Heart Garden Art

Here's how to make a cute garden heart with just a few common things.  It makes a great garden ornament or gift for someone special.

Engagements, weddings - pretty much anything that involves love in one way or another has a heart attached to it. In fact, every February 14th we are struck by cupids heart shaped arrow to exc hange heartfelt gifts (talk about pressure).
When I was a kid I had my heart broken and if that happened to me today I believe they would call that a heart attack.
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Now that we've established how important the heart is let's immortalize the heart that will capture the heart of a loved one every time they see it. And that's because it came from the heart

Garden Heart Project -Watch It Again

How It's Made

Things you need
1 wire hanger
Poultry wire
Decorative rock
Gloves
Safety goggles
Bailing wire
Wire cutters
Pliers

Step 1: Unravel an old metal hanger.
The first thing you're going to need is a wire hanger. E
ven though wire hangers seem to have been replaced by plastic ones you can still get them at the dry cleaners. Wire hanger s come coated in plastic, painted or with nothing covering the wire
whatsoever. On a side note, I have tried to make a Garden Heart Art with wire that is much thicker, but, it's really difficult to work with. That's why we use a good old-fashioned wire hanger. Grab the hook part and gingerly untwist it to open up the hanger.

Step 2: Mold into two half circles.
It's now time for your heart to take shape. The first thing you want to do is bend the wire in half. If it is a little off and not perfectly bent in half don't worry about we can adjust as we go along. Once the wire is bent in half you may want to get a pair of pliers to make a more pronounced end by pinching it. Don't make the mistake of pinching it to tight as you will actually be more difficult to work with later on. Magic is about to take place. You are going to need something to properly form the heart. I find that you can use most any round-like object: fence post, tuna can, potted plant, etc. just make sure that whatever you use is more than 3 inches in diameter and less than 4 inches in diameter. I've chosen to use a piece of scrap ABS plastic sewer pipe. Because the pipe is no longer than 6 inches I found that having a friend helping me to steady it made the job a little easier. If no one is around to give you a hand you could steady the pipe in a vice.

Step 3: Tie the two loose ends together.
To complete the shape of the heart you will now take t
he loose ends and tie them together by twisting them around each other. Don't be bashful with a pair of pliers as you mayneed them in the wrapping process.

Step 4: Cut chicken wire around heart edge.  
Unroll a fair amount of poultry or chicken wire. It's important to get wire that has the smallest holes or mesh as possible. This way when you end up filling up the heart with rock you're assured that they won't fall out. Place the heart template ontop of the wire. With a pair of pliers, tin snips, or side cutters cut the wire about 1 inch bigger than the heart template. You're
going to need two of these wire shapes. Also keep in mind to snip into the wire where it dips at the top. This way when we go to mold the wire mesh to the heart template it'll be easier to manipulate. Match up one of the wire mesh molds to the heart template and begin folding the ends into and around it. Again, I can't stress enough to wear a pair of gloves. Repeat the process with the other wire mesh on the other side. Basically what we are doing here is making a pocket. It's okay if the wire is a little sloppy as we need room to put the rocks inside. Just make sure you don't close the top of it right away as we need an entry point for our rocks.

Step 5: Fill with rocks.
Now comes the fun part - filling it up with rock! The rocks can be any type and size you desire: crushed rock, lava rock, decorative rock - even fake rock. Just keep in mind the smaller the rock the chances of them falling through the wire mesh ispretty high. Once you've filled up your heart with rock you want to secure the top by closing it off. Don't get too anxious because most injuries happen as you're trying to rapidly finish the project. So, take your time.

Enjoy!
When everything has been said and done you have created a heartfelt gift that can be enjoyed as long as your love does.