DIY Valentine’s Day felt heart garland
(Originally published 2/5/14) Instead of traditional red and pink Valentine’s Day decorations, this year I wanted to decorate using materials that were more natural, textured, and well, subtle. Inspired by the natural wool colors in my pom-pom wreath, I decided to make a felt heart garland for the fireplace.
It’s a super easy and inexpensive project (materials cost around $3 for the felt and embroidery floss. I already had the other materials).
What you’ll need:
- Felt sheets in a variety of colors. I got mine at Michael’s for 39 cents per sheet and used three sheets of charcoal gray, three sheets of natural, and one sheet of red.
- Heart shapes template. I used the free printable heart set #2 and set #3 from firstpalette.com
- One skein of red embroidery floss
- Glue gun and glue
- 3 yards of worsted weight yarn. I used Paton’s Classic Wool in natural marle.
- Sewing pins
- Embroidery needle
Instructions:
Print out six sheets of the large size heart template (three for the gray and three for the natural felts) and one sheet of the small heart template (for the red felt). Pin a template sheet to a felt sheet, placing one or two pins through each heart. Cut out each heart.
Using the glue gun, glue a small red heart to nine of the natural color hearts. Using the red embroidery floss, stitch around three of the gray hearts about a 1/4″ from the edge. Do not separate the floss into an individual strand or the red won’t stand out on the gray background.
Lay out the hearts prior to stringing them on the yarn. Starting with a gray heart, order the colors as follows:
- gray
- natural with red
- gray
- natural
Repeat, randomly placing the three gray hearts with red stitching.
Using the embroidery floss (again, do not separate the floss) and needle, poke a hole through each heart about 1/4″ below the V. Pull through about 6″ of floss, cut floss and tie a knot to create a loop. String each heart onto the yarn.
Finally, it’s time to hang your garland. You can use the little 3M removable hooks, but I always use clear packing tape.
And you’re finished! The felt hearts are so cute, and if you want to repurpose them, just take them off the worsted yarn. They’d be adorable hanging on a Christmas tree or as a tag for wrapping a handmade gift.
Enjoy and happy crafting!
PS. If hearts aren’t your thing, my Anthro- inspired felt garland would look great in the gray/ natural/ red colorway.
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Need a fun Galentine’s / Valentine’s gift? My bestselling Leslie Knope compliments mug can be found in my Etsy shop, and a set of free printable Galentine’s gift tags can be downloaded here.
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So cute, I'm pinning this!!
Thanks, visiting from SITS link!
Thanks Ce Ce!
So cute. I’d love it if you’d share this at my link party, going on now! http://acowboylife.blogspot.com/2014/02/friday-favorites-link-party.html
Thanks! I'm so glad you like it! And thank you for the invite- I'm on my way 🙂
Very cute!
Thanks!
found you from the friday favorites link up party! this garland is so cute 🙂 i love colors and the random stitching.. i still need to finish decorating for valentine's.
love.
amy
amylynn188.blogspot.com
Thanks Amy!
PS. I started following you on Pinterest- you have a ton of cute stuff pinned <3
Stopping by from SITS. This looks like such a fun craft. And pretty too!
Thanks! I'm obsessed with felt 🙂
I love this! We were thinking about putting up something really quick this weekend for V-day and this looks like something we can do in a few hours. Visiting from SITS link-up – enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Thanks! It's really quick project- I sat and cut the felt out while watching a movie.
PS. Your DIY page has a lot of great ideas- I'm about to pin a whole bunch <3
Beautiful! I need to try this. I attempted a different garland style last year and it worked ok, but I wasn't thrilled so I pulled it apart. Pinning so I can find it fast later. Also, curious about the hole about your mantel. We have a MASSIVE one in our new house. We don't put our tv up there so I'm still trying to figure out how I want to decorate it.
Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment! Have a great Sunday. 🙂
Thanks so much! Very nice to meet you <3
Oops! I looked at photos closer and realize you have a framed print above your mantel? At first glance it reminded me of the framed hole over ours. 🙂
Hahaha- it is a frame 🙂 It's actually a framed picture of a steam ship that used to hang in my husband's great grandpa's office.
I'm actually planning on redoing the area over the mantle to have a bunch of varied frames- if you have a big area to cover, this might work for you. I'll see if I can find a good example for you.
This is way too cute!
Thank you! <3
I am so glad I found your blog. I am a crafter too, I run a deal site but now that I am taking time off I am so excited to find sites that have great crafts. I love the hearts!! #SITSBlogging
Thank you- it's nice to meet you too! It's always great to meet other crafters 🙂
This is so pretty! Love how it is in your blog header too. I love how it is not traditional Valentine's colors.
Thanks! I couldn't find anything to decorate the mantle in more natural colors, so I had to make something. 🙂
Nice to meet you!
This is so cute! I've been wanting to dress up my mantle for Valentines day, I think I need to make one of these!!
Thanks! It's a super easy project- I think I might make another one in bright colors just for fun 🙂
These are so cute- if I make them I will keep them up all year!
Thanks Monica! <3
Stopping by from the Comment Love Tribe! This is super cute! I don't have anywhere to hang a garland yet, but I can't wait til I do!Lauren#SITSBlogging
The small size heart template would be perfect for a little garland that can hang on big picture frames 😉
Thanks for visiting! <3
I love this, and it actually looks like something I could do! I'm not crafty! Pinning for a future project. #SITSBlogging
Thanks! It's super easy- anyone can make it and have it look great <3
This is so pretty! I need to make something like this for my mantle. I am all about the hearts everywhere, right now! #SITSBlogging
Thanks! I love hearts too- have you seen the Drew Barrymore project where she finds hearts in everything? It's really fun. Google it if you have a chance 😀
Okay those are SO cute! I have a feeling if I tried it it wouldn't turn out this cute, but this is inspiring me to at least try!
Thanks! You can totally make one and have it come out awesome, I promise 🙂
<3
Oooh, this garland is so cute! I can't sew a lick, but I could totally do this with the materials and a little sewing tape trickery! 😉 #SITSBlogging
Absolutely! You can totally make this a no sew project. Thanks for visiting! <3
This is so adorable! I really love the natural colors and the natural feel of the felt. Looks great! #SITSBlogging
Thanks so much! I love the texture of felt- I have to come up with more projects to use up my growing pile 🙂
This is such a cute craft … and I think I could even do it!
Nice to meet you through #SITSBlogging!
Kimberly @ Rhubarb and Honey {http://rhubarbandhoney.com/}
Thanks so much- it's nice to meet you too! You can definitely make this garland and it would look great <3
THANK YOU! I love this! I pinned it for later! #SITSBlogging
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it <3
I don't sew, but this looks like something I could manage! Beautiful photos. Visiting from #SITSBlogging
Thanks! The only real sewing is the three red stitched accent hearts. I think you could probably just paint fake stitches on with red paint and it would look cool 😀
Such creative ideas! I love Valentine's Day and the hearts everywhere.
Thanks! I love Valentine's Day too <3
I love this! Super cute and easy to make. Just the way I like it.
Thanks so much! <3
I love the non-conventional colors. It looks like they are hanging on some type of wire. How do you think they'd look hanging from white lights?
Mine are hanging on a striped worsted weight yarn, but I LOVE the idea of hanging them on white lights. I think I may try that next year <3
I LOVE this! So cute and so simple!
Hi! Visiting via the sits girls party–love the garland. Such fresh colors of a usually very RED holiday. Great thinking outside-the-box. Blessings, Diana Adirondack Girl @ Heart
Oh, I like this! Especially that it can be repurposed to decorate the whole Christmas tree. What a great project idea! #sitsblogging