Make It Mondays! I HEART You Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!!!

Valentine's Day is only two weeks away....so, why not honor those you care for with a special recycled wool heart pin? (These are also AWEsome for every day of the year gifts, to embellish cards, scrapbook pages, and more.)

Also, think outside of the red/pink box. I have LOTS of felted wool scraps which are not in traditional Valentine's Day colors. Lots of browns, navy, blacks.... Yet, with a creative use of threads/yarns, you can transform that little, dark scrap into a cheery heart.

1.Cut your hearts out of leftover felted pieces. Gather your threads/yarns and experiment with different combinations. Don't forget crochet threads and any variegated thread/yarn is wonderful. Get out your buttons and find the perfect match too.

2. If you need a review of stitches, review blanket stitch and others on the Net, or better yet, look for a classic needlework/stitch book at your local thrift store. I just found five books (on 1/2 price book day) for under $2 each, kept two and gave the other three as gifts.

3. Time to CREATE! Use a blanket stitch around the heart, remembering to give each stitch a "tug" so that they are snug. This provides a neat finish. Embellish the center with stitches, if desired, and add a favorite button...or not. It's difficult to see in the pic, but the heart without a button is a subtle argyle and I didn't want to cover up the pattern. I used a handspun, handdyed alpaca yarn for that one...and it just didn't need anything else. :)

4. Block your completed heart by steaming it with your iron for the final finishing touch. Add a pin back if desired. These make great gifts for teachers (with a coffee or office supplies gift card attached!), your postal carrier,etc. Want a great family project? Spend an evening or afternoon crafting these beauties and then take them to your local nursing home! You'll all be rewarded with lots of "I HEART You" smiles from the elderly residents. EnJOY!

Now for the giveaway! Do the following: "Like" our FB page at "Everything but the Oink" and become a follower of this blog and you'll be entered into the drawing for your choice of one of the tutorial hearts. Drawing will be next Monday.

From last week's giveaway (our first), we only had two entrants, so they EACH get skeins of the tutorial hand dyed threads/yarn. Kendall Sirak and Ann Murphy are the lucky winners!

Please post pics of YOUR completed hearts on our Facebook page!