Friday, October 12, 2012

Interchangeable Memorial Heart Wreath

Most of us have a loved one that is now departed and many of us enjoy paying tribute to that person through memorials on their graves. Purchased memorials of flowers and wreaths can be very expensive and then you have to settle for the choices offered. Make your own memorial, though, and youll have any design you want. Better yet, make one interchangeable memorial, and youll have a new design for each holiday or special occasion.

Purchase a Styrofoam shape which will be the base for your interchangeable memorial design. A heart is a good example of a shape thats suitable for many occasions. Decorate the heart with a basic color of flowers, like white or gold. The plastic or silk flowers can be purchased at any craft store and can easily be inserted into the heart-shaped Styrofoam ring. If you want you can glue or wire the flowers into the heart shape. The flowers should be inserted all over the heart shape until it is completely covered.

The interchangeable part comes in when you add button magnets to the mix. The button magnets are also found at craft stores and come in a variety of shapes or sizes. Youll get several in a pack and youll need a couple of packs to complete the project. While at the craft store purchasing magnets choose an adhesive which will hold up under rain and snow. Read the labels of several adhesives to find just the right choice. Hot glue breaks down with water and, therefore, is not appropriate for this project. The flower-covered heart shape becomes the base for any memorial you want to create. Simply affix the magnets, here and there, around the heart. After attaching the magnets, you can then stick any number of things to the magnets, to create the look you want. For Valentines Day attach red hearts to the flowered memorial heart. For Easter stick golden crosses to the flower-covered heart. There is no limit to the different designs you can create. Craft stores are full of shapes that will help you design an assortment of looks for the interchangeable heart wreath. Wooden shapes, metal trinkets, rubber shapes and similar things. Items that arent metallic can still be attached to the magnets on the heart if you first attach a piece of magnetic sheeting. The sheeting is sold by the sheet, or by the roll, at any craft store. Cut a small piece, peel away the backing, and stick the piece of sheeting to the shape youve chosen to use. These pieces can now be temporarily affixed to the strategically placed magnets on the heart shape. Any time theres a new holiday or occasion, and youd like to place a new memorial on the grave, all you have to do is change the magnetic images. Remove wooden hearts, for example, and replace them with plastic crosses. Just take off the old designs and replace them with the new chosen trinkets. The pattern you use for the trinkets and images is up to you. Place one magnet at the point of the heart, and a couple more on each side, or place magnets every few inches to display lots of holiday images. You can also place one magnet at the top of the heart, towards the inside of the ring, then have one trinket that hangs down into the center of the heart shaped wreath. Dangle one star, one cross or one red heart in the middle of the flower-covered heart to create the memorial you want. Use stiff wire, at the bottom of the Styrofoam heart, to make it easy to insert it into the ground. Once the main shape is inserted you can visit anytime and change the theme of the memorial within seconds. Make a new one for Christmas, Independence Day, the persons birthday or anniversaries. There is no event that you cant represent by the magnetic trinkets you use to decorate the heart. Many of us spend great amounts of money placing memorials on our past loved ones graves. That isnt necessary, though. Make one memorial and change it anytime you want. That saves you a bunch of money yet allows you to do something different with each new holiday or special occasion.

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