How to Make a Love Spoon for Your Valentine

Difficulty Rating -

The love spoon is thought to have originated from the "cawl" (soup or stew) spoon. Over generations, decorative carvings were added to the spoon and it lost its original practical use and became a treasured decorative item to be hung proudly on a wall. However, they are not just ornamental, Love spoons have been hand-carved in wood with symbols of love to be given as gifts. Each symbol on the spoon represents a loving sentiment - they are a bit like a secret message between a couple that are in love.

That's all very romantic, but you probably lack the correct tools, skills and time to create a beautiful Love Spoon for your partner this Valentine's Day. But you would probably be able to manage to make a Papier Mache Love Spoon with a few tips and pointers.

The first thing to decide is what symbols you would like to include on your Love Spoon. You can choose what you think will look nice, what you think what might be easy to create as well as which love spoon meaning you would like the spoon to convey to your Valentine. Below is a list of Love spoon symbols and the meanings that they hold.

Love Spoon Symbols and their Meanings
Anchor: Steadfastness, My love is safe with you, Home to stay.

Ball in Cage: Love held safe, Years Together or Number of Children.

Barley Sugar Twist: Derived from the rope theme carved by sailors.

Bell: Weddings, Anniversaries.

Chain Links: Linking of Lives, No. of children, Years together.

Comma Shapes: Soul Signs.

Cross: Faith, Marriage.

Diamond: Wealth, Good Fortune.

Dragon: Symbol of Wales, Protection.

Flowers: Affection or Courtship, Friendship.

Heart: My Heart is Yours, Love.

Heart: Two We feel the same about each other.

Heart Shaped Bowl: Full and Bountiful Life.

Horseshoe: Good Luck and Happiness.

Key & Keyhole: Home & Security, My house is yours.

Knot: Everlasting, together forever.

Leaves: Love Grows.

Padlock: Your love is Safe with me.

Ship: Smooth passage through life.

Vine: Love Grows.

Wheel: Willingness to work for a loved one.

Double Spoons: The Couple Together Forever.

Triple Spoons: Family.



To Make a Papier Mache Love Spoon you will need...
PVA Glue
Sticky Tape
Old Newspapers
Paint
Brown Felt tip Pen
Clear Varnish (in an aerosol can)

First you need to choose the Symbols that you would like to include on our Valentines Love Spoon. Above you will see that some of the symbols have a 'How to Make' link. This link shows you how to make the basic shape for that symbol.
Choose 4 or 5 of the love spoon symbols to include in your design, and make them up.

To Make the Love Spoon Bowl
Your Love spoon will need a bowl at the end. You can either make a traditional oval shaped spoon, or for additional meaning you could make a heart shaped bowl. Both are made in the same way, but if you would like a heart shaped bowl, start off with the basic Heart symbol (see how to make it above).

With one sheet of newspaper and fold it in half widthways.

Roll the paper up thinly into a tube.

Curl the roll around to make an oval. You can overlap the roll ends to make the bowl a similar width to your other symbols.

To make the shape of a bowl, cut out an oval shape from newspaper which is slightly bigger than the oval shape you have just made.

From the bottom of the oval cut a slit in the flat oval to the centre. Pull one side of the slit over the other to shape the paper into a slight cone shape and tape it in place.

Sit the cone shape on top of the tubular oval, cut small slits in the edges and tape the sides down.

Cut out another oval for the back but don't add any shaping to the back of the spoon.

Paper Mache the Love Spoon
Arrange the love spoon symbols and the spoon bowl in a straight line in the order that you would like them to be in and tape them into place.

Then you need to start covering the spoon in paper mache.

Mix the PVA glue 1 part glue and 1 part water. And with small strips of thin paper or newspaper, dunk the paper in the glue mixture and then lay it onto the spoon structure.

First add a layer to the 'font' and sides - leave overnight to dry.

Then turn it over and add a layer to the back and sides - leave overnight to dry.

And then repeat this once more.

Painting the Love Spoon
When the paper mache is completely dry, mix up a pail wood colour with poster paint. And paint the love spoon all over and leave to dry.

Take a brown felt tip pen and draw in the grain of the wood.

Start off by drawing a couple of knotholes on the spoon, and then draw lines that are a bit wavy going up the spoon. When you get to a knothole you have to go around it, and so making the line a bit wavy. Continue like this until all of the front and sides of the spoon have wood grain.

On the back of the spoon you can write a message to your valentine on the back of the bowl.

On the back of each symbol you can write what the symbol itself represents. For example write 'Everlasting' or 'Forever' on the back of the knot.

Finally give the love spoon a coat of spray on varnish. Because the spoon is decorated in poster paint and felt tip pen, if you try to brush varnish it, all the paintwork will move one it becomes wet, this is why an aerosol varnish is used.

Once the varnish is dry, the spoon is ready for giving.