Valentine's Day Came a Little Early This Year

I don't know about you, but every holiday that comes around I think of all the wonderful things that I could make (craft) to make each holiday extra special. For example, this past Christmas, I was going to make this:

and this:

And....I didn't do either. I didn't even prepare to do either. 
There was no gathering of pine cones (even though we have a HUGE pine tree in our backyard - literally just outside, a few steps away) and there definitely wasn't any stash busting wreath making either. 

After whatever holiday passes I am usually kicking myself for not making the crafts that I wanted to as I dream of these said crafts being in our family for centuries to come (yes that's right - centuries. Not years or decades....centuries!). A little delusional, I know.

SO, to the point. I realize that Valentine's Day is about a month away but I wanted to get a head start. PLUS, now that my second course has started, I tend to get a lot of crafting done while procrastinating on reading or writing a paper that's worth 45% of my mark (ouch!). 

I saw this idea on Pinterest. Yes...I succumbed. (Thanks Amelia). Now my procrastination is at a whole new level!

The original blog that it comes from is in a foreign language that I cannot read. Luckily, they posted step by step pictures so I could figure it out. 

Here is the final project. Hanging up in the house already. Because if I don't hang it up now, I'm surely to forget about it by the time February rolls around.

Have I mentioned that I hate my wall colour??? But I digress...
The picture, I realize, doesn't really show you what exactly that is besides being a garland. The garland is made up of white and red hearts, separated by white pom-poms, strung together. I was hoping I could get pink pom-poms but I wasn't that lucky.
To make this, you will need:

1. 2 pieces white felt
2. 2 pieces red felt (the felt I bought at Michaels. I was surprised to find out that the felt is made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. The pieces were 9x12)
3. Pom-poms (I bought a bag of 100 - I have no idea how many I used. Sorry)
4. Sewing Machine
5. Scissors
6. Pins
7. Ruler

Some equipment that isn't necessary but makes this a super quick project include:

1. Rotary cutter
2. Self-healing cutting mat
3. Clear ruler

The steps:
1. Put the 2 pieces of felt together, making sure to line up the sides
2. Cut the felt into 3" strips (you can get 4 strips from a 9"x12" piece - making the strips 3"x9")

3. Sew ONE of the 9" sides together. I used the edge of my sewing foot as my margin

4. Turn your strip inside out and match up the other 9" sides. Pin these in place and then sew along this edge. Your strip will now look like this

5. Now cut 1" strips from your sewn piece. You will get 9 1" 'hearts'

sorry for the fuzziness. Pictures are not my forte - or my camera's.

6. Repeat with the other 3 strips of double fabric that you cut, both in red and white.
7. Once all your hearts are cut out, cut a long piece of thread (this will be what the garland is threaded onto) and attach a sewing needle
8. Starting with a pom-pom, thread the hearts, alternating with pom-poms, onto the string. My pattern went like this: Pom-pom, red heart, pom-pom, white heart, pom-pom, red heart, etc, etc..

9. Once all your pieces are threaded, create loops at each end of the garland so you can hang it up somewhere. When you're threading the hearts onto the string, the hearts will get a little 'smooshed' so just fluff them out a bit before you hang them up.
10. Hang it up and admire your work. If you have a 4 year old - they'll think it's pretty cool (for approx. 30 seconds, and then they'll move on to something else that has cars involved).
There you have it. And since the felt is made out of recycled plastic perhaps it can last for centuries!!