

Step 1 To start this project, cover your canvas with vintage sheet music paper using Mod Podge to adhere it.

You can apply a whole sheet, as you see in this picture, or you can tear it into pieces and glue each piece separately (see below). Glue over and around the edges by a 1/2″ or so to give the canvas a more finished look.

As you can see in the photo above, I gave the music paper a spray of aging mist. [Aging Mist=a cup of strong coffee poured into a spray bottle. Optional: add 1/4 tsp of alum, which acts as a preservative.]

Paint the Music Paper

Step 2 The torn pieces of vintage music paper give the project some added texture and interest. No matter how you apply your music paper, the next step is to paint it.

I like to squirt some acrylic craft paint right on the canvas, then spray some water over the entire surface and brush the paint on with a foam brush. The water makes the paint translucent. I used cobalt blue, but you can select any color you want.

If you don’t brush too carefully, you’ll get different values, which also adds to the character of your piece.

Step 3 To create the white circles I used the lid from a small jar of paint, dipped the edges in white craft paint and then “stamped” the circles randomly on my canvas.

You can also use small stencils with various shapes to randomly paint some more embellisments on your canvas.

Create Your Heart

Step 4 Cut out a card stock heart to fit your canvas.

Step 5 Next, you’ll cover your heart with pretty paper. Cut out strips of scrapbook paper that coordinate with each other and your canvas color; lay them over your card stock heart to fit.

Glue them on one by one with your Mod Podge, then trim off the excess.

Here’s what a similar heart looked like after gluing and trimming.

Create Your Word Embellishments

Step 6 If you’d like to add some text to your piece, you can use your computer to create your text, or use the title of a song from your vintage songbook or cut out words from a dictionary.

I went with “je t’aime,” the perfect Valentine sentiment, and printed it out in a few different colors so I would have choices.

Step 7 Now it’s time to assemble your masterpiece–glue on your heart and decide where you want your text to go and glue it on as well. I like to paint the sides of my canvas and the top edges with a color coordinating, but darker color, in this case deep red.

Now’s a good time to give the whole piece a spritz of aging mist. Once everything has dried, you can give the entire project a coat of Mod Podge for protection and a light sheen. Put’s you in the holiday spirit, doesn’t it?