Handmade Hanging Heart Valentine Decorations
As the saying goes, makers gonna make, so I felt the familiar pull to do some hand-sewing this past week. As a result, there are a few new little things hanging around our home right now, in honour of Valentine’s Day tomorrow — these Felt, Sequin and Bead Hanging Heart Ornaments.
I had only intended to make one but once I began I kept on going because, well, I really like stitching on felt!
Each took about 45 minutes to make.
There are two styles of hanging heart ornaments, one a flat circle with a heart in the middle and the other a puffy heart.
Let’s begin with the Heart Within a Circle :
Supplies : Felt in two colours, some sequins and seed beads, some light cardboard, like that from a cereal box (you’ll be encasing it within two layers of felt, so the ornament will stay flat), a slightly larger circle to use as a pattern to trace onto your felt (I used a coaster), a heart-shaped pattern piece made from paper (if you need help making a perfect heart shape, there are some photos in this post that will help), a piece of ribbon or embroidery thread about 7 inches long (that will be the hanger), and a needle and thread to match your background felt colour.
What to do : Cut two felt circles from you base colour 4 1/4 inch across and one heart 3 inches tall.
Cut a circle from the cardboard that is slightly smaller than the felt circles, about 4 inches across.
The nice thing about working with felt is that it sticks to itself making it pretty easy to sew pieces together. So, place your heart on one of the circles and attach it by poking your needle through, threading on a sequin and a bead and then poking your needle back through the hole in the sequin and the two layers of felt. Do this all around the edge of the heart. The method of attaching the sequin and bead is the same as that described in this post, if I haven’t explained it well.
Fold the ribbon or embroidery thread in half and knot at one end. Stitch the knotted end to the top of the back side of one of your felt circles. Using a whip-stitch begin attaching the two circles together. When you’re about halfway done, insert the cardboard circle between the layers, and then finish stitching around.
Now for the Puffy Felt Hanging Heart :
Supplies : Felt in one colour, some sequins and seed beads, a bit of stuffing (cotton balls would work), and a needle and thread to match your felt colour.
What to do : Cut out two felt hearts about 3 3/4 inches tall.
Attach the sequins and beads (as described above) to one heart, in the shape of a heart, about 1/2 of an inch from the edge of the felt.
Fold the ribbon or embroidery thread in half and knot at one end. Stitch the knotted end to the top of the back side of one of your felt hearts. Using a whip-stitch, attach both hearts together, leaving about and inch through which you stick in your stuffing. You only need a bit of stuffing to make it slightly puffed up. Finish stitching around the edge.
Each took about 45 minutes to make.
Hang them here and there around your home, on door knobs or cabinet handles, or make a number of them and attach them to a ribbon to make a garland. They look very pretty after dark and especially in candle-light because the sequins catch the light and look sparkly.
Thanks for dropping over. I hope you have a great Valentine’s Day, if you celebrate it.
It’s a three day week-end here (in honour of something called Family Day, which coincidentally fell near Valentine’s Day, lest you get the impression that Valentine’s is a public holiday in Canada!). We’re having an extreme cold spell here though, with warnings to stay indoors if you can, so we probably won’t be going out any more than we have to. Our friend Andrea is coming over and we had toyed with the idea of going dancing, but we’ve changed our mind. Whatever we get up to, there will be pictures and a recap next week. Until then, stay well (and warm, if you live in these parts!)
xo loulou
Follow Up 2020 : See how these looked incorporated in our Thrift Store and Handmade Valentine decor in this post. Thanks for visiting!
