Showing My Heart(s)

With all the Christmas holiday stuff finally packed away, the house was looking a little drab.  With everything looking gray and brown outside for so long this winter I needed to think about some decorations.  (Though low and behold on Friday we received our first real shot of snow.)

The Big Shot was cranking out a variety of die-cuts for a few days last week.  In the last couple of days I finally got the chance to put together some decorations for the house.  The mantle here is the perfect place for hanging banners.  (In past posts you can see a few of the others I have made for various times of the year.)

This first one here, I used several Sizzix dies and once again went to the scrap bins first to see what could be reused.  There was pieces of "warm & white" batting for the background, fabric scraps for more hearts and the side bows, paper scraps galore for the flowers and leaves and glitter glue.  The red glittered fun foam sheet, glittered stickers strips, adhesive bubble letters and adhesive heart gems were all purchased on sale at a nearby craft store.  

The picture shows the placement of all the pieces used.  If you do not own or have access to a Big Shot or the dies, try making your own patterns.  I have seen kits available for banners and they go together pretty fast and easily, but I would rather take the time to design and cut my own.  

For the second "conversation hearts" banner, I did use purchased felt hearts. Once again I did get them with a store coupon to save a little money.  Simply punch holes into the sides of the hearts and thread torn strips of fabric through.  Tie bows to connect the hearts.  Letters were cut with a Sizzilets Alphabet strip and glued onto the hearts.  For this idea you could easily cut your own heart shapes and use store bought alpha stickers for the words.  Used some "on hand" wired white ribbon for bows at the ends of the banner.  Super simple!  I could go back at some other time and add some lace or rick-rack around the edges or some glitter glue embellishments if desired.

I made these heart ornaments last year and wanted to share them.  They could be given as a gift with notes or photos attached to the pages.  They have ribbon closure to hold it closed, but once opened the ties also hold it open to hang as an ornament.  Change it up by using different papers.  Fill the pages with love quotes or write a love letter to your sweetheart.

Make some hearts and share some love!