This project is for those of you who struggle to get your hands on the popular Rae Dunn pottery. You know who you are! If you haven't heard about Rae Dunn, just do a Google search! It's really very easy to add a Rae Dunn flair to decorative items, which are fun to display along with your authentic pieces! But even if you don't own a single piece of Rae Dunn, and have no desire to jump on that bandwagon, these projects are still fun ones to make!

Conversation hearts are an iconic Valentines Day candy. I took some simple wood hearts and turned them into decorative conversation hearts! This mama certainly doesn't need any more sugar in her life!!, and I'd much rather make something cute than add any more pounds to my hips!! 😊

I'm sharing the mini conversation hearts as well as the buffalo check ones all in the same post today!

Let's start with the mini ones because they are the quickest to make. I found these small wood hearts at Hobby Lobby, they're about an inch in diameter.

I also used buttermilk acrylic paint and pure white acrylic paint. I chose to mix the two to get a soft, creamy white. Rae Dunn pottery is not bright white, it has some creaminess to it, and I was trying to match that.

I painted the little hearts with the creamy white paint and let them dry.

While the hearts were drying, I cut out the words I wanted on my Silhouette machine. I used the font The Skinny, which is a free download from dafont.com. I like to use permanent black vinyl and this transfer paper to make it easy to transfer the word onto any surface. I'm not going to go into details for cutting with the Silhouette, there are plenty of good tutorials out there.

If you don't own a die cut machine, you can always use black letter stickers or check out this Rae Dunn inspired stencil kit! These are 2" tall so they would definitely work on the large hearts!!

* Designer Tip: A trick of mine when I'm making Rae Dunn inspired items is to cut the word as large as possible for the surface if you're after an authentic Rae Dunn look! Too often, I see projects with very small words and it just doesn't look right! If you love Rae Dunn's tall skinny letters, make sure to replicate that look on your project!

These mini conversation hearts were a cinch to make! They would also be cute painted with various pastels, just like the edible version! You can see below how closely I've matched the color of the conversation hearts to the Rae Dunn heart shaped plate.

Optional: spray hearts with a polycrylic gloss sealer if you want to further mimic the look of pottery. I didn't do this, but it would look great!

Buffalo Check Rae Dunn Inspired Conversation Hearts

The buffalo check pattern is quite simple to paint, and I'm sharing this tutorial in this short video below. Watch it first and then read my additional tips below.

Tips for Success

Again, I've used acrylic paints that you can find at any craft store for these conversation hearts. I mixed pink paint with peach to make my own blush version, but feel free to use any color you want!

Before starting to paint the buffalo check pattern, give the bare wood hearts a base coat of white, either with white chalk paint or white spray paint and let them dry thoroughly.

When painting the buffalo check pattern, use a small craft brush with a flat head for the best results (width of bristles should be about 1/4")

Start your line in the middle of the heart, so each side will be even. Let the vertical strokes dry before painting the horizontal strokes.

Don't forget to finish the buffalo check by painting every other plaid (where the pinks meet) with a darker color for contrast (see video for details).


I think you'll agree that these Rae Dunn inspired conversation hearts turned out super cute! I've enjoyed displaying them in my kitchen, and around the house. You can see my Valentines tour by clicking here.

Bonus Ideas

- tuck a heart into your kid's lunchbox
- glue hearts onto a gift bag that contains a Valentine's Day treat
- use these hearts on the wood bead napkin rings that I shared earlier this month
- cut out your peeps' names from vinyl to further customize these hearts
- make a mini garland by gluing hearts onto a length of twine or ribbon and hanging from bathroom mirror or even mantle


For many more easy and affordable Valentines Day ideas, click here!

I'm sure however you choose to display these Rae Dunn conversation hearts, they will be enjoyed by all, even though they're not edible!! They're small and easy to pack away to be enjoyed for years!

Pin for later (and share with your Rae Dunn-loving friends!) ❤

Have a fantastic weekend! I'm off to Canada next week to spend some time with family. I do have two DIY projects scheduled to share, so be on the lookout!