In deference to good old St Valentine, I’m cheekily reblogging this easy craft (I first posted it back in December in the guise of Christmas decs). I originally pinched this make from Kirstie Allsopp’s Craft book, but to be honest, it’s a very simple, basic technique and you don’t need a book to tell you how to do it (that’s where I come in).
Anyway, these babies are so pretty and homespun looking that I’ve been making them left, right and centre. Best of all though is that I’ve probably only spent about a fiver and made around ten of them so far. 50p for such a lovely gift is thriftiness itself!
So, here’s what you need for around ten hearts:
0.5m red felt
2m (ish) thin ribbon (I used 5mm width)
Wadding
White embroidery thread
20 small buttons (two per heart)
10 beads (1 per heart)
And here’s what you do:
First make a simple heart template (freehand is fine). I drew mine on greaseproof paper. Cut it out and then pin to a piece of folded felt. Cut out (you should now have two heart shapes from the folded fabric). Next, measure approx. 20cm of ribbon, cut and fold in half. Place vertically inside the two felt hearts so that the loop sticks out at the top and the ends stick out at the bottom. Pin the ribbon in place between the hearts. You can now use a neat running stitch to sew round nearly the whole outer edge of the hearts just leaving a small gap into which you can stuff a little wadding to pad the shape out nicely. Continue to sew up the remaining edge. Finally stitch a pretty button onto each side of the decoration and thread a bead onto the ‘tail’ part of the ribbon. Tie to hold in place. Et, voila.
These make a great half term craft activity for slightly older children (i.e those who are capable of wielding a needle) or a lovely handmade alternative to the usual Valentine’s tat.
