Valentines Arrow Art Tutorial

As you can tell from my most recent posts, I have been feeling a little bored with the usual Valentines Day decor. I do like it, but find it ultra girlie, which I do like, as I am a girl... Sometimes I just wonder how the boys feel about all the fruffy stuff on Valentines Day. The boys outnumber the girls in our house, by 3 to 2. So, I decided to try something a little more on trend this year, with a bit of an unexpected twist.

 Arrows have been super popular as of late, with movies like The Hunger Games, and Brave. I have been right on board with that trend. Another trend that is everywhere, is color blocking. You see it all over the place, from fashion, to home decor. I decided to give it a whirl this year. I wanted my Valentines decor to be a little more on trend, and even masculine. My son is a big fan. Score for me.

 

 My inspiration for this piece can be found HERE. I wanted to take it to another level, by making it 3D.

This is the collage wall in our family room. I love having a collage wall, because I can add holiday items with minimal effort, while achieving the same overall effect. 

 And, I have a whole Valentines Day pinterest board, bursting with arrow themed ideas if you want to take a peek.

Let's get started, shall we...

You will need:

5/16" x 48" dowels from Home Depot $.86 each

1/4" x 2 x 4 Birch Hardwood Plywood $8.97 at Home Depot 
You can ask them to cut it to whatever size you choose, depending on how many arrows you add.. I started with 2x3, and actually ended up cutting it smaller at home, as the project evolved.

3/4" x 3/4" x 4' nail on corner guard - Home Depot $1.98

Valentine Craft Hearts - Hobby Lobby $99. You could also use paper.

Craft Paint in whatever colors you choose.

Hot Glue

Feathers

Paint Marker - I got mine at Bennion Craft. Galaxy brand.

Paint pen, again, Bennion Craft. Precision Pen.

Part 1 - THE ARROWS

Paint the first layer on your dowels. I left a natural part on each dowel for our names. Can you see how my collage wall normally looks in the background below?

 Paint stripes in whatever colors you choose on the dowels. I wanted mine to be bright and fun.

 

Decide which feather you want to go with which dowels. I had a bunch of feathers, but most of them were colored. I called my friend Lisa, and she just happened to have a pheasant in her freezer, and plucked more feathers for me. Who knew?!? I love you even more Lisa, after that experience. You are AWESOME!

 

 Cut your feather in half down the spine, and make them as long as you choose. Glue your feathers on. I used three pieced for each arrow, and glued them on with hot glue.

 

Hot glue the wooden hearts onto the tip of each dowel, opposite the feathered end.

Write names or greetings on your arrows. I chose to write our family names. I used a paint pen called precision pen, and it worked really well. I got it at Bennion Craft.

Part 2 - THE BOARD

Use your leftover piece of wood as a ruler. Place it on your large board, and with your galaxy marker, draw a line to show where you will paint later on.

Do this for the whole board.

 Once you have the outline, fill it in with paint. The goal here, is to make the black part look like a frame. while keeping the inside natural wood.

How to hang the arrows, you ask? You have two options. You can simply hot glue them on, which will work fine, or use the corner guard.

 Cut two pieces of corner guard for each arrow.

Hot glue them into place. The hot glue holds really well.

I did this first, then ended up just hot gluing the arrows to the board, because the feathers made them turn slightly, and the tips weren't straight. You can decide the look you want to have.

You can see, I shortened my board, before hanging it on my wall. The smaller size and shape just worked better for the space.

I hope you are feeling a little arrow inspired!

I will be sharing this and other ideas on Studio 5 Friday. You won't want to miss it!

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa