Puffy Felt Hearts 1-2-3 (and what to do with them)

Hello there!  How was your weekend? I mostly goofed around while Alan immersed himself in Assassins Creed 2 on Playstation 3.

It’s a good mix most Sundays… he plays, and I play.  We go together well like that.

I’m getting in the Valentine’s mood and pulled out some felt to see what came of it.  I ended up making several of these cute little puffy hearts.  They are so super easy, you can whip some out well in time for the big love fest day too.

All you need:

• Felt in your favorite colors – be it traditional Valentine’s or otherwise.
• Embroidery thread and needle.
• Stuff to make them puff… filler, scrap felt, dryer lint… you get the idea.
• Scissors

Step 1:  Start by cutting out several in whatever shapes and sizes you see fit.

The only requirement is that you need the fronts and backs to be pretty much the same size for sewing together.  But they really don’t need to be perfect.  A quick trick for doing so, is to fold your piece of felt into 4′s, and then making sure you cut along the folds, cut out half a heart shape.  Then when you unfold what you have cut out you have two pretty much the same size hearts to sew together.

Step 2:  Sew the majority of the front and back of each piece together using embroidery thread.  Do so by simply sewing around the edges.  Start your first stitch on the inside of the front piece so you can hide the knot inside the heart.

Step 3:  Before you completely sew the whole piece together… leave a little room to stuff each heart.

Franken-heart.  heh heh heh.

Once your heart is stuffed, finish up your stitching, and your done!  Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Now, what to do with all these little cuties?

I made a magnet with mine:

To do so, hot glue to a piece of cardboard in whatever configuration you like, and then attach a magnet (hot glue works fine for that too) to the back of that piece of cardboard.  Voila… your fridge is feelin’ the love.

Other ideas:

• Use as a scrapbook page embellishment (you may want to fill a little less so they aren’t as bulky).
• Fill with potpourri and use as a sachet.
• Attach a ribbon to the top and use as an ornament for a Valentine tree.
• Hot glue to a circle of corrugated cardboard and make a wreath.
• Hand out a few to each family member and place an empty clear jar in a central location in your house for all to see.  Each time someone tells another a reason they love them they get to drop a heart into the jar.  Make it a goal that the jar is full of ‘love’ by Valentine’s Day in which case everyone gets a special treat.
• Keep a few to pass out to those that need a little love, just because.  I can guarantee they’ll keep it in their pocket all day and smile.
• Fill with Cat Nip and become your feline friend’s favorite person EVER. (I may have to do that next).

You can of course use this basic crafty ‘recipe’ for so many other little puffy felt items too.  Think flowers, butterflies, stars, you name it!  Just cut out two basic shapes and get to stitchin’ and stuffin’.

Thanks for stopping by today…hoping for more lovey projects to come soon!

Or at least chocolate… by God there will be chocolate.