Valentines and crafting ♥

14th February  ♥

This was a heart garland that I made for a giveaway
on my Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/eclectichomelife

I always seem to only be half a step ahead at best and so begin to think about craft ideas for the next
celebration a short time before.  Really after all these years on this planet of ours, you would have thought I would know by now that to hand make anything, takes time and planning...  I have been playing around with hearts for the last week or so, but nothing has really jumped at me to make and so I have tinkered with lots of different heart pattern, big ones, small ones and mid size ones, I like them all, but perhaps not surprisingly prefer the ones that are the quickest to make. See here for the small crochet hearts I like:  http://eclectichomelife.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hearts-hearts-and.html

A good selection of heart patterns can also be found at these sites, remember hearts can be used at anytime of the year, not just for Valentines.  I think I might make some yellow ones for Easter, look I might be learning, I am thinking ahead?!?  All patterns below have been tried and tested my me, so I know they work and are my current favourites.  I did try others, but these are my top 5 ♥

 

Lucy from Attic 24 make tiny hearts, this year I used these to make my Valentine card:  http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/teeny-tiny-hearts.html










Lovely detailed yet quick small hearts, ideal for a garland: http://www.crochettoday.com/files/patterns-pdf/CrochetValentine_0.pdf







Super quick and perhaps my current favourite small hearts: http://www.thestitchinmommy.com/2013/01/valentines-day-crochet-heart.html?m=1

 

I love this multicoloured heart. I have only made one, but the designer suggests making two and filling with lavender! I may just do that! http://bunnymummy-jacquie.blogspot.nl/2013/02/simple-sunburst-crochet-heart.html

 

These lovely and detailed hearts come from: http://myrosevalley.blogspot.ch/2013/04/sweet-heart-crochet-pattern.html

♥Apologies to knitters for not posting any heart pattern, I will get round to testing out hearts through out the year and will get back to you.  In the mean time if any keen knitter can recommend some heart patterns for me to try, I would be grateful ♥





But, as I had only tinkered with the hearts and not really come up with a finished product, except the garland that I gave away,  I needed another quick fix at crafting and thought to make a felt version of the paper hearts I made a few days ago, http://eclectichomelife.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hearts-hearts-and.html



A no sew project if you prefer!

Felt hearts on a string ♥

You will need:
felt in chosen colour (s)
ruler
pencil
scissor
needle and thread
glue (or a sewing machine)

 

♥ I used a ruler to measure the width of my strips, and kept them all the same width. Mark on the felt and cut out as many strips as you want,
1 strip = 1♥







♥ Glue each end following your glue instructions. mine said to leave for 30 seconds before attaching to anything.

♥ Attach the two ends to each other, this is a little counter intuitive, the ends come in on each other to join, see photograph.








♥ Pinch the bottom of the heart to adjust the point and make it more heart like.









♥ Line up the hearts and sew through the middle of them, making sure that you are threading them at approximately the same height as each other.  I found it best to thread through the felt inside the heart shape too, if you do not add that onto the thread, your hearts could be too top heavy and will not stay the right way up when hung on a garland.  I found this out the hard way.  These photographs show the hearts without threading through the middle section, so be warned!!

 

♥ Once thread, find your hanging location and then space out the hearts within the garland.  you will need to tweak the heart shapes as you go along.

 

And ...Ta da...

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♥ Happy Valentines Day everyone ♥

I'll be eating heart shaped waffles for breakfast, are you going to be doing anything over the top too?