Thursday, January 21, 2010

Simple Felt Heart Garland Tutorial



The Land of Nod had these adorable mitten and tree garlands this past Christmas. Did you see them? Fall in love too? Oh, they were so darling. I think what I like most about these garlands is how they were really simple. They were just beautiful pieces of felt sewn on to twill tape.

In the spirit of Valentine's Day and all things pink and hearts--I decided to whip up a simple felt garland a la Land of Nod. This was a fun project to make and could be a really fun family activity. Have each person in your family (or office, classroom, book club) decorate their own heart and make a garland out of them all.

Supplies:
Felt cut into hearts and embellished with buttons, felt designs, embroidery, or glitter.
Twill tape or Ribbon the length you want your garland
Fabric glue or spray adhesive
Embroidery Thread and Buttons (optional)
Sewing Machine and Coordinating Thread
Pins

First, cut out your hearts and decorate, decorate, decorate. I went to my local scrapbook store and used the die cut machine so all my hearts would be the same size. I chose really simple designs because I wanted to keep my heart garland fairly simple--and easy to finish before Valentine's day. I ran out of fabric glue so I just used permanent spray adhesive on my designs. I sprayed the backs of the smaller pieces and just stuck them on my hearts like a sticker. If you have the time and want to, you can also hand stitch the decorative pieces on the hearts.


Next, I pinned my hearts onto my ribbon. I originally pinned them to twill tape, but the twill tape was bleach white and it really was a harsh contrast with my hearts so I switched to cream grosgrain ribbon. I pinned by hearts about every two inches because I had so many hearts and not that much ribbon. You can space your hearts as far apart as you like. Just go with what makes you happy.

After pinning them all onto the ribbon, I used coordinating thread and stitched the hearts onto the ribbon.

After you have all your hearts sewn on, snip off those pesky threads and decorate your favorite wall or mantle.

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18 Comments

18 Responses to “Simple Felt Heart Garland Tutorial”

Teresa aka Tess said...

Or you could leave those pesky thread ends and they become heart strings. You've pulled my heart string with this wonderful garland. Very cute...

Anonymous said...

These are so cute. I guess I need to get my sewing machine out LOL.

Skipping Skones

Nicole-Lynn said...

How precious!

ellesquare said...

I love this! did you use "REAL" wool felt, or craft felt?

Its_Lily said...

Now THIS is my kind of project. That was very kind of you to share your tutorial with us. I see hearts in my future for sure.

Little Birdie Secrets said...

The hearts are a combination of craft felt and wool felt. I just raided my current stash. The purple felt was the only wool felt in there.

N said...

I LOVE The Land of Nod. Wish I had millions of spare dollars to throw at that store....but what makes it more hilarious is we don't have kids yet. Guess it gives me time to save those millions of spare dollars.
Love the garland!

The Flynns said...

I just started a blog on banners and featured it here: http://garlandspennantsandbuntingsohmy.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog-post.html

Can't wait to dig into my felt stash and make one myself.

Deb Neerman said...

Adorable! TFS!! Can't wait to try this project!

Unknown said...

how adorable...now i have something to do today...
i love your blog, AMAZING.
i just started my own craft blog, any advice....
come on over and check it out
dejavucrafts.blogspot.com

Tiffany said...

I love this! I was going to make one with paper, but I think I will go with felt instead.

Felt-o-rama said...

What a sweet idea for Valentine's Day! I've included a link to your project on my blog :)

Unknown said...

I am going to attempt this garland also, I'm a little scared to go into the scrapbook store since I don't scrapbook and it's so huge!=-) I also think I may try to attach the hearts with Velcro so that I can change it easily with the seasons (shamrocks, pot of golds, Easter Egg, Tulips etc.). We'll see how brave and creative I can be!
Thanks for sharing this idea! I love your blog!

Amy @ Design-Aholic said...

Oh wow! This is really similar in style to the version I made with wood hearts and scrapbook paper. :)

http://design-aholic.blogspot.com/2010/01/valentine-heart-string-banner.html

Any, I'm putting a link to your heart wreath up on my blog when I post tomorrow, because I made a version of your wreath! yea!

-Amy

Unknown said...

I finished my version of your garland, thanks for the idea! Check it out here, I also made shamrocks while at the scrapbook store so I am ready when Valentines day is over!

http://melquistfamily.blogspot.com/2010/01/hearts-plenty-valentines-day-garland.html

DeeDee* said...

Loved the heart garland idea, I modified mine with foam hearts & used hot glue to attach everything together. I posted a pic here.

http://souls-of-my-shoes.blogspot.com/2010/02/valentines-decorations.html

Thanks for the great inspiration!

Happily Blest said...

I love your blog and this is so cute.
I linked you to my blog Gathering Goodies

http://gatheringgoodies.blogspot.com/2010/02/good-things-come-in-threeslook-at-these.html

Thanks so much..Sue Mc

Boudoir Nashville by Angela's Photography said...

I think I will help my kids will make one of these to give to their Dad when they go see him this weekend! He lives 6 hrs away and only gets to see them every couple months. I think he will love this!

Thanks for the idea!

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