This is the behind-the-scenes story of how I built my Valentine love backdrop by hand, including the doubts, the trial and error, and the small victories along the way, for anyone curious about the work behind a themed photography set.
I remember growing up thinking ugh Valentine’s Day is so overrated…why do you need such a conspicuous display of your love? But now as an adult, I think about how fun and playful Valentine’s day can be, a chance to take time for each other and yourself. I wanted it to encapsulate all types of love (self-love and romantic). Essentially be the Love Backdrop. SO beautiful in our frantic world!
Love should be celebrated; it is a joy. And, let’s be honest, life gets busy and sometimes you don’t have time to just sit down and tell your partner how much you adore them.
So, when I started creating my Valentine’s Day Love backdrop, I wanted it to reflect the beauty and imperfect nature of love. If you ask me that is what makes it special. Set it Up, a cheesy rom com on Netflix said, “I love you not because of but in spite of.”
One of my many crafty interests is crocheting. Now, I only learnt how to crochet from a friend and the first coaster I ever made took multiple hours. So, crocheting 16 feet of wire in the shape of a heart was a massive undertaking. My original idea was creating a massive heart that could stand in a flowerpot weighed down by sand. Then a picnic blanket with body pillows, chocolate, and roses would be in front. Perfectly setting the stage for an intimate photography session. But there were complications upon complications which led it to the final results that I personally am in love with. I can’t wait to put the Valentine’s Day backdrop to use for other celebrations, like pride.
Step 1: Creating a heart sculpture out of wire.
This is the most important part of the love backdrop!
I have never worked with wire before, so I did not know where to start. I knew I needed thicker wire to make sure it could support the yarn and would be visible behind the picnic blanket. What I did not know was that its sturdiness is not solely dependent on thickness but also gauge. And I did not realize that I would be unable to create a point without any wire tools.
I got out my roll of wire on the floor and realized I had no way to hold down the ends to shape it. This wire is massive, and my friends were occupied with their own jobs, so I was on my own. The heaviest piece of furniture in my house is a couch. The problem here is that the couch legs are wood, which is soft and could be cut by the wire. As any problem-solver would, I came up with a solution, sponges. I got out two handy dandy sponges and placed the wire in-between and then placed this underneath the couch leg. Finally, I could get to work.
At first it looked like a massive blob.
After about an hour it resembled a heart. Because I couldn’t create a point, with the help of my bestie YuYu, we decided the best look would be a cartoon heart (wide with a shallow dip). The biggest challenge was getting rid of the small kinks and getting each side to mirror each other. The heart is so big that it was impossible to see the entire heart from the ground. The only way was from an elevated vantage point, aka jumping up on the couch and going on your tiptoes.
Even at this stage of building the love backdrop i was nervous. Part of me was ready to give up already, but the bigger part was excited and couldn’t wait to create something beautiful and powerful.
Step 2: Acquire yarn and create a yarn chain long enough to go around the heart’s perimeter.
This task was easy, well minus the getting yarn. I wanted red yarn for the lace edging but the only weight at Joann’s was too thick. So I settled for cream yarn. (now I am glad for this challenge). Because the yarn is cream rather than white, it allows uses for the backdrop to be diversified. Transforming my vision into a love backdrop rather than a backdrop exclusively for Valentine’s Day. I sat down on the couch and an hour later had a chain with probably at least a thousand of chains. A chain is the basic stitch in crocheting that you build upon. I made the chain a tad longer than necessary in case there was any shrinkage once I attached it around the heart, which ultimately was needed.
Step 3: Begin crocheting the love backdrop’s heart
Crochet three rows of single crochets. Then attach the yarn to the wire with a fourth round of single crochets
This is pretty straightforward, just time intensive. For the wire I procured, three rounds was just enough to cover outside completely. The fourth round of single crochets took longer because they were done around the wire . This attaches it to the yarn and builds a layer of chains to add the pattern to!
