Valentine Fabric Heart Topiaries

After seeing this post from Craft-O-Maniac, I decided I had to make my own and tweek it a little. Instead of stapling the fabric together, I actually handsewed (is that a word?) it, and added my own embellishments. Plus with this super fab. fabric from Michael Miller, you just can't go wrong. I made one for my new house (yay!), one for my mom and maybe one for my swap partner. (Don't want to ruin a surprise or anything.)

So here's what I did, full of details and pictures so you can make one (or two or three) sets for the ones you love.

MATERIALS:

heart template

(4) pieces of 5X6 coordinating fabric

(2) wooden dowels or meat skewers

(2) terra cotta pots

cross-stitch thread

large needle

polyester fiberfill

foil or styrofoam or newspaper to stuff pot

white paint

shredded paper

ribbon

I used this heart template from family fun (cut largest heart for template)

Start by cutting 5X6 pieces of two different fabrics (twice). Place two different (so it's reversible) fabrics with wrong sides together, pin.

Trace it in disappearing ink (love that pen- if you don't have one and you sew often, get one.)

then cut outside the line with pinking shears.

Pick your favorite coordinating color from the collection of friendship bracelet string you still have from 4th grade and thread on thick needle.

Leaving a tail at the start, sew along the (almost) disappearing (but hopefully not yet) line.

sew all the way around, leaving a 2-3 inch gap to stuff with polyester fiberfill

then continue sewing and stick a dowel or skewer in the bottom, then tie a knot around it and clip the tails.

Then paint a couple of terra cotta pots (I used both 1.5 inch and 3 inch pots and like both sizes!) white- or whatever color you want.

Wrap foil around dowel and stuff pot so it stays in the middle (styrofoam would work too, but I didn't have any, so foil it is)

Then put some paper shreds in the pot, add ribbon embellishments and/or buttons and you're done!! (Sorry about all the parenthesis, I got a little ( ) happy...)

These were so fun and easy to make! Hope you enjoyed the tutorial!