A Valentine's Handmade Gift

My husband asked me yesterday whether we were going to do something to celebrate Valentine's Day. "When is Valentine's Day?" was my response. I have never really considered the 14th Feb to be an important occasion mainly because my birthday (9th Feb) closely follows Christmas and is already an expensive and present-filled few weeks. Nevertheless I made a little something to give my husband tomorrow and if you have a spare twenty minutes, have a book reading hubby and a few craft items lying around, you can follow this tutorial and make your own too.

A love-ly bookmark

Materials

• A piece of linen measuring 2" x 6"
• A piece of wool felt measuring 2" x 6"
• Crochet heart (I purchased mine from C Percy Designs)
• Stamp kit
• Needle and thread (sewing machine optional)

1. Cut your felt and linen to the measurements indicated. The felt is to provide some stability to your bookmark. I use a rotary cutter for ease and a neat line.
2. Using your stamp kit, stamp a word/phrase/love message on your piece of linen. In a previous life I was an Italian teacher hence the 'ti amo'. To ensure that your letters stamp cleanly on to your linen, wipe the ink off from the edge of the stamp pad so that it doesn't transfer to the fabric and put an ugly square around the letter. I used a cotton tip to clean away the ink.
3. Pin your felt and linen together. Take it to your sewing machine and stitch (or hand stitch) together. I sewed two straight lines around the edges.
4. Nearly finished. Hand stitched your crocheted heart to the top of your bookmark.

 

 

 

These cute crocheted hearts make a sweet embellishment to many things. Glue them to alligator hair clips, create a mini bunting for a cake or cupcake or attach them to a gift tag or card. I'm thinking of digging out a pair of old dangly earrings and replacing the beads with a pair of these hearts to wear tomorrow as well.

I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day .