Valentine's Day Felt Garland and Streamers

For most holidays and special occasions I try to makeover the girls' room in a fun festive way.

I'll try to transform their room while they're asleep, just to give them a little surprise when they wake up. 

I love the look on their faces when they see everything in the morning.

Hanging Valentine Hearts and Snowflakes

 I used a combination of Valentine decorating ideas and leftover felt to make  a simple, fun and easy room(s) transformation.

Goofy Girls lying on the floor to look at their new decorations.

It takes me forever to decide what I want to create. 

It's difficult to find a project that matches both the materials I already have and the size of our home.

This year for our Valentine's Day decor I used some pinterest ideas and some of my favorite author  Betz White's inspirations.

Betz White's book, Sewing Green, was one of the first books I checked out of the library when I bought my sewing machine three years ago.

Sewing Green has 25 projects made with re-purposed and organic materials. 

I love the book's photos, her detailed project guides and useful tips. 

Betz White has a wonderful way of transforming everyday items into some of the most elegant and practical gifts and treasures.

If you haven't checked out her book or blog you need to hop over there today. 

Betz White's blog has a list of great Valentine's Day ideas. 

Paper Chain Heart Garland 

Felt Heart Garland 

FELT VALENTINE'S DAY GARLAND

TUTORIAL


I used several different ideas to come up with what works best for our sweet but small home and even smaller budget. 
Last year my daughter's preschool had a Sock Hop. 

I made her a poodle skirt out of felt and so I'm using the remnants from that and other projects for the garland and streamers.  
You can make the hearts for the garland any size you desire. 
I did small ones for our home and larger ones for a friend. 

Start with two felt rectangles.

I used two 4.5 x 15 inch pieces of felt and it made 14 hearts.

Again, use what you have and need.  

Place the two felt pieces on top of each other, align the edges, and sew down one long edge.

Open the sewn felt rectangles.
Then match the other edge of the long side. 

You can start to see the heart take shape. 

Sew down the second long side you just matched. 

When you finish, you will have a felt tube.

If you're a perfectionist you will need to draw lines down your long felt tube 3/4 inch apart. 
This will give you the thickness of your felt heart.

I used blue dash marks in the picture below to show you but you may want to use chalk or a color that will not show in your finished project.  

Start cutting on your lines and watch your hearts pile up.

You now have a choice on how you want your hearts to be displayed. 

If you want your hearts vertical you will string your needle and thread from the bottom of your hearts to the top. 

I used a bead at the end of my string because it will show when hanging from the ceiling. 

 

If you want your garland to display horizontally you will need to string your hearts from side to side.

When you have your garland horizontal they have a tendency to flip over.

Betz White offers a great solution to this problem and you can check it out here. 

For the girls' room I used a combination of felt circles and hearts.

It took me about 15 minutes to cut out the circles and hearts.  

I just sewed the circles together ending each streamer with a felt heart. 

It added a little more color and playfulness that I thought worked in their room. 

Have a Great Day!

I'm off to start on Valentine's Day outfits.