How to Make a Bleeding Heart Plant to Haunt your DIY Halloween Decor

Watch the build video here!

Watch the build video here!

In the second installment of our spooky  plants series, we're going to craft a Bleeding String of Hearts. This is a haunted DIY hybrid of the delicate string of hearts plant and the dramatic bleeding heart plant. These are two of my real-life favourites!

If you're interested in checking out the haunted spider plant I made out of foam hair rollers, or the deadly carnivorous plant that started as a walnut, you can check out the articles at the linked text or watch the build video on my YouTube channel here!

The plant is housed in a weathered terracotta  plant pot. If you want to see how to add age and patina to a terracotta pot, I've broken that down step-by-step here. 

In addition to a small plant pot, you'll also need some craft foam, floral wire, and various colours of craft acrylic paint. I used a woodburning tool to carve some texture into the foam, but you can skip this part.  UV resin was used to make the "blood" dripping from the leaves.

Step 1: I made paper templates in a few sizes and cut out a batch of craft foam leaves.

Step 1: Creating the Leaves

The real string-of-hearts plant has teeny-tiny leaves. I'm going to make this project a bit easier on myself by making my leaves a bigger.

I cut bunch of a few sizes of leaves out of a sheet of inexpensive craft foam. I found this is the kids-crafting area of my local craft store.

Step 2: Using a woodburning tool to add texture to the foam.

Step 2: Adding Texture

I happen to own a woodburning tool. I've seen other crafters use these  tools to add texture to foam, so I thought I'd give it a go. If you're going to try this, please do it outside, there were a lot of stinky fumes!

I focused on creating a channel down the middle of each leaf for the fake blood to drip down, then added some veins to the leaves.

If you don't have a woodburning tool, try experimenting with the tip of a hot glue gun!

Step 3: Joining leaves into pairs with wire and covering the wire ends with tissue paper.

Step 3: Pairing the Leaves

On the real string-of-hearts plant the leaves grow in pairs.  To mimic this effect, I created a small loop in a short piece of floral wire. I zig-zagged both ends, then glued them onto the back of the leaves. I used a bit of tissue paper to hide the back of the wire.  You can see this process a little better in the build video. 

Step 4: Applying paint with a a make-up sponge. I ripped the edges of the sponge off for a more mottled look.

Step 4: Painting

I used sponges and makeup wedges to layer on a few shades of green acrylic craft paint. The sponges helped to create a mottled paint effect that is similar to how the leaves of this plant look in nature.

Step 5: (Above) Creating a resin "blood" drip on fishing line. (Below) Blending the cured resin drip into the leaf.

Step 5: Adding the "Bleeding" Effect

I used UV resin to create the "bleeding" effect on my string -of-hearts.

I tinted the resin red with a bit of red mica powder from my stash. In the end, I'm not really happy with the shade of red  and the process was really tedious.

I laid down a drip of resin on a non-stick mat, then placed in a short length of monofilament fishing line. I cured that assembly, flipped it over, then used a toothpick to place more resin on the back of the drip, rounding it out. I cured this again.

I used a pin to poke a hole into the foam at the tip of each leaf. I fit the fishing line into the pinhole and added a bit more resin to blend the joint.

Step 6: (Above) Fitting a scrap of foam into the terracotta pot. (Below) Covering the foam with craft moss.

Step 6: Preparing the Base for the Plant

Using an aged terracotta pot I prepared earlier,  (She how in the build video or read the article.) I fit a scrap of foam floor mat into the top. Cardboard would work here too.

I covered the foam in a bit of preserved sheet moss (from the floral section of the dollar store) for a more natural look.

Step 7: The assembled "Bleeding" Sting-of-Hearts vines.

Step 7: Stringing the Leaves and Assembly

Finally it was time to string the leaf pairs onto some lengths of floral wire.  I made three vines of different lengths.

I poked the ends of the wire into  plant pot, and secured with a DIY wire staple (made from floral wire) where necessary.  And it's done! 

The finished plant!

​If you want to watch each step of this project in detail, please check out the build video on my YouTube channel below. If you give this project a try, it would make my day if you’d share it with me. I’m @JaneSawyerMakes on TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, Threads,  and Twitter (X). Please share and pin this article!