Valentine Pockets

Christmas has stockings.
Easter has baskets.

Valentines. What's your plan for the kids? Exactly my dilemma.

My kid's get one small gift for Valentines Day (like $15 tops). I don't want to wrap it, that's too birthdayish and Christmasish (like my new words I made up?). So I made Valentine Pockets! Very similar to the Valentine envelopes you see circulating through Pinterest.

Just big enough so I don't get too carried away. I can fit in a book or DVD or Barbie or set of boxcars.

So the Valentine Pockets consist of felt, cardboard and yarn (not pictured). I had bought a new tree skirt this year when all the Christmas decorations were on sale so I was able to upcycle my old one. The cardboard is from a box sitting in our garage. You will also need a sharpie, hole puncher, scissors and hot glue gun.

Start by drawing a heart on the cardboard. As big as you would like it. Cut that out once you have the perfect shape you want.

Then using two layers of felt (one for back of the pocket, one for the front) trace the heart you made from the cardboard BUT REMEMBER to outline about 1/2 inch away form the cardboard. That way the felt hearts are slightly larger. Cut those hearts out as well.

On the back of one heart draw a line across, about 2 inches from the edges, to cut as the opening of the pocket. (my picture really isn't blurry, it's just the bottom of my tree skirt looked like that).

Apply hot glue on one side of the cardboard. Press it down onto the center of the felt heart that doesn't have the pocket opening so you have a felt edge of 1/2 inch around the whole cardboard heart. Apply hot glue to only the edge of the exposed cardboard heart. Apply the other heart.

You should now have a cardboard/felt heart sandwich. The bottom should be the felt without the pocket opening and should be completely glued to the cardboard. The felt heart with pocket opening should only have the edges glued down so it's a giant pocket.

Now around the outside punch holes through both  felt hearts (this is why we left a little space away from the cardboard). This is going to take a little bit of strength. Felt no like hole puncher. I no like hole puncher.

Finally, string the yarn through the holes starting from the top and ending at the top. Tie a big pretty bow.

This project cost me nothing. That's what I heart about it.