Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Felt Heart Garland {Tutorial}


Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching and my poor mantle is still looking so bereft after the Christmas season. It always takes me a little while to get used to my house being emptied of all the holiday cheer and decorations. I still miss my Christmas tree. Sad, I know. So I thought this cute little felt heart garland would be the perfect thing to perk up the mantle and fill my house with the season of love. I was inspired by this blog post and decided to give it a try. The blog is foreign but fortunately the instructions are mainly in picture format. Unfortunately, the pictures didn't really give any instructions other than the general idea. So with a little bit of trial and error, I finally got the result I wanted and I couldn't be more in love with it!



 I loved the idea of a Valentine's Day decoration that wasn't all red and pink so I added some blue. I think I may even hang this in my daughter's room once the holiday is over. Pink and hearts--definitely up her alley.





Materials

-Sheets of felt in the color of your choice
-Fabric stiffener {I used the spray kind and found this to be the easiest way to apply it}
-1/2" inch felt pom-poms
-embroidery thread or string
-measuring utensil
-scissors
-pen or tailor's chalk



1. Measure three inches from the bottom of the felt and mark a line. 


2. Cut on the line. Then measure up another three inches and cut so you have two strips.


3. Using your pen or chalk, mark a line every 3/4" all the way down one of the rectangles so it looks like the image below.




4. Lay the two rectangles together with the chalk lines facing inward.


5. Sew along the long side of the rectangle as close to the edge as possible.

6. Flip the fabric around so the lines are facing out and sew the other long side, again as close to the edge as possible.

7. Cut along the chalk lines.

Voila! A little felt heart.

8. Arrange all your sweet little hearts. (Incidentally, you will end up with 14 hearts. February 14th, 14 hearts...coincidence? I think not.)


9. Now, take your fabric stiffener and spray the hearts until they are pretty saturated. Arrange the hearts in the final shape that you want. If you are patient, you can wait an hour until they dry and respray them. But I am not so very patient, so I came up with a quicker method.


10. Pop those suckers in the microwave! Put them on a microwave safe plate and nuke them for one minute, turn them over and zap them for another minute. {CAUTION: The plate will be very hot. Handle carefully.} After you remove the hearts from the microwave, they should be very stiff. If they aren't, spray them again and reheat.




11. Once you have all the hearts in the colors that you want, it is time to start stringing! {My finished garland used 24 hearts.} I found that using two strings of embroidery thread worked well for the stringing. If the thread is too thin the hearts slide around and are difficult to manage. Be sure to keep your thread in the upper section of the heart so it lays nicely when it is hung.

12. Alternate between the hearts and the pom-poms and continue stringing your garland until you have the length you want.



13. Hang up your fabulous felt heart garland and enjoy!


Here are a few more pictures of the super easy and extremely adorable heart garland. I can't decide if I like it better over the mantle or draped underneath.







I think it's the perfect little Valentine garland: cute, simple and colorful. What a great way to celebrate the season of love!




Linking up to these lovely parties:



Tuesday To Do Party

20 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks, Diana! It is hard for me to resist adding blue to everything!

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  2. I love the blue thrown in. So pretty! Thanks so much for sharing at Whimsy Wednesdays!

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  3. So cute! I love using fabric stiffener! Love your blog, too. :) Your newest follower from the Creative Spark!

    Kathy @ lifeonlakeshoredrive.com

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Kathy! I recently started using fabric stiffener and am wondering where it has been all my life. :) And thanks for the follow! Heading over to your blog to return the love.

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  4. I super love this. Sooo cute!

    Hopping by and following your lovely blog's twitter, FB and Pinterest. I blog @ Lipoid Pneumonia, Breast Cancer & Petroleum Jelly

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  5. Awesome garland!!! Love it!Thanks so much for sharing the great tutorial! Would love to have you visit me sometime.
    Have a fabulous weekend!
    Hugs from Portugal,

    Ana Love Craft
    www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ana! New follower of your sweet blog. I love having visitors from across the pond. ;)

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  6. This garland is too cute!! I love how you added in the blue. I think I could actually tackle making this with your great tutorial!! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! And you can absolutely do this, Rachel! :) I would love to see a picture if you end up making it!

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  7. What a great idea! Thank you for showing this off at Whimsy Wednesday!

    Kelly from Smart School House
    Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SmartSchoolHouse
    Twitter:https://twitter.com/SmartSchoolHous

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  8. Very cute! I actually have a bottle of fabric stiffener laying around somewhere! Thanks so much for coming out to the party at Clean and Scentsible. I will be featuring this tomorrow. Have a wonderful Sunday!
    Jenn :)

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    Replies
    1. YAY! Thanks so much for the feature! I really appreciate it. And your link party and blog is on my weekly "To Visit" list. Love them both! :)

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  9. This si so cute and the colors used really make it pop. Would love for you to link this to my Craftastic party:)

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  10. Lydia- my goodness, what a wonderful tutorial! I actually attempted to figure this out myself today and then made a tutorial for my blog. And then of course as I was finished with it, I found yours. IT IS PERFECT! :) Anyway. Should have just read yours to begin with. Love it. Now off to explore your blog.

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  11. Tthanks for the great tutorial... have made the hearts now on to stiffening!

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  12. Thanks for the great tutorial .. have made my hearts now on to the stiffening!

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