Make A Burlap Valentine Heart To Hang In Your Home

 Are you staying warm where you are?  I.  Am.  Over.  This.  Weather.  Bring on springtime.  I want flowers and green grass and warm sunshine.  I don't want to wear a coat, a scarf, or gloves any more.  Done.  Through.

Yesterday, I worked on this Valentine heart wreath made from burlap.  I happen to love burlap even though it sheds a lot and the little fibers get up your nose (which is really fun with a cold).  Burlap is inexpensive and relatively easy to work with.  Even though this burlap looks very red, it is actually a little darker.  Reds just seem to be hard to photograph.

I found some red burlap at Wally World a couple of weeks ago and bought two yards.  Red is not always available, so I always buy extra when I find it.  I seem to use a lot of it for some reason - perhaps because I like red and it is an accent color in my home.

I have this old piece of wood that hangs on the wall in our dining area that I use as sort of a gallery to keep from putting lots of holes in the wall.  It works out very well, and is an interesting art piece in and of itself.  It must have been part of a door at one time.  We found it at our favorite second hand store here in Nashville.  I like to hang interesting things on it.  This wreath is the perfect piece and may stay there after Valentine's Day - at least until spring.

For the wreath form, I used some 16 gauge wire that I bought at Christmas time to make the coiled wreath that you can find on my blog.  It is the one filled with yarn balls and Christmas ornaments.  This wire is sturdy and easy to shape at the same time.  You could use a coat hanger, but the heavier ones can be hard to shape and those awful white ones may be too flimsy.  I found this wire at Home Depot.  I just sort of formed the size I wanted and cut the wire and twisted the bottom.  The wire shape is about 14 x 14.

The form does not have to be perfectly shaped because you are going to cover it with the burlap ties.  Don't fret if the wire is wavy.

It is easy to cut strait lines in burlap because of the loose weave.  You simply pull a thread all the way across and cut in the open space that is left.

Pull a thread and try to pull it all the way across without breaking.  Go slow and good luck.  If the thread breaks, just simply find the break, pull out the lose end and go from there until you get all the way across the width of the burlap.  This burlap is 45 inches wide.

See the open space?  Just cut all the way across and you have a nice straight strip.  Make your strips the width that you want.  I made mine 1.5 inches.  That width works nicely with this project and is not too hard to tie.  If you make thinner strips, the burlap sometimes comes apart when tying and wider ones are hard to tie.  Guess how I know that?

I used about a half yard of fabric for this wreath.  I cut strips 4 at a time and then cut the strips into about 7 inch lengths.  These are easy to tie and not too long.  If you need more strips, cut a few more.  This way, you don't waste a lot of the burlap if you don't use it.

Take one of the 7 inch strips and tie an overhand knot around the wire form.  If you are not familiar with knots, that is just like you would tie the beginning of a shoe lace.  One tie is good and it will hold in place on the wire.  Push the ties as close together as you can.  Just keep filling in around the form, turning your knots in different directions so the wreath will look full when finished.  That's all you do.  Simple as can be.

This wreath should probably be an indoor wreath unless your door is covered by a roof that would protect it from snow and rain.  Otherwise, you may have a very sad and limp wreath.  That's just FYI.

This wreath is so cheerful and it adds a lot of color and texture to the room.  It could be made out of any color burlap or any shape for that matter.  It doesn't have to be just for Valentine's day.  I may leave this one up for a while.   I can remove the little banner below it and it is just a pretty wreath.

You could make this and use felt, ribbon, or fabric.  It would cost more, and make take more strips of ribbon or fabric, but would be just as pretty.  Your choice.  If you have scraps available, use those by all means.

You could also make these wreaths in different sizes, even quite small for gift giving.  As long as you can make a heart shape out of the wire, you can cover it with the burlap.

Add some color and whimsy to your home during these dull, gloomy winter days.  Even if you are not a big Valentine's fan, how could this beautiful heart not cheer up a room?   Have fun with this project.  I sure did.  It  only took about an hour to complete.  Easy.  Peasy.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Without Valentine's Day, February would be...well, January.  Jim Gaffigan

Hanging Paper Hearts

Hello!  Sorry to have missed posting yesterday, but it was another gray, gloomy day and we spent it helping our oldest daughter with our grandsons.  Needless to say, I didn't get any writing done, but that's okay because we had a lot of fun with the boys.  Any day with the grandsons is a good day!

Thought I would continue with some Valentine ideas that you might be interested in trying.  These paper hearts are hanging from out dining room light fixture.  They are so adorable.  Not only are they festive and colorful, but they help complete the Valentine theme going on in the little yellow cottage right now.

I used scrap book paper to make these and it was not Valentine paper, but Christmas paper.  Red, pink - it all works and it didn't cost me anything.  I just used stuff from my stash.  That's my favorite price for a project - nothing.  Zip.  Zero.  Nada.   Just took a little digging and some ingenuity.  

I don't have a Cricut or any fancy cutting machine, so my hearts are not perfectly even because they were cut with scissors.  Good old fashioned Fiskars and a little steady cutting.  Throw in a little glue, some 20 gauge silver wire, a few beads and voila, we have ourselves a Valentine mobile of sorts.

Feel free to use any kind of paper that you like.  There are so many beautiful scrap book papers available these days.  I just wanted to save a little money and a trip to the store by using what I had on hand.

To make each heart, I used two pieces of the same kind of paper, 2 pieces with dots, 2 pieces with stripes, and 2 pieces of solid pink.  Depending on the size heart you make, you can get many from a 12 x 12 piece of scrapbook paper.  Here is what you do.

