Upcycled Copper Pipe Heart Wreath
In 2020 we not only had to replace our refrigerator, but we also had to replace our dishwasher, furnace, and air conditioning unit. We don't throw away anything that may be useful and the water line from our old refrigerator was one thing we saved. I knew I would find a crafty use for the copper water line and I'm thrilled with the upcycled copper pipe heart wreath that I made using it.
I know not everyone has a water line waiting to be used for crafting, but the same copper tubing without the water line fittings is available at hardware stores or on Amazon.
How to Make a Copper Pipe Wreath
Now that you’ve seen the wreath, let’s see how we made it!
Supplies
- Copper Tubing – I used a water line from our old refrigerator.
- Pipe Cutter
- Paint Can
- Scrap Poster Board, Plyboard, or Paper
- Pencil
- Torch with Mapp Gas
- Flux
- Solder
- Wire to Make a Hanger
- E6000 Glue
The first step to make the heart was to cut off the pipe fittings with a pipe cutter. If you use copper piping from Amazon or a hardware store, you won't have to worry about this step.
To form one side of the top of the heart, we wrapped the copper tubing around a paint can.
Note that there is excess pipe where the two top loops will join together. The excess will be removed in a later step.
Next, we bent the pipe where we wanted the bottom of the heart.
To make the heart symmetrical, we traced the half of the heart on a scrap piece of plyboard.
Then we flipped the heart over and formed the second half of the heart by following the pencil line on the plyboard.
The second heart looped was made just like the first one, with the paint can.
The excess copper pipe was then cut off using the pipe cutter.
We then taped the pipe to the board and marked above the tape where we wanted to cut each section of the pipe.
Those sections were cut and now the heart was symmetrical.
To connect the two pieces of pipe, we soldered the pipe pieces together. Check out my blog post for step-by-step directions with pictures for this step.
After the heart was soldered together, I realized I had no idea how I would hang it. My clever husband used an insulation support wire leftover from last winter’s basement project to make a hanger.
This was such a fun project to make and it was a great way to upcycle two items: the copper piping and also the insulation wire. I can't wait for my niece to see this in her bedroom at our lake house. I know she will love it!
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TheSeamstress on Feb 17, 2022
Hmm, I came across every one of the items used while purging and selling off items from my late husbands workshop. I know I have the copper pipe and I suppose I could cut it with a hacksaw because I think I donated or sold the pipe cutter. I just have to check if I still have the soldering iron, I know it didn't sell. I also know I have a roll of solder.
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Leslie on Feb 18, 2022
Hi Paula, This is lovely simplicity. Love the idea of using refrigerator line. I think those that would like to make this but do not have a soldering iron or know how to solder or braise, a small length of copper wire shaped around the two pipe ends and crimped in the middle might work. Using thinner wire around the two end pipes and then wrapping the middle would work. Metal glue, epoxy clay, electrical tape, etc. would work also. Thank you so much for sharing ❣️
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