Today I have a special treat, a 2-for-1 wood door hanger DIY painting tutorial!! One (or both, who can decide?!) of these Whimsical Valentine Door Hangers should be on your list for your next paint night with friends.
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Whimsical Valentine Door Hangers
Supply List
- 2-3 brushes, 1″ brush for your base coat, 3/4″ & 1/4″ for your detail work, water container for your brushes, paper plate, and paper towels.
- Wood Cutouts
- Paint listed below
- Painters Tape (.75-1″)
- Small polka dot sponge or pencil eraser
- small fan for drying (optional)
- E6000 glue
- Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel or Minwax Polycrylic to seal and make it glossy (optional)
- Bow & Twine for hanging
- Optional Vinyl
Paint used on Envelope:
- Bungalow 47 Paint colors: Lamp Post, Lava Lamp, Subway Tile, Front Door Red
- Acrylic Paint: Mars Black, Medium Magenta
Paint used for Flower Pot:
- Bungalow 47 Paint colors: Lamp Post, Lava Lamp
- Acrylic Paint: Titanum White, Mars Black, Naphthol Crimson, Cadmium Red Deep Hue, Phthalo Green, Cadmium Yellow Light Hue.
I paint both of these two whimsical Valentine door hangers together in the video below. This way if you choose to paint both yourself you can since we are using similar colors.
Start off with a base coat all over in Lamp Post. This creates a good foundation for the rest of your paints. Only paint the base of the Flower Pot with 2 coats where it will stay black.
Envelope Door Hanger
Start by painting the envelope with two coats of Front Door Red. I use a 1” paint brush for a good quick coverage. Try not to get paint down into the groove cut lines. It is better to do a couple thin coats than one thick coat.
While waiting for each layer of red to dry, paint the paper portion with two thin coats of Subway Tile.
Make sure the red paint is completely dry before we move onto taping the lines out for the stripes.
With 3\4” painters tape start with the center of each section and work your way out while taping your lines. These are whimsical stripes, they do not need to be perfect.
I recommend working on the vertical lines first then when the paint is dry we can lay the tape out horizontally.
Paint in the vertical lines with Medium Magenta. Before the stripes dry I add in a few white streaks. Don’t blend those in, just a pop for highlight.
Once your first set of stripes are good and dry tape the horizontal lines starting at those center peaks again. and then paint them just the same as the others.
Paint the heart cutout. I paint mine in a pop of turquoise using Lava Lamp, but you can use any pop of color! After it is dry add some white polka dots in an alternating pattern. I use a polka dot sponge stippler but a pencil eraser works just fine. You can run a little black paint along the edges to add a black outline.
If you aren’t painting the flower pot you can skip to the Finishing-Up phase.
Flower Pot Door Hanger
On your prepped wood cut out, start by taping off the bases of the stems and leaves so that you have a straight line when you paint the top of the flower pot.
Paint the top of the flower pot with 2 coats of Lava Lamp. I love how it plays with the red and pink. Try to stay out of the groove lines, it still happens to me, but just do your best.
Next, paint the heart flowers. I paint the two side one’s the darker Cadmium Red first. Make a simple outline of your heart where it runs into the other shapes.
Just work with the lines that are there and connect them. Draw in the bottom of the hearts and then fill them in.
Don’t worry if its not perfect! The center heart and leaves will overlap these some.
While they are wet take the brighter Crimson Red paint and streak it into the dark red but don’t lose all the dark. Add in streaky highlights to make it pop.
Move onto the center heart starting with the dark red again. Just overlap the small hearts while drawing in the sides. Once it’s filled in, make some pink by mixing the red and white paint on your plate. Use the pink to add in some of those streaky highlights to the center heart.
I overpainted into my leaf! Don’t do that!!…. If a mistake like this happens let it dry and you can paint over it.
Lay the stripes with the painters tape on the base of the flower pot. I just start right at the top of the scallops so I don’t have to hand paint into those curves. Whimsical stripes don’t need to be perfect, I just eyeball them.
Paint in these lines with Titanium White.
I also want black and white stripes on my stems. I free hand these just using the size of my ¼” paint brush.
The lines might overlap some into the leaves but that’s ok we can paint over it when we do the leaves.
Now that the top of the flower pot is dry, add polka dots! Use an alternating stair step pattern. Less is more.
Add some polka dots to your center heart too.
For the leaves start with the dark Phthalo Green first and paint them in.
There are a few areas where my white stripes go onto the leaves, and a part of the top of the flower pot that I want to overlap with a leaf. I mix a little bit of black into green paint to get better coverage in those areas only.
After the first coat of dark green is on the leaves, add a little bit of yellow paint to the green leftover on your plate.
Once you have a grassy green color, start streaking in some textured layers onto the dark green leaves. Make sure some of the dark is still showing.
Add more yellow into that grassy green paint for a bright lime green. Lightly add another streaky layer onto the leaves.
Don’t over blend.
Finishing Up
To add a whimsical outline you need an angled brush to make a fine line. Do a few practice lines on a piece of paper.
Make light short stokes outlining each of the sections of your Envelope & Paper or Pot, Leaves & Flowers. I do two short lines on long sides, not big solid lines.
This gives such a fun finished look to these Whimsical Valentine Door Hangers!
To add the vinyl decals your paint must be completely dry. Use a straight edge to press the vinyl into the transfer paper first. Remove the backing and line up your vinyl and place it.
I no longer use a straight edge to press these into the painted door hanger. Just press it in well, running along each letter with your finger. Then carefully remove the transfer paper.
Almost done! I like to seal my door hangers with a protective polycrylic. Then I use E6000 to glue the heart to the envelope. Finish by tying on your bow and twine.
You can see how I paint both Whimsical Valentine Door Hanger in this Video!
Looking for another easy project?
Check out some of our other DIY Creative Kits!
The fun colors and bold stripes remind me of all the little hand-cut heart valentines of my childhood. I hope you enjoy these Whimsical Valentine Door Hangers as much as I do!
Take lots of pictures and remember to share them on my Facebook Page!! I would love to see what you create.