Lay two pieces of paper wrong sides together (that means with the design facing out).  Make yourself a heart to use as a template.  My heart is 4 inches x 4 inches and I simply cut it out of a scrap piece of felt.  Lay your template on the paper(s) and trace as many as you would like to make.  It takes two heart complete heart shapes (4 pieces) to make one actual hanging heart.

I pulled the bottom piece of paper up so that the wrong side shows in this picture to remind you to put wrong sides together.  The heart template is laying at an angle because I wanted the stripes to be diagonal.  I cut all my heart pieces out and began to glue them together by putting two heart shapes of the same pattern wrong sides together.  Using a glue stick, I traced the outside edge of the heart on the wrong size of the paper.   Then, I put a strip of glue down the middle of the heart.  Next, I pressed two hearts together.  Once I had two complete hearts, I folded them in half like this.

If you are confused, please forgive me.  I forgot to take a picture of the stripes and did polka dots instead.  Oops.  Then I ran a bead of hot glue down the folded edge of one heart and pressed the two hearts together.  You now have a heart with 4 sides.

Open the 4 sides up and use a darning needle to pierce a hole through the heart.  I used 20 gauge silver wire because I liked the way it looked.  You could use twine or ribbon or anything you like.  I threaded the wire through the hole and brought the end up and twisted it around the long piece of wire to make the heart hang level.  Next, I put a few beads on the long wire and then wrapped the long wire around the arm of the light fixture.  I made a curlicue in the middle just for interest.  Just simply wrap the wire around a pencil to make the curlicue.

When I was making the pink hearts, I decided they looked really plain next to the patterned hearts so I used the X and O stamps from an little alphabet set I have to make "hugs and kisses" all over the hearts.  Love the way they look.

Is there anything cuter or happier than polka dots?  Gotta love em.

This is out table set for Valentine's with some silver place mats I found at Old Tyme Pottery.  The napkins have pearl napkin rings around them and I simply put a red doily in the corner for some color and to tie in with the Valentine theme.  Have I told you I have a thing for paper doilies?  I do.  It goes back to childhood.  Don't ask me why, I just love them.

The candle holders and votive holders in the center of the table are mercury glass which is another love.

These adorable hanging hearts could be made any size and hung any place you would like.  They just happen to be perfect over our table.  You could made a real mobile if you were so inclined.

Well, the days are counting down and it will be Valentine's Day before you know it.  Time to get started if you haven't already.  This project would be fun to share with your children or grandchildren.  Perhaps you have a crafting circle or friends looking for an inexpensive project to share.   This would be a good one.  Have fun and let me see what you make!

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Only do what your heart tells you.    Princess Diana

Make A Wreath Using Deco Mesh

Yesterday, I enjoyed a beautiful fall play day.  Did what I wanted to.  Shopped, bought things for fall and Christmas projects.  Enjoyed lunch out with Dan and took in the beauty of the foliage.  It's a good thing we did, because tomorrow we are getting storms and the temperature is going to drop a LOT.  That means a lot of that beautiful foliage will be on the ground and the trees will be much more bare than they are now.  Guess I actually made a good decision, at least that's what I try to tell myself.

Today, I did not procrastinate any longer since Halloween is next Wednesday.  From this pile of cut fabric, there will rise (like the Phoenix?) a Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Marvin the Martian costume.  There is also a bowling shirt and a bowling pin costume.  Will happily show you the finished products later.  Grandma has got to get busy!!

After I finished cutting out all the costume pieces, I was itching to make a new wreath for the front of the house with some lovely Decor Mesh that I found yesterday during my shopping spree.  The colors that I bought were a chocolate brown and a rust with gold metallic threads running through it.  I know, I know, I should be sewing.  It only took a few minutes.  Honest.

Last week while on Pinterest, I came across a wreath type gadget that can be purchased to use with the decor mesh.  It was metal with prong like projections that you twist around the mesh.  It had to be ordered online and was about $20.  Too much for my budget when I can create something similar from things I had in my craft room and I don't have to pay shipping.  Here is what I did.

First, I made a 16 inch circle from some wire that I had.

Next, I cut a bunch of chenille stems in half (pipe cleaners) and started by placing them at 12, 3, 6, and 9.  Then filled in with two more chenille stems between each mark at equal spaces.

Just put the chenille stem under the wire and twist it over the top to hold in place.

This is what the Decor Mesh looks like.  It comes on spools and this is 14 inches wide.  It also comes in 21 inch widths.

Here is how I made my wreath.

Start with the Decor Mesh by making a big loop, like half of a bow, and lay it on top of a chenille stem. Twist the chenille stem around the loop to hold it in place (like closing a loaf of bread) and make another big loop and continue around the wreath frame until you come back to the beginning.

Next, I used the chocolate brown and did the same thing, kind of alternating left and right between the rust colored loops.  Did I take a picture?  Oh of course not.  Got in a big hurry.  Sorry.

I had some fall leaves and weeds in silk that I added for a little color.  I just laid them between the big loops and used the chenille stems to hold them in place by twisting them around the stems.
Here is the finished product.  Unfortunately, the pictures don't show all the detail the way I would like, but it is a really gorgeous wreath.

Fluff your pouffes and pull them back and forth to get the arrangement you want.  This makes a really nice, big, fluffy wreath that has lots of texture and color.  It would be lovely on an indoor wall as it is very light weight.

I've already got my Christmas mesh and will begin my Christmas projects soon.  Remember, Christmas is exactly 2 months from today.  TWO MONTHS!  Yikes.  I have to get some costumes made so I can start on Christmas.  I swear every year that I will not be down to the wire finishing projects.  Of course, we all know better because "Procrastination" is my middle name.  If you plan on making your gifts, time to get busy!  Then again, you may already be finished because you don't need a 12 step program for procrastination.  I try, I really do.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

"Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas."
Peg Bracken