Brighten your Valentine meals
with this centerpiece.

• 6-inch-tall, 6-inch-diameter terra-cotta pot
• 4-inch-tall plastic cherub
• FolkArt Metallics Pure Gold acrylic paint #660 and Blacksmith Black antiquing medium
• 1-inch sponge brush
• Clear acrylic matte-finish spray
• Two 9-inch heart-shape extruded-foam wreath forms
• Floral picks, floral pins, and green stem wrap
• Wire cutters and pruning shears
• Low-temperature hot melt adhesive
• 6 yards of 1-3/4-inch-wide metallic gold ribbon
• 1-inch T-pins
• 1-inch-thick Styrofoam discs: one 3-inch-diameter, three 4-inch-diameter, and one 6-inch-diameter
• Floral adhesive
• Spanish moss
• Three 10-inch wooden kitchen skewers
• Awl
• Silk miniature English ivy vines: eight 18-inch long, four 12-inch long, and ten 10-inch long
• 12 purple silk pansies with leaves
• Four 10-inch-long gold-painted birch branches

1. Paint the terra-cotta pot and cherub gold, using the sponge brush. After the paint dries, spray the items with clear acrylic spray, then brush on the antiquing medium. Quickly wipe the medium off with a soft cloth, leaving the black color in the recessed areas. After the medium dries, seal the pot and cherub with clear acrylic spray.

 

Step 3

2. Join wreath forms. Stack the wreath forms, and secure them with floral picks inserted at evenly spaced spots (remove the wire from the picks first). Using wire cutters or pruning shears, trim the floral picks close to the foam. (Wear eye protection when cutting the floral picks.) Apply a bead of hotmelt adhesive where the forms join.

3. Wrap ribbon around heart. Secure one end of the metallic ribbon with a T-pin to the upper right curve of the heart shape. Working clockwise, tightly wrap the heart shape with ribbon. Use additional T-pins as necessary to hold the ribbon in place, and make tucks to ensure a smooth wrap around the heart's points.

 

Step 5

4. Put Styrofoam and Spanish moss in pot. Stack the graduated-size Styrofoam discs in the pot, securing them to the pot and to each other with floral adhesive. Use a serrated knife to shave the top disc so it fits the pot tightly and projects above the rim by about 1/2 inch. Cover the Styrofoam with Spanish moss, securing it with floral pins.

5. Use an awl to make two 3/4-inch-deep holes in one of the heart shapes about 1 inch up from the point on the right and left sides. Insert the skewers, gluing them in place. Wrap about 3 inches of the skewers with stem wrap, beginning at the wreath form.

6. Add ivy and attach pot to heart. Lay the form flat, and attach the 18-inch ivy vines to the sides, back, and right front with floral pins, pushing the pins in at an angle. Center the heart over the pot, and push the skewers into the Styrofoam, leaving about 3 inches of the skewers showing. Attach the 12-inch vines and two 10-inch vines to floral picks and insert them into the Styrofoam around the base of the skewers to create diagonal lines flowing over the pot's rim at the left front and right rear.

7. Add finishing details. Attach a skewer to the back of the cherub with floral adhesive. Glue individual ivy leaves over the adhesive. Wrap the skewer with stem wrap, and push it into the Styrofoam at the base of the heart. Insert pansies to suggest a diagonal line sweeping up from the lower left, around the right side of the heart. Tuck the birch branches into the ivy behind the cherub, securing them with hotmelt adhesive. Fill in around the cherub and the base of the heart with additional ivy.