Valentine’s Heart Garland (tutorial)

{This post is a part of Frugal February, a month-long series where I am challenging myself to not spend any money on projects.  I will be using supplies I already have, upcycling old materials and finishing abandoned projects.   The hubby is rejoicing.  Note: this does not apply to recipes and food posts, since I have to eat anyways!}

I’m having lots of fun with this easy felt heart garland I made!    I’ve been hanging it everywhere around our apartment, getting our place festive for February 14th.  It’s just a simple way to decorate for the holiday.  Currently, the garland is hanging on our “You & Me” sign in our bedroom:

(You & Me sign posted about here )

This was a quick and easy project, I whipped it out in under an hour. I think I finished it while watching an episode of American Idol! Keeping with my no spending rule, I used red felt and thread that I already had in my fabric stash. I made a small heart stencil out of paper and traced it out many times on a piece of red felt. I didn’t even bother to use disappearing fabric ink, but I wish I did:

I like how this red felt had bits of red sparkly string in it.  I’m all for any little bling!  I don’t remember exactly where I got it, it was so long ago, but my best guess is Jo-Ann’s Fabrics. Cut out as many hearts as you want:

Then start start sewing and stringing all the hearts together!  I used red thread so that it blended well into the felt. Sew straight across the widest part of each heart and just chain stitch in between the hearts.  You can sew across all the hearts without cutting the thread once.  I left about half an inch of thread in between each heart:

Sew until you attach all your hearts together.

This heart garland is a quick and easy way to dress up anything.  You can hang it across your mantle, bookcase, or doorway.  I kind of like it draped across our photos:

(Homemade canvas print tutorial here)

We framed one of our wedding invitations and have it sitting on our dresser:

(read about our wedding invitation ordeal here)

So easy, fast and cheap! My kind of project!

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tagged as: frugal february, heart, holiday, valentine's day, valentines