DIY Heart Garland

This weekend I went back to my alma mater and sorority to visit my very-very-very-very-missed friends, sit on the navy blue carpet, and catch up on everything that has been happening. I forgot how nice it is to plop on the floor and chitchat about music, crafts, dance parties, dresses, and life. Sometimes you just need those days, you know? 🙂 Living in that sorority for three years was the most fun ever. Dance parties, craft parties, pranks, running through the house, thrifting adventures, ice cream machines… life in a mansion with 60 other girls was definitely not what the media portrays it to be.

My friends have just been back to school a couple weeks and they also just moved in to a new room. In our sorority, every semester you switch rooms to meet new people and mix it up. So my friends had just redecorated their new room… with hearts! 🙂

My friend Amanda is a serious crafty and stitchy lady, the girl can sew stuff from patterns and her stitches are straight. Amanda had made this little heart garland and hung it over the window of the room. I woke up in the morning on Saturday staring at the thing, and after a few minutes of checking out her paper stitching skills, I decided I needed to make a garland of my own.

(Still Amanda’s garland.)

Love the stitching.

My version:

To make a heart garland you need:

-Paper (I used some poems.)
-Watercolor paints (If you want your hearts colored.)
-Sewing Machine

First you need to cut out your hearts and get out your watercolors. I’ve had this watercolor set since I was a kid.

Color up those hearts! I am a fan of the messier painting… it takes less time and the white shows through as well. 🙂

After the paper has dried, you can iron them if they’ve curled up a bit. Plus I love how paper gets so stiff after you iron it. Then you need to start sewing the hearts together. Turn your sewing machine on a zigzag or decorative stitch and sew through the hearts. When you get to the edge of a heart, lift the needle and just pull the thread a bit and then start another heart. This will make all your hearts connected into a garland.

My version:

I am going to take these to the scarf office to decorate it up a bit more. I don’t care that hearts are associated with Valentine’s Day. Heart decor has no season for me–I’d still leave these up until Christmas. 🙂