Tiered trays were originally designed as a way to serve food like appetizers or small desserts, but that was from a different era, when entertaining meant bringing out the best china and serveware. In recent years, tiered trays have been used for entirely decorative purposes. They have become a fun way to display small decor pieces that can be switched out with the seasons and for specific holidays.

So, let’s craft a Valentine project for a tiered tray using a wood jar shape from Dollar Tree. Most of the materials for this project came from my craft stash. 

 

Craft a Valentine Project for a Tiered Tray

Supplies Used and Recommendations:

• wood jar shape, any season (Dollar Tree)
• white acrylic paint 
• Valentine paper pad
• letter stickers 
• glue stick
• matte Mod Podge

Step 1: Prepare Wood Jar for Tiered Tray Project

 

I never got around to doing something for Christmas with this wood jar shape from Dollar Tree. By removing the paper design that was already on it, I was left with a blank canvas to work with. Mostly, these paper coverings will peel off fairly easily. Using your hairdryer or heat gun to loosen the glue also helps.

You could also just turn it over and use the back of the wood piece, provided you can get the label off.

Step 2: Choose Paper

 

 

 

 

I’ve had this book of gallery wall art for some time now but had never made use of it. The paper is thicker than scrapbook paper, so it’s a really good quality.

Step 3: Choose Heart(s)

 

 

After painting the jar white, I cut out one of the larger hearts from the paper pad and glued it to the center using a regular glue stick. The heart is 3 1/2 – inches wide. I wanted it to fill up the middle of the jar. Another idea would be to fill the jar up with a bunch of smaller hearts in various sizes, overlapping them to make it look like a jar full of love.

Step 4: Cover or Paint Jar Lid

 

A section of background paper on one of the paper pad images, served as a covering for the jar lid, but a bit of light brown paint would do the job, as well. When doing something where there are crevices to cut around, as there are on the lid section, the best way to do it is to glue a slightly larger section of paper into place, then turn the project over and use a craft knife to cut the paper to fit. 

Then, I just used a black Sharpie pen to draw in the lid lines. 

Step 4: Choose Lettering

 

 

For the letters above the heart, I dug into my stash of stick-on letters. Of course the trouble with these is that you soon run out of vowels and other much-used letters. I took the “L” from another sticker book. Mixing letters from different font styles will make your project stand out by giving it a unique look. 

Naturally, if you have a cutting machine or are good at hand lettering, go for it!

 

 

If you don’t want to use letter stickers, you can always just use your computer to write the words in a style you fancy and print them out as I did for the word at the bottom of the heart. I used the Harrington font and sized the word “Homemade” at 36. 

Simply cut out the word and glue it down. You can hardly see the printer paper because the background it’s on is white, too. After that, brush a liberal coat of Mod Podge over the entire jar to seal everything and let it dry.

If you opt for the second option of filling the jar with hearts, you wouldn’t need to add words at all.

Step 5: Add Tumbling Tower Blocks for Stability

 

 

This piece has a flat base that enables it to stand on its own, but for added stability, I hot glued two tumbling tower blocks on the back.

Finished Tiered Tray Project

 

 

This little sign would be perfect for a tiered tray or anywhere else you want to add a little love to your home.

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