Thumbtack Art Decor - DIY LOVE Craft

Thanks for coming to the Social Craft's blog! We give you great DIY craft party ideas whether you are hosting a group for ladies' night or just wanting to do a craft individually. In this article, we are teaching you a gorgeous Valentine's Day, or Galentine's Day, decoration craft for the home - my Thumbtack Art Decor, the LOVE edition! A super easy craft anyone can accomplish, even a great kids craft.

Even if it's not Valentine's Day this easy DIY craft idea is perfect for any time of year, for any craft party. If you don't want to do the word LOVE, these techniques can be applied to any letters, initials or shapes... use your imagination!!

Social Crafts provides everything you need for a successful girls' night in! DIY craft ideas, party food recipes, and cocktail inspiration. Host a craft party in a breeze. Hosting & party hacks to make it easy! At the end of this blog look for the links to Party Recipe Menus (food inspiration), more craft ideas, and party hosting tips (coming soon)!

Without further ado... I give you  Thumbtack Art Decor, the LOVE edition!!

Video tutorial of this craft is at the end of this article >>>>

Supplies you will need for this craft & their links for easy shopping:

• 12”x 12” Corkboard, 1 per person https://amzn.to/2ONMfVq
• Paint brushes, at least 1 person, I used three of various sizes, either this https://amzn.to/37eGiHu OR this https://amzn.to/2SmizB5
• Craft Paint in Red and White https://amzn.to/2tk2WQD
• Cup or jar of water for used paintbrushes, so paint doesn’t dry on the brushes
• Thumbtacks, about 200-300 per person, in either gold https://amzn.to/37nkHwx or silver https://amzn.to/31L9vbY
• Paper plates for paint https://amzn.to/30n1HfV
• Pencil, 1 per person, or at least per 2 people https://amzn.to/2vwz2JH
• 1 pair of scissors per person, or at least per 2 people https://amzn.to/2TnS3YT
• Ruler, 1 per person, or at least per 2 people https://amzn.to/36ESroU
• LOVE PDF Printout, click here to download

Optional Supply list:

• Xacto Knife https://amzn.to/31NWBd1
• Cutting Mat https://amzn.to/2ux8ubo
• Twine https://amzn.to/31Pqz0r
  

STEPS - THUMBTACK ART DECOR, LOVE EDITION


STEP 1: Make a small mark at 6 inches on each of the four edges of the corkboard you will use for your Thumbtack Art Decor.

STEP 2: Draw a line from one 6" mark across to the opposite side 6" mark. Do that the other way as well making two lightly-drawn lines that cross across the corkboard perpendicular to each other. 




STEP 3: Put the corkboard aside. I created a stencil you can use to trace LOVE on to your Thumbtack Art Decor, Download and print the LOVE PDF provided. Cut out the gray part of the letters. You can do this one of two ways. One way is simply using scissors and the other is to use a Xacto knife and a cutting mat, both work!

When cutting out your letters, the gray part you are throwing away so it doesn't need to be cut in one piece. However the white part you want to keep as one solid piece, this the part we will be using.



STEP 4: Once you are done cutting out your LOVE, place on the corkboard lining up the lines on the paper to the lines you drew on the corkboard. This helps make sure the "LOVE" will be in the center.





STEP 5: Hold down the paper to keep it steady and with your pencil trace the LOVE on to your corkboard. It doesn't need to be dark, just light enough for you to see it.




STEP 6: Prep your paint. Place some white craft paint on a paper plate, you will be using the white paint to fill in the LOVE letters. Also, fill a glass with water to place your paintbrushes in it when you are done so the paint doesn't dry on them.




STEP 7: Fill in your LOVE letters with white craft paint. I used the skinny brush to outline my letters and then a medium size brush to fill in the center of the letters. Don't worry about making the edges super clean because eventually, the thumbtacks will cover where the white meets the red paint.

I did about two coats of white for the letters. Set aside and let dry completely. Optional - to speed up the drying time, you can use a hairdryer to dry it quicker.


 

STEP 8: Once the white paint is COMPLETELY dry then use red craft paint to fill in the rest of the corkboard. I used a thick brush for this and also did about two coats of red.

 Remember, make it somewhat clean and neat but don't stress about making the edges super clean because eventually, the thumbtacks will cover where the white meets the red paint. Let dry completely.


 

STEP 9: Once the paint is completely dry start inserting the thumbtacks. I like to start with a thumbtack at each of the points of a letter (like on the "V" in the picture to the left), then working with one edge of the letter at a time, push a tack in, alternating from each side of that edge until one tack completes that side in the middle. If this does not make sense to you, insert the tacks in whatever way you want, this is a hard step to mess up.

My personal preference is to overlap the thumbtacks slightly. You can also not overlap them and have them more side by side of each other! This is your Thumbtack Art Decor so you do whatever technique looks good to you!

And WA-LAH! You have a beautifully completed DIY Valentines Day Craft, your very own Thumbtack Art Decor!

If you want to see my Thumbtack Art Decor tutorial in more detail, click the image below to see my video.