Tutorial: Valentine Peekaboo Ornament!

I love Valentine's Day!  I love the colors and the sentiment.  I remember my Mom always placing some  special Valentine treat or toy at our place settings at the breakfast table.  A tradition that I now do with my littles.  I've been excitedly creating some Valentine's dolls & ornaments for my shop. In my creating I came up with this little peekaboo Valentine Ornament. Today I thought I'd share how I make it. This tutorial is provided for your personal use only please.  

For this project you will need some felt, a wooden bead about one inch across, a pipe cleaner, craft glue & embroidery thread.  Also you will need some small, sharp scissors.

First cut two heart shapes.  Mine are about 3 1/4 inches across at the widest part. The felt I'm using is very thick upcycled felt made from a wool sweater.  You can use whatever red felt you have on hand.

I added some little pink cheeks to my bead- which is about an inch wide and has a hole on just one end. I buy the beads in the wood craft section at Hobby Lobby, they come in a bag.  I use Stockmar watercolor to paint the cheeks. Then put a layer of beeswax over it.  After beeswaxing draw in the eyes.  (I find the color bleeds if I don't beeswax the wood first.) I use a sharpie and make two little ovals above the cheeks.  You could also use a graphite or colored pencil, whatever you prefer or have on hand.

Now, take a pipe cleaner (any color as it will not show) fold it and cut it in half. You will only be using half of the pipe cleaner. Then fold this in half again.

 Fill the hole inside the bead with craft glue.

Then put the pipe cleaner inside as far as it will go. 

Cut a hole inside the middle of one of the hearts. 

Slowly cut out the circle starting small and making it bigger and bigger until when you fit the bead head  inside it fits without the bead falling through the hole. 

Blanket stitch around the hole inside the heart. Here's a great tutorial on futuregirl craft blog on the blanket stitch if you need a refresher. I begin at the top and stitch clockwise. I use 2 strands of variegated pink embroidery floss.

When the glue is dry on the beaded head twist the "arms" around the head. I do this because it provides a structure so the bead stays put inside the heart ornament.

Now, glue the bead on the back heart and add glue around the edge of the hole to really keep it solidly in place once sewn in. Use a light touch on the glue so it doesn't soak through and show on the outside.

 Blanket stitch the outside of the heart starting at the top of the heart. You may want to fill it with some wool stuffing.  My felt is so thick it didn't require stuffing. 

Once that's finished. take a needle and embroidery thread.  Knot one end and slide the needle in through the bottom point of the blanket stitched heart so that the knot is hidden inside.  Then cut two smaller hearts.  Since my felt is very thick I was able to push the needle straight through the center of the hearts. If your felt is thinner you can straight stitch it all the way down through both hearts.  Then knot the end at the base of the bottom heart.

Now thread a piece of embroidery floss through the top of the heart and knot a loop to hang your ornament.  And your Valentine doll is finished!!!

I have a couple of these to sell at my shop!  One is listed now at MamaWestWind.

Happy crafting!  Until next time...