Recycled Paper Valentine Heart Pins

Did you know that you could just grind up a paper bag with some water and press the pulp into a mold and make a cool, lightweight Heart pin just in time for Valentine’s Day?  This project is so simple you may want to create some for every holiday. Makes a great teacher gift too.

You will need:

Brown paper bag

Blender

Water

Heart candy mold available in craft store

Kitchen sponge

Sieve or colander

Red metallic acrylic paint

Small paintbrush

Tacky craft glue

Tiny hole punch

Decorative scrapbook scissors

Small sharp scissor

Pink cardstock or art paper

Pencil with eraser or disappearing marker

1 ½” pin back, toothpick

1.     Tear up small pieces of the paper bag and place in the blender.  Add about 2 cups of water.  Let it sit for a few minutes to soak up some of the water.  Pulse the blender on high at intervals.  When the paper is pulpy it is ready to mold.

2.     Work on a kitchen counter near a sink.  Lay the mold flat and take small pieces of pulp in your hand and squeeze out the excess water.  You may want to use a colander to drain out some of the water.  Press the small amounts of pulp into the mold.  Use a sponge to push the pulp tightly into each section of the mold. 

3.     Set the mold aside and let dry for 24 hours.  If you want to speed up the drying time you may use a hairdryer lightly blowing on each motif.  When it partially dry use a tip of a toothpick to ease out the motifs.  Let dry completely.

4.     When the motif is completely dry use a small sharp scissor to trim any uneven edges around the heart. Lay the heart on a covered work surface and brush on a coat of red metallic acrylic paint and let dry.

5.     Place the heart motif on the cardstock and trace around with a disappearing marker or pencil.  Use the decorative scrapbook scissors to cut about 1/2” bigger than the marked lines. (See photo)  Punch some tiny holes with your hole punch in the ½” margin area to create a lacy effect.

6.     Center the heart on your cardstock heart; if you used a pencil you can erase those lines.  Attach with a generous amount of tacky glue on the back edges of the heart.  Let dry.

7.     Glue a 1 ½’ pin back on the back of the pin with a bead of tacky glue.