handmade days - 3d felt ornaments

thanks to jessica at how about orange for this fantastic tutorial! i'm partial to the felt though - perfect for gift toppers, ornaments or year-round decoration.

hidden message felt hearts

i wanted to make something sweet for my nieces this valentines day & with lots of felt laying around i decided to find a way to use it. what i ended up with is a three layer heart, accented with contrasting stitching & a pocket for a hidden valentine - what you end up with is an easy to follow tutorial.

what you need:
3 - 6" square pieces of felt
scissors
embroidery needle
embroidery floss, split into 3 piece strands
batting
paper
markers

instructions:
1. fold one square felt piece in half & with the fold in hand cut out a half-heart shape.
2. repeat with the other 2 felt squares, following the pattern.
3. grab hearts a & b, coming up from behind on the top left section of heart a, follow around with a straight stitch. leave the top section open by ending the stitch at the same spot on the top right section of heart a. tie off each end with a knot.
4. after threading a needle, pull up from the back of just heart a & tie off the end.
5. take hearts a & b (with needle pulled through) & heart c in hand & line them up.
6. follow the outline of heart b with a straight stitch & stop with a 2" opening.
7. fill the hearts with batting, don't fill too much.
8. close the hearts with continued stitching, tie off behind heart b.
9. to keep the thread behind the second smallest heart, take the needle behind & pull up through another area of heart b. pull taught (scrunching some of the felt) & trim, now you can pull the hearts back to their normal standing & the thread should disappear behind heart b.

10. cut a small heart from construction paper or cardstock. write your message & tuck it into heart a's pocket.



follow the picture led tutorial here & happy valentines day!

holiday garland

last week i mentioned making & hanging a holiday garland; i loved the multi-colored leaves from miesmama. i purchased some felt to make stockings & decided to take a little off the top for garlands (the equivilant of 12" x 24" sheet). i created 4, 3" x 12"sheets & layered them in pairs. from those pairs of felt, i cut strips measuring 3" x 1"-1.5". after cutting out around 40 leaves of each 4 colors, i got out the sewing machine. using a wide, straight stitch i sewed a line down each leave, overlapping just a bit at the tips. i found that lifting the foot as you add each leaf works the best & leaving extra thread on each end allows you to create hoops for hanging.

holiday decoration

i'm not going to over do it this year, but i would like to make my apartment cozie with a few accoutrements. i think i'll do some simple white lights in the window, this pink tinsel wreath, a felt garland or 2 (maybe i'll make?), some antique ornaments in a glass jar & since i'll be celebrating in seattle this year, 2 stockings for bart & i (i love a stocking). for all you single ladies & childless couples - how much do you decorate?

ornament image from tw collins, garland from miesmama.