Step 4: Crochet on the pattern
(I got this pattern from Crochet Knitting Therapy on youtube)
Row 1 and 2: chain 5, skip two , double crochet (dc), chain (ch) 2, dc, ch2, & repeat until you have made it around. At the end, because mine was a heart, I did a slip stitch at the end to form a complete loop.
Row 3: repeat the pattern for row 1 until you have 5 spaces then in the 6th, 6 dc, ch 10, flip over the yarn and slip stitch (sl st) into dc #1, then ch2 and sl st into the next dc (which should be the fifth), then flip it back over and put 4 dc into the big loop you created.
Then you ch 17, count down 9 and sl st, flip over the ring you created, ch3, 3 dc, ch 3, 1 sc and repeat until you have 4 petals, for the first petal in each flower once you have completed your 3 dc you either attach it to the last flower you completed at the 3 dc or you count out 5 of the spaces and attach it to row 2 with a sl st and then continue chaining 3. then ch 10 and sl to the fourth dc you put in the big ring.
Repeat until you have six flowers around the ring. Then 4 dc, ch 2, skip one space and dc into the dc. Then you repeat until you have 5 more spaces, attach the sixth flower to this spot through a sl st and then repeat this pattern until you’ve gone the whole way around.
This pattern sounds super complicated and it definitely is not easy. With that being said once you get the hang of it, it goes much more quickly. I think my first one took me over an hour and by the end they only took about 30 minutes. And if what I wrote made no sense, the YouTube video is easier to follow!
Step 5: Reshape the whole heart.
The focal element of the love backdrop is the heart. So of course when it was destroyed in the process of crocheting around it, I was stressed. But I was able to reshape it with the help of my sturdy friend, the couch.
Step 6: Block the heart.
If you are not a crocheter that means absolutely nothing to you. To be honest I had never blocked any of my past crochet projects either. All this entails is lightly wetting the yarn with a spray bottle. Then you use thumbtacks to pin it in place where you want it to sit.
Step 7: Moving the love backdrop’s heart to stand vertically.
Well this is where the next major problem arose. Turns out the yarn weighed too much so the heart shape collapsed and suddenly I had a massive blob with a delicate yarn edging. I had already purchased a white flowerpot from Home Depot and bought a whole 0.5 cubic foot of deconstructed granite and a 5 lb bag of aquarium gravel for the top (because it is prettier) and when I tried to stand it up in it, it simply collapsed. So back to the thinking board.
My three options were either, give up (not in my DNA), buy a sturdier wire wrap it in yarn and hot glue them together, or get a trellis to secure it to. A wire reinforcement could have worked, but there was no guarantee that would be too heavy and still collapse, so a trellis it is.
Well, it turns out most are only two feet wide, and lots are shorter than the 4-5 feet I needed. Luckily I found an expandable trellis that was a little wider. When it arrived, I set down a massive sheet of cardboard to reshape the heart on and used a heavy flowerpot outside to hold the end in place. Then I placed the trellis on top of it and using the 120 cable ties I procured, started to secure the Valentine’s Day heart in place. I was rushing to beat the sunlight, so I could place it in the garage safely before the torrential three-day downpour began.
Thankfully this worked and the trellis was strong enough to support the heart.
SUCCESS
Step 8: Take Sample photos.
The rain destroyed any hope at taking sample Valentine’s Day photographs outdoors, so an at-home studio session was in order. Thankfully I already had a photography stand (most of my photography is outdoor). Although, I had yet to use it, so I did not have anything to put behind it as a solid background, but my quick research showed that king sized flat sheets were large enough to solve my conundrum. So, I was able to set up an indoor session with the help of my friends, Gen and Isac. Because it was an indoor session, my friend Michelle helped me weave fairy lights through the outside of the lace edging, adding an air of magic and love!
In the end, I love the Valentine’s day backdrop I built and think it is so versatile. Truly as the project continued, it became a love backdrop rather than a Valentine’s Day backdrop. It symbolizes love, dedication, care and passion, and at least personally perseverance through barriers and challenges along the way. I can’t wait to think of ways to spice it up with small flowers or rainbow flowers
Ready for some of my favorites??
