Deployment Heart

My husband is in the Navy and he will be leaving on an eight month deployment next week. Anytime we will be separated because of my husbands job, my son and I each like to make little trinkets to remind him of our love and that we are waiting for him to return. For this project I wrote all of the things (wishes) I wanted for this deployment and hid them inside a Creative Paperclay® heart. This is a family friendly project that can easily be adapted for any occasion.

First, I rolled out my Creative Paperclay® and free cut two identical heart shapes, using the first as a guide to cut the second.

Next I wrote all of the things I wanted for him on a used teabag. You can use any soft, thin paper, but I like the soft texture of the teabags, plus they are readily available and they hold up well for writing. I only wrote one word for each wish, but each of those words has a much deeper meaning for me. For example I wrote “protection” and for me that means not only a safe deployment, but also protection from world events/ war/ danger/ illness/ and anything else he would need protection from. It helps to do a bit of free writing ahead of time to ensure you don’t forget any of your wishes. You can narrow your thoughts into one word associations before starting the project.

After I wrote all of my wishes on the teabag, I folded it up small enough to fit in between the two hearts.

I wet both of the hearts, placed the teabag in the middle and then pressed the hearts together, encasing the teabag,and then smoothed the seams. It is important to keep your hands moist while working with the clay to keep it from sticking. Add additional clay if needed to cover the seam or level out the heart.

If you want to be able to hang your trinket, poke a hole in the top before the Creative Paperclay® modeling material is dry. I don't normally sand my Creative Paperclay® projects, but I did sand this one just a bit to make it smooth.

Once my heart was completely dry, I painted it with a coat of black acrylic craft paint.

Next I painted the heart with Terri Sproul’s mixers. I added a bit of each of the Red Pearl and Gold Dust to the Crystal Lacquer.

I printed out a few of my words and distressed the paper with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo. I glued the words onto the heart with gel medium and added a string so it can be hung.

These little trinkets can be as simple or as elaborate as you like, plus they are an extremely family friendly project that can easily be adapted for any occasion. Make them for deploying family members, college students, newlyweds, or a birthday wish for a friend.

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