Thursday, 13 February 2020

Crafty Behaviour : Handmade Valentine Decorations 2020

Follow Up : Thanks for visiting :) I used all of these handmade pieces within our Valentine’s decor, which you can see here, if you’d like.

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Hi and welcome! I love crafting for Valentine’s Day. There’s something about the colour scheme and the shape of hearts that really gets me in the mood to make things. You?

These are all pretty easy — except for the crocheted pieces if you’re not a crocheter — and most are a different take on something I’ve shared here before, so I’ll link to tutorials in previous posts where appropriate.

Here’s what I made this year …

A “Needlepoint Plastic Canvas Heart” previously demonstrated in this post. I used yarn from my stash and a plastic canvas heart leftover from when I made them before, which originally came from Michael’s.

A “Wooden Heart Die Cut painted and decorated with paper” previously demonstrated in this post. The base shape came from Dollarama.

Some small wooden heart die cut decorations, which I painted and glued together, adding skewers to some and hanging strings to others. The supplies all came from Dollarama, found in the regular craft supply section.

Some beaded Hanging Ornaments, using red beads and plastic hearts from a garland found at Dollarama (which I forgot to photograph before disassembling), and other beads and findings that I had. These beads and hearts were threaded on a tulle ribbon, and with some tugging, I was able to get them off. The beading technique and tools were previously demonstrated in this post.

A couple of “Cross Stitch on Paper” hearts, the same but in different sizes. I did a tutorial for this technique a while back (see it here) however, while it still works I’ve changed the way I do these and plan to write a new tutorial post for this, so, if you’re interested in cross stitching on paper, please be on the lookout for that. (Update: Revised method is here.)

The pattern I used for these is here : Free Cross Stitch Heart Pattern

A crocheted Heart Shaped Wreath. I followed this method to make it, using a heart shape wire frame that I got from the base of this hanging decoration from Dollarama. The red reed part came off easily and, being a natural substance, was put into the compost.

I’m hooked on these renewable everlasting sachets, which are a cover that goes over a cotton cushion, to which you add whatever essential oils you like, refreshing it when needed.

This is the 6th one I’ve made and they all get used regularly. Aside from having them around the house, where they add a nice natural scent, I toss one in my suitcase when travelling. Anyway, I wanted one for this time of year, so made a simple (for people who know how to crochet) version using one of these crocheted hearts, which I stitched onto a pouch I made from a length of half-double crochet, sewed down the sides. Non-crocheters can make these, too, using fabric scraps and cotton balls.

And, here are a couple of things that I slightly modified for the holiday. The hanging wooden heart came with a plain finish which I painted a soft grey. Then I hung it with a couple of vintage skeleton keys that were actually used by our relatives now sadly departed, to give it a “Key to my Heart” look. The big one was from my grandparents and the smaller one from Nick’s aunt.

The wreath is something I put together at Christmastime. I Valentined it up by adding one of the wooden hearts.