I always enjoy making little handmade gifts for my family at Valentine’s Day. It feels like a while since I made anything substantial but I couldn’t resist upcycling a few of my vintage wooden rulers to make a sweet keepsake. I love upcycling and made an upcycled folding wooden ruler tray which I still use to hold my cotton reels. I also love the wooden vintage ruler Christmas tree I made and still get it out every year!

Upcycled vintage ruler heart supplies

MDF heart shaped blank, 20cm across

selection of vintage wooden rulers

wood glue

clamps

How to make an upcycled vintage ruler heart

I already had a selection of vintage wooden rulers but these can easily be picked up from charity shops. I selected the best rulers and laid them out over the top of the wooden heart to make sure they looked right. I wanted to make sure I used the cleanest parts of each ruler, and that the numbers were the right way round where possible. I used some smaller offcuts for the top and bottom of the heart, making sure the whole base was covered.

When I was happy with the way it looked I spread the wood glue on top of the wooden heart, then lay the rulers on top. With the clamps on the rulers, it was set aside for a couple of hours to dry.

I removed the clamps and made sure each piece had stuck. Then it was time to cut round the heart shape. You could make this with a card template but I felt that the heart shape gave it more stability.

I trimmed round the heart and gave it a light sanding to make sure there were no splinters.