Using metal is one way to give your projects a very professional, real appearance. If you haven't worked with metal before, these Valentine's Day gift baskets will be a great introduction.

The metal used here is called "flashing" and comes from the hardware store. It is thin aluminum that comes in several widths, from about 4" wide to about 12" wide. It comes by the foot, and is very inexpensive. You will need to ask the hardware store person to cut off however much you want to buy.

You will need a tin snips, which is a pair of scissors strong enough to cut metal, if you use flashing for this project. There are other thinner metal sheets available at the hobby store that may not require using a tin snips. The downside is that these metals may not be as rigid as the flashing.

Tin snips are such a great tool to have that I encourage you to buy a pair. You will find many uses for them. And with practice, using the tin snips will be as easy as using regular scissors. But do wear gardening or work gloves because the little bits and edges of metal that you cut away can be very wiley and are really sharp. This is not a project suited to children.

The heart shaped pockets are shown here painted. To get paint to adhere to metal, you must sand it very well with coarse sandpaper. After you have applied the desired number of coats of acrylic craft paint to the metal, let the paint cure" on the metal for a day or two before you handle the project to finish the additional steps. You may want to add a coat of clear acrylic medium to give your hearts a glossy finish.

You may choose to leave the hearts silver, or to spray paint them. Spray paint gives a somewhat more durable finish, but don't forget to sand first.

What You Need

For each heart pocket:

12"of 6" wide flashing
Several feet of thin black craft wire
Coarse sandpaper
Tin snips
Hammer and awl or large nail
Wood block
Pink and red acrylic craft paint, brush
Sharpy pen

What to Do

1. Draw a simple heart shape on paper that fits the width of your flashing. If you are timid about drawing, either stop it or get a young child to draw a heart for you. The whole point of these hearts is that they have a very uneven, handmade appearance. Do not draw a perfect heart.

2. Use the tin ships to cut off a piece of the flashing that your heart will fit on. Cut out your drawn heart and trace around the edge of it with the Sharpy pen onto your flashing.

3. To make the top of the heart pocket, either cut out another identical heart or cut the bottom half of a heart, using your paper pattern.

4. Place the top heart, or heart half on the wood block and use the hammer and awl to punch holes around the edges that you will attach to the other heart. Punch the holes about ½" apart. Punch any decorative patterns you would like in the top of the heart..

5. Place the top heart or half a heart on the other heart which will form the back of the basket. Poke the Sharpy pen through the holes you have punched in the top piece to mark spacing for the holes of the bottom piece. Place the bottom heart on the wood block and use hammer and awl to punch holes as before.

6. Punch two holes, one in each of the round parts at the top of the heart. These holes will hold the wire hanger.

7. Use coarse sandpaper to sand the surface of both pieces of metal.

8. Paint the hearts, not being afraid to slightly mix colors and use rough brush strokes. Apply two thin coats, letting brushstrokes show. Let dry, as explained above.

9. Use thin wire to sew" the two hearts together. Use a loopy whip stitch. Secure ends of wire to back of back heart. Press loops of whip stitch flat to create a scaloppy edge. Use another piece of the wire to make a hanger, going through the two holes at the top of the back heart.

10. Reach inside the heart and carefully press the two pieces of metal slightly outward to create a more open space. Fill heart with candy, love notes or small toys. Hang on the recipient's doorknob.