Valentine's Day Printable Heart Banner

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Even when I don't have a special someone, Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays! To get into the fun of the holiday, we have a free printable for you to print and make.

The painting you can peek off to the side there is by local artist Black Cat Tips.

To make this banner we used a combination of printed out hearts and ones cut out on colored cardstock. The PDF we've included here includes both the printable page with illustrations, and the black and white stencils that you can cut out to make these hearts with colored cardstock.

Once you print out your hearts, you can cut them out and punch holes in them for the banner. We used this 1/8" hole punch to punch out the holes.

We strung our hearts up with red baker's twine, but you can use any kind of string of twine that you prefer or have on hand. If you're not ready to hand your banner up, you can also store it in an envelope or make one to give to a friend.

To make our banner, we took the easy route and cut out most of the hearts on our Silhouette Cameo. We've also included an SVG version of our hearts for you to use if you have access to a paper cutter or laser cutter.

What We're Working on for Spring

It's still winter, but we're dreaming of warmer weather where we'll be outside more and can once again rock our plants as jewelry! We're working on new pieces for spring and summer, and while we're not ready to release these pieces yet, we thought we'd give you a sneak peek of what is coming soon.

We prototyped these new pieces on a MakerBot using a material known as PLA. PLA is a plastic material made from cornstarch. Testing out our ideas this way lets us quickly and inexpensively experiment with new ideas.

As we're working on new planters, we're also figuring out which types of plants that we want to pair them with. Here we have a small succulent clipped from a much bugger plant. Those small roots you see mean that it is ready to be planted. For this spring, we're hoping to create new planting guides to show you a wider range of flora you can use.

While we've been working on new planters, we've also been working on some side projects to keep our creative muscles strong. We're working on some magnetic washi tape holders to make packaging our planters a little easier. We've also been making some 3D printed beads to play around with new forms and materials. You probably won't see these pieces for sale here, but we're hoping to release these items for you to 3D print yourself!

Right now we're waiting for the final pieces to come from the 3D printing company that we work with before we release these pieces for spring. Look for new brooches, necklaces, and bike planters to come soon!

If you'd like to see more of what we're making, follow us on Instagram or Twitter to see out updates as we make new things!

Winter Flower picks for your Bike Planter

While making our last minute gifts, we were in a bit of a pinch to come up with some flower choices that would work with a bike planter on one of the shortest and darkest days of the year. To pair with this clear planter, we chose some sage that we had growing as a kitchen herb, and a single sprig of thistle that we got at the The Little Flower Shoppe in Ridgewood, NJ, while visiting family.

The bike planter that we used here is available to download for free to 3D print on Thingiverse. If you have any great flower combinations for your planter, or you 3D print your own bike planter, we'd love for you to share what you made with us on twitter by tweeting us @wearplants!

Festive flower picks for your planter

The holidays are here, which means its time for holiday parties and festivities with friends and family! We're coming up on New Year's Eve, and I wanted to wear this new planter to some of the fun events that I get to attend. We chose to search for something to pair with our new Tall Vase Necklace and pair with darker colors that I like to wear this time of year. This planter works well with picked flowers, so we chose button mums, astrantia, and wax flowers that we found at our local independent flower store, Candler Park Flower Market to pair with this necklace.

One of the best things about working with plants and flowers is that I get to learn about flowers and find some unexpected and unusual blooms, I had seen mums before, but button mums are something completely new to me. Astrantia is a flower that I've used before, but never knew the name of until now. 

Next week we'll be showing off some more seasonal picks to match with our bike planters! If you have any suggestions, or would like to share what you're wearing in your planter, tweet us at @wearplants on twitter.

Merry Christmas!

I spy a gingerbread house 3D printer at the MakerBot store in New York City!

The year is coming to a close, and we wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Thank you for supporting us this year and we hope that you're enjoying the holidays with friends and family!

(Very) Last Minute Gifts for Makers

Did you procrastinate on buying gifts for your family and friends? That's okay, I did, too! Our deadline to ship in time for Christmas has passed, but we've got you covered if you have access to a 3D printer (or are getting or giving one this season)!

This Monday, a few days before Christmas, I checked out the local makerspace in my mom's town. Her town of Ridegewood, NJ, is incredibly lucky to have a 3D printer for residents to use. If you're the last minute kind of maker, we've added a bike planter for you to print to our thingiverse page. The files are free for anyone to use!

We discovered on previous prototypes that the type of clip we use on our regular bike planters doesn't print well on home printers like MakerBots, so you'll need a cable tie or colorful ribbon to attach this vase to your bike. 

If jewelry is more your style, you can also find one of our necklaces there to print, too. To print these files, use your 3D printer or one you have access to at your local makerspace. Add some small cut flowers, or follow our instructions to plant small succulents, and you've got a great handmade gift for the green thumb or nature lover in your life!