Felt Hearts Valentine's Day Wreath

wreath

February 9, 2012

Felt Hearts Valentine's Day Wreath

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What says Valentine's Day better than hearts and flowers? That's the inspiration for this sweetheart wreath idea. Embellished with dyed paper flowers and dyed wool felt hearts, it's a charming way to decorate for the holiday. To set off the design, a 3-D felted heart ornament hangs from the center, kinda like a big cupid's bullseye!

And... it's very easy to make too! It's assembled by simply pinning all the elements in place with decorative pearlized straight pins. The beauty of this design is that it can be redecorated over and over again using most anything that strikes your fancy. Actually, this Valentine's wreath started out as this Christmas-themed wreath we recently featured here on the blog.

Pretty tricky, huh? Wanna see how we did it?

Here's the tutorial:

SUPPLIES:

Rit Liquid Dyes: Cherry Red & Petal Pink
14" Straw Wreath
Dyed Paper Flowers (from this previous tutorial)
2- 12"x12" squares of wool felt
1 Cup White Vinegar
Measuring Cup/Spoons
1 Gallon Plastic Container
Mixing Spoon
Scissors
Pen & Paper
Pearlized Straight Pins
Needle & Thread
12" Decorative Ribbon
Rubber Gloves
Plastic Table Covering

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Cover your work surface and grab your rubber gloves!

2) Shake, measure and mix 2 Tablespoons Cherry Red dye with ½ cup white vinegar in 2 quarts of very hot water. Mix well.

3) Soak one square of wool in warm water and gently squeeze out excess. Immerse wool into dye bath and carefully stir to ensure even dyeing. Remove from dye bath after 5-10 minutes or when desired color is achieved.

Note: Make sure your felt is wool. Some craft felt is made of polyester and, unfortunately, not dyeable with Rit.

4) Rinse in warm to cool water until water runs clear. Let dry

5) Clean out the container and repeat dye process with Petal Pink dye.

6) On a sheet of paper or posterboard, draw and cut out two heart shapes; one approx. 2½" and one approx. 3". These will be your templates.

7) Using the templates, trace and cut hearts to decorate your wreath and make the hanging heart ornament. You can really have fun designing your wreath and make as many hearts in as many sizes as you like. Here's how I designed this one:

Pink Hearts: 6 small & 2 large
Red Hearts: 3 small & 6 large

8) Position the small felt hearts and flowers as you like them. Layer flower petals for a dramatic effect.

9) Pin thru the center using decorative pearlized straight pins. It's helpful to find nice long pins for this.

To Make The Felt Heart Ornament:

1) Stack the large felt hearts, 1 Red, 1 Pink, 2 Red, 1 Pink, 1 Red. Run a line of stitching thru all layers from the center indent to the tip.

2) Now the hearts are all attached thru the center and can be opened into a 3 dimensional heart shape.

3) Gently twist the heart to create a swirl effect. I found it helpful to hold the heart by the bottom point.

4) Stitch one end of a decorative ribbon to the center indent of the heart. You can add a bow and pearlized pin for extra accent. Measure and cut the ribbon so it hangs in the center of the wreath. Attach the ribbon to the wreath by stitching or glueing into place.