Embroidery Love

I have to give myself a huge pat on the back. I made something! Hooray for me! And what did I make? Oh, just a little something to celebrate Valentine's Day with.

I saw the idea months and months (possibly a year or more so) ago to embroider initials in a heart (in the vein of carving your initials on a tree). I started out with that idea in mind and then once I got started I had to add more happy colors and fun stitches.

I was going to surprise my husband with it, but about a week ago he caught me making it. Oh well. It is still cute and I'm not very good at surprises anyway. :)

And yes, I did paint my embroidery hoop purple. It just needed a little something to make it pretty. 

I'm linking up with:
Floral Showers - Creative Craft Thursday
Treasures for Tots - Thursday's Treasures 
Today's Creative Blog

Queen of Hearts Garland Tutorial

Last year around Valentines Day I cut out and embellished a few felt hearts, not exactly knowing what I wanted to do with them. And then they sat. In a bag. Forgotten. Until now.

I finally took the time to make something out of these cuties. And I'll show you how to make it, too.

Supplies:

• felt
• embroidery floss
• ribbon (both to embellish with and to hang garland from)
  
• buttons
• safety pin

First, cut out a heart template from card-stock or thin cardboard.

Now cut out double the # of hearts you want on your garland. For the first half (the tops), embellish. Use whatever you have. I used felt, ribbon, buttons, and embroidery floss.

For the second half (the bottoms), cut 2 parallel lines on the upper portion of the heart. Only cut long enough for your width of ribbon to fit through. Like so:

Now attach the hearts together with embroidery floss (meaning a top and a bottom). 

Put your safety pin on the end of your length of ribbon and weave through the back slits, tying knots around the openings (so the hearts don't slide around).

Now hang up your garland (preferably not on a brick wall with packing tape... I do what I have to for lighting) and enjoy!

Here are some close-ups of my favorite hearts: