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.