How To Make Ombre Valentine Vase With Mod Melts

What to do with the one and only glass cylinder from a trio of geometric wood vases found at a thrift store? That's the question I asked myself for weeks until organizing my craft bin and coming across a package of mod melts that I forgot I had. Which then lead me to my candy mold stash and a pretty red and pink Ombre Valentine Vase was born.

Ombre Valentine Vase With Mod Melts

It could also be used as a Valentine candleholder, which is what I'll be doing once the flowers are finished.

To see the wood vases this glass cylinder came from and how they were repurposed, visit my DIY Geometric Lamp blog post.

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience so you can see what products I used or recommend to make this project. See my full disclosure policy.

For This Project You Will Need:

Have you ever used Mod Podge mod melts? They look like hot glue sticks and you use them in a craft glue gun. There are several types of silicone mod melt molds (say that three times fast) available to make paintable embellishments. I had heart shaped plastic molds from my former chocolate making days that I used instead to make the hearts for the ombre vase.

Pictured below are some of the supplies I used.

Here's how I made it:

Squeeze the mod melts into the center of the molds and work your way outwards until filled. Wait 10 minutes before removing them from the molds.

When using plastic molds normally you would grease it first to prevent the mod melts from sticking but I have a grease-free alternative that works.

TIP:
If you put the molds in the freezer for five minutes, the hearts will pop out like grandma’s teeth when she sneezes! This works for removing candle wax from votives too.

It took 60 hearts to cover my 7" tall x 3" diameter glass cylinder. They are so quick and easy to make that it won't take long to have them finished.

Paint the ombre gradient hearts:

Trim any excess melt from the edges with a craft knife.

Determine how many hearts you'll need per row, I needed ten. Unlike in the picture below, paint the hearts first before gluing them onto the glass vase.

I based the gradient ombre color change after every second row which meant I needed 20 hearts per color.

Pour red acrylic craft paint (or if you prefer a glossy finish you could use a gloss enamel or multi-surface paint) into three small yogurt containers. In one add 2 teaspoons of white craft paint to make a medium pink color. In the third container, mix 4 teaspoons of white craft paint to get a light pink color. Paint 20 hearts of each color and you will probably need three coats.

Here we'll attach the hearts to the vase:

Initially, I attached the hearts with E6000 glue but after the first row, I switched to the hot glue gun because it was so much quicker.  Starting at the bottom glue a row of red hearts. On the second row, glue the point of the hearts between two hearts on the previous row. Repeat this pattern for the next two rows of medium pink hearts and the last two rows of light pink ones.

Tie a pretty ribbon around the top of the vase and we're done!

Like I mentioned at the top of this post, it would make a lovely candleholder too for Valentine's day. My preference would be a red or pink flameless wax candle with a timer.

In case you missed it, did you see my simple Burlap Ribbon Valentine Wreath? For more Love day inspiration visit my Valentine Ideas page.

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