Valentine Gift ideas: Love Birds Painted On Rocks

If you are looking for unique valentine gift ideas, then check out these adorable birds painted on rocks!

Some painting rocks projects can seem very challenging, like a mandala stone with bright colors. This simple rock art design uses items from nature and paint pens to create an adorable scene, of these love birds! This valentine gift idea is a creative way to show your love. It has a simple design with blank space on the back where you can write a loving and positive message. These would even make adorable wedding gifts that you can add the wedding date to the back. These are great gifts that can be hung up all year, on a Christmas tree, or displayed just around Valentine’s day.

 

Supplies needed to make your love bird rocks on a wood slab: 

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• small flat pebbles. I found mine on the shore of one of the finger lakes in NY. You can also find these smaller flat pebbles in river beds. Just be sure you are in a public place where if you take a handful, you won’t get into trouble. Many parks have rules against taking anything out of the park (especially national parks), so gather wisely!
• Small wood slabs (with pre-drilled holes for hanging)
• Seagrass rope
• Posca paint markers
• Hot glue gun

(you may be able to find all of these supplies at craft stores too!)

1.  Start by cutting a piece of seagrass rope to mimic a small tree branch.  Hot glue it onto the bottom of the wood slab.

2.  Painting the details on the birds is easy peasy!  Grab the red paint marker and paint on a small oval to make the stomach of the bird red.  Let it dry and add a second coat.  You may even want a third coat, but be sure it is fully dry or you’ll just end up wiping off what you already applied.  

3.  You then need black dark paint for the eyes.  Just add a small dot for the eyes.

4.  Now it’s time to glue your birds onto their “branch.”  I just used hot glue.  If you live in a warm and humid climate all year long, you may need a stronger adhesive like Aleene’s Liquid Fusion.

5.  When the birds are fully dry on the wood, it’s time to add their small beaks.  I did use the Posca black paint marker and I kind of like how the beak turned into little heart shapes.  But if you want a more precise beak, you could get a fine tip Sharpie for this step.  The Posca markers work best on rocks – and Sharpies do work well on wood.  

 

6.  My daughter found the heart stone exactly like that at the edge of the lake! There was no extra carving needed to create that picture-perfect heart. It was an amazing find! If you can’t find a perfect heart, you can find a pebble that has a slight indent in it, and use another pebble to carve it and make it deeper so that it better represents a heart.  Or an even easier alternative if you can’t find a perfect heart-shaped pebble is to get a shiny heart-shaped stone like these.  

7.  Add some twine for hanging and hang it where ever you desire to celebrate any love birds in your home!!  🙂

 

Other important information for painted on rocks:

What is a painted rock called? a rock that someone has taken and decorated with an inspirational message. They are becoming more popular and you may find them around a town or park. But in this case, this is simple a rock painted in the form of a simple bird. You can actually find some amazing rock art done with these small river or lake pebbles. There are some beautiful rock art ideas you can search for on Pinterest to get more inspiration!

What could I paint on a rock? You can paint virtually anything on a rock! I just recommend using acrylic paint or acrylic paint markers. Check out the simple designs I also used the Posca paint makers on to make these rock magnets. ADD LINK These look more like tiny flowers, but are not as perfect as a true mandala stone made with paint dotters (to create polka dots), acrylic paint, and clear spray sealer. There are other fun designs that you don’t need small lake pebbles for, and instead create ladybug rocks, minion rocks, a mouse rock, hedgehog rocks, strawberry rocks, watermelon rocks, and ones that even look like easter eggs! I’ve let my girls find smooth rocks and decorate them however they want to create colorful rocks. Then we’d cover them with glitter nail polish and add them around our house in my rock garden or flower gardens. They have had so much fun with that! We also found colorful stones with words of encouragement that we have found in geocache boxes! At a local park near our house, someone has put fairy houses along one of the main paths. Now people add painted rocks around the houses as a little happiness for the fairies!

How you do you paint on rocks?  Be sure to wash the rocks before you paint on them. Find the flattest spot for your canvas and paint whatever comes to you. Use google and Pinterest for inspiration. If you want to paint simple birds like on this love bird ornament, it doesn’t get any easier than this! You may need more than one coat for the color to be its boldest. I recommend using acrylic paint markers.  

It’s often the simple and easy things that can be the perfect way to brighten up someone’s day during a difficult time with a painted rock (or rock art!). Try this out and you could easily become addicted!

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Looking for more Valentine’s Day related posts or Painting on Rocks ideas?  Check these out:

• Easy Painted Rock Magnets for Kids

• Heart-Shaped DIY Bath Confetti with Essential Oils – Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Gift Idea!
• 10+ Easy Valentine’s Day Chocolate Dessert Recipes

• Non-Candy Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for Kids!

• DIY Valentine’s Day Wreath with Yarn and Burlap

• Chocolate Ganache Filled Sugar Cookie Cups

• Easy Melt & Pour Rose Scented Soap Recipe

• How To Make Heart Shaped Dollar Origami

• Glow Sticks Free Printable Valentine Cards: “You Light Up My Life Valentine”