Yesterday, I showed you my made-by-the-whole-family heart garland. Now, I admit I'm a bit of a perfectionist, but when it comes to crafts I have to put that aside.
For one, I don't have much experience with making crafts. And two, I am working with children. One day I will pick up these sweet felt hearts with their imperfect edges and giant stitches and think about how little the kids were when they made them.
Just in case you are an inexperienced crafter like me, I am providing some instructions for how to make the hearts. You can turn them into a garland or just hang them individually.
First, I went to Michaels to get felt in various colours. The felt comes in individual sheets for about 50 cents each, not in a big, mixed package like I had hoped.
To get the two sides you will need for your heart, fold the felt in half and pin it together. Place a heart shaped cookie cutter (or maybe a foam or cardboard heart) on the felt and trace around it with chalk. (Maybe there's a better way than chalk? We did end up with slightly different sizes of hearts because the chalk is chunky.) Be sure to place the cookie cutter close to the edge so you can get two hearts out of one sheet of felt.
Cut out the heart shape.
Expect the occasional disappointment.
Sew the two sides together, leaving a couple of inches open for stuffing. Remove the pin.
Luckily, we had a bag of polyester fiberfill around from a doll project my son did at school a couple of years ago.
Stuff to your heart's content and stitch up the opening.
I had some trouble finding baker's twine at Michaels. Eventually one of the ladies directed me to the Martha Stewart Crafts area. Score!
I have a plastic darning needle that I got with a knitting kit. I used that to run the baker's twine through the hearts.
And voilà -- our Valentine's Day rainbow hearts garland.
One day the kids had a PA Day (no school) and we decided to make some more hearts. We had already completed some of the hearts when we thought of personalizing them with initials. So, we cut the initials out of felt and glued them on. The kids wanted to stitch on initials too, so we made new hearts and sewed initials on one side before sewing the two hearts together. (By the way, I didn't spell "MEN" on purpose.)
I also made a larger heart, which I traced onto a piece of fabric using a heart shaped cake pan.
I sewed this one with the sewing machine, because I really need more practice doing that! I gave my girl a scrap of fabric so she could test out the sewing machine too.
What about you? Any special plans for marking Valentine's Day?
Linking up to:
Fingerprints on the Fridge and Simply Designing and Craftomaniac:
Looks gorgeous! Love the idea ,great Work :)
ReplyDeleteHave a happy Weekend! xoxo
Thanks so much girl! Have a wonderful weekend too! Jo
DeleteI love you banner. Such great colours, and so fun that your children helped with these projects. Your little girl's slightly annoyed face is cute in that picture, as is the way she buttoned up her cardigan :)
ReplyDeleteI hit the old sewing/fabric stores on Queen Street West the other day and got a luscious array of goodies to make some hearts this weekend. We're snowed in (as you would be too) so crafting in the cozy indoors is on tap. I just trudged out to the mailbox to mail some valentines to children who live afar, and it was quite the ordeal only going that far! Oh, good old winter!
The cardigan makes me laugh. I didn't notice until after. Not that I would have told her to change it. I nag about enough things! ;)
DeleteI love to wander on Queen St. W. but we haven't done it for ages!
These are so beautiful :)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much!
DeleteThese r so cute xx
ReplyDelete1stepclosereveryday.blogspot.co.uk
Thanks for saying so! :)
DeleteI want to do a fabric craft for V's Day this year and this looks great :) My daughter will no doubt keep the hearts hanging up in her room long after...
ReplyDeleteI can totally see my daughter doing that too. :)
DeleteSo creative! I love these. Your pictures are amazing btw!
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks Natalie! :)
DeleteSo pretty and happy! Love it, and very perfect hearts :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! :)
DeleteLove it! We are not big V-day celebrators but I am super tempted to make this! Instead of chalk you could get a purple Dritz pen. You can draw the outline and then eventually it will disappear. I used a blue one (the ink disappears when you wash it) OR I've used Sharpie markers in a slightly darker, yet similar color to the felt I am cutting.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dritz.com/brands/showcase/details.php?ITEM_NUM=677-60
Thanks for the suggestions Laurie. I appreciate it! :)
DeleteJust love the colors! We don't celebrate Valentine's Day persay, since its also Thing 1s birthday. But the colors you used make this garland good for any time of year!
ReplyDeleteThat's true. I could see using this in my daughter's room or in the basement or something.
DeleteSweet, bright and simple! I like how you used home objects for the shapes. xo caroline @ c.w.frosting
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
Delete