Romancing a Vintage Window!

I had this old window hanging around for a long time which was waiting for the perfect project. When Valentine’s rolled around, I thought it would be fun to try a new way of displaying some “love” in a unexpected way.

Step 1 – Prepare the window

As you can see it was in pretty rough shape. It even had a broken pane!

If you have any broken glass the first step is to remove the broken shards and then gave it a thorough cleaning. Then it is time to choose what color you want the frame to be. My window was already painted an antique white on the other side so I decided to leave it as I wanted the age to remain evident as it gives it more character. Also, instead of replacing the pane of glass I thought it would be more interesting to add in some chicken wire in it’s place.

Step 2 – Gather your materials

For this project you will need:

Old window with multiple panes

Two different styles of lace

Wire – 18 gauge

Form for the heart (cookie cutter, heart box, wood heart, etc)

Glue gun and glue sticks

Variety of twine and ribbon

Optional: beads for decorating the hearts

Chicken wire if your window is broken

Small wreath with bird in it

Small wood birdhouse and paint to match one of the pieces of lace

Other ornaments as you like to decorate the window

Step 3 – Create pretty lace hearts

Before heading back to the window, it is time to make some pretty lace hearts to hang on it. The first thing you will need is a form to wrap the wire around. I found a cookie cutter, a tin and my husband made me a wood heart with a nail in it so I could wrap the wire around it as you will see below.

Leave the bottom wires of the heart a little long and twist them as you will be wrapping the lace around it. Make a variety of different sized hearts. I made one with the form and the others I just did with my hands.

Lay the wire hearts on the lace.

Trim the lace quite close to the wire.

Put a thin line of glue on the heart about 4 inches long and then fold the lace over. The go to the opposite side and pull the lace so it lays smoothly, run a line of glue on the wire and then fold the lace over. Continue moving from side to side so that the lace lays flat across the heart.

Trim the excess lace. Get creative with the lace. As you will see below I layered the white lace over the peach lace to create some more interest.

Next it is time to choose some lace for bows and twine to create loops to hang the lace hearts from. I simply tied a bow and hot glued it to the top of the heart. With regard to the loops, I made each of the loops larger than the next so that three hearts could hang together and be staggered. I did not want them to overlap one another as I wanted them all to be visible.

Save one heart and do not put a loop on it. Remember, if you want to be glitzy, add beads or rhinestones. As I was going for a bit of a garden romantic feel and because my window was quite rustic, I kept it minimal.

Here are the finished hearts.

Step 4 – Find a love letter

This is such a fun part of this project.

I thought a love letter hanging in one of the panes would be cute. For this you could use one of your own personal love letters from your partner or maybe a former love interest if you are presently single, but don’t put up anything that is going to leave you feeling sad. You could even find little notes from your children and use them instead.

I decided to search up famous love letters and there are actually quite a few. I loved this one from Johnny Cash to his wife June. It reads as follows:

“Hey June

That’s really nice June. You’ve got a way with words and and a way with me as well.

The fire and excitement may be gone now that we don’t go out there and sing anymore, but the ring of fire still burns around you and I, keeping our love hotter than a pepper sprout.

Love John”

I found this online and printed it off. Easy peasy!

I have to admit, every time I read this letter it makes me smile. It isn’t often that a man writes to his sweetheart and finding a letter from one who does is very heart warming.

Choose one of the panes to hang the letter in and then hot glue a clip in a position so that the letter will be centered in the pane. Then clip the letter in place as seen in the photo above.

Step 5 – Add some interest to the window

I had a little birdhouse that I painted peach to match the lace as I wanted to add something so that I could hang the hearts I had made.

On a lower pane, I also hung one of the hearts by a clip in the same fashion that I did the love letter.

For more interest, I added a garden shovel door knocker to the bottom because it was taking on a bit of a garden theme. Lastly, on the chicken wire, I hung a little wreath with a bird on it.

It is up to you, what you hang in each spot. I played around with it and moved things from here to there until I felt it was balanced and appealing. Not every pane has to be filled and actually leaving a few blank is attractive.

Step 6 – Create a vignette

I created two vignettes. One was more of a garden theme with a birdhouse, a natural wood candlestick and some thin gold candlesticks on a burlap runner for more ambience.

The second was very romantic and feminine.

I found a tin jug and filled it with a faux pink bouquet, place the window on a vintage table runner and lit a mason jar candle. Voila! Isn’t it pretty?

It’s not just a Valentine’s day decoration! Have fun and change it up!

This is not solely for Valentine’s. It is easy to change it over and make it suitable for any season. For example:

Spring:

Replace the love letter with a favorite seed packet. Swap out the hearts for a small bouquet of lavender. Switch out the white heart for a poem about flowers.

Summer:

Replace the love letter with a postcard from a favorite summer destination. Replace the hearts with strands of shells. Swap out the lace heart for photo of you on a holiday.

Fall:

Replace the love letter with a large red maple leaf. Hang a bundle of dried grasses where the hearts hang. Switch out the white lace heart for a beautiful fall photo.

Winter:

Replace the love letter with an old Christmas card. Hang some evergreens from the birdhouse (perhaps even paint it). Switch out the bird on the wreath for a small red berry wreath. Switch out the white heart for printout of one of your favorite Christmas songs.

I hope this gives you lots of ideas.

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