Post Twelve: How-To Make A Jar of Hearts

How To Make A Jar Of Hearts

If you've been following my blog for the last few days you'll know that I've been working on a secret project for Mother's Day. Since yesterday was the big day, I can now let you all know what the present was. :) I made the card myself and all the hearts in the jar (obviously I didn't make the jar!).

I should've got a smaller jar if I'm honest, as I wasn't able to make enough hearts to fill it in time. But now I have present ideas for the next few years - I plan to get some really nice fabrics and add to mum's collection each birthday, christmas and mother's day. Along with other presents of course!
To give you an idea of what the hearts look like here are a few of them:

So here's the how-to guide. There are a lot of pictures to give you a good idea of how to do each step, so don't be put off by the length of the post - it's actually very simple! Each heart takes about 30-45 minutes to make depending on how good you are with a needle and thread and how big each heart is. I'm sure the experts out there could do one in about 15-20 minutes even.

You Will Need:
Fabric - I used old clothes I didn't want anymore.
Rice (or some other form of filling - why not scraps from cutting out the hearts?)
Needle & Thread

Optional
A sewing machine (way easier than stitching by hand!)
A funnel (makes filling with rice easier)

Method:

1. Draw your design on the WRONG SIDE of the fabric, with a border around to allow for a seam.

2. Cut it out and draw around it on the RIGHT SIDE of the fabric (this is so your shapes match up - if your heart is identical both sides you can draw it on the wrong side).

3. Cut out the second heart and sew the two together RIGHT SIDES facing inwards, leaving about an inch gap along one side.

 



4. Turn it inside out so that the RIGHT SIDE is now on the outside.

5. Fill the heart with rice (or your other filling).

6. Finally, use invisible stitch to close the small gap you left. If you don't know invisible stitch, just use whatever stitch you know - remember it doesn't have to be perfect!

And that's it! Just repeat and make as many hearts as it takes to fill your jar. One thing you can do is add a few drops of essential oil into the rice on just ONE heart. The scent will be really strong so don't do it to all of them! I used lemon and it gave the jar a lovely smell when it was opened. :)

As for the card I made, I keep a lot of the nice birthday/christmas cards I get each year and I have some plain black card for making my own. I just chopped up old cards, ribbon and added glitter to make my own unique card. Plus some metallic gel pens for the writing. Simples!

Post Eight: Mothers Day Presents

It's that time of year again! Shops are stocked to bursting with flowers, teddy bears, jewellery, chocolates, cards... you name it they have it! And they're all telling you that material gifts are the way to show your mum how grateful you are for her constant love and care.

If you have £50 to shell out on that perfume gift set you've seen or a deluxe box of chocolates, that's brilliant. Your mum's face will probably light up when she sees what you've bought her and she'll be warmed by the thought that you appreciate her. But a week later when the chocolate is sitting on her hips, the memory of that feeling won't be fresh in her mind!

Instead, why not make her a gift that she'll cherish forever? A homemade gift personalised to your mum's own tastes won't get thrown out when the house gets too cluttered and she certainly won't be damning you for the extra inches on her waist (unless you've made your own chocolate for her!). A few quick ideas can be found here but all you need to do is get creative! Knit something, weave something, paint something, bake something.. the possibilities are endless. And the great thing is you don't need to sell these items so they don't need to be perfect. They're going to the person who loves you most in the world and will forgive your little mistakes. :)

I love the idea of making your own bath bombs, so here's a simple little guide on how to do it:

Budget bath-bomb
             
What you need
4 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp citric acid, some dried flowers
1 tbsp almond oil
1 -2 drops food colouring
10 drops of essential oils including witch hazel
+ ice cube tray, foil
Important: keep everything dry at all times
How to do it
Step 1: Mix the bicarbonate of soda and citric acid together
Step 2: Stir in the almond and essential oils, food colouring and the flowers
Step 3: Spray on your witch hazel and stir quickly until the mixture goes crumbly
Step 4: Pack the mixture into the mould, nice and tight and leave in an airing cupboard overnight
Step 5: Wrap in foil. They're now ready to use!

I hope to try this method sometime - maybe in time for mothers day if I can get hold of some witch hazel before the weekend. :)

Are you going to make your mum something? Let me know how you get on! :)

On a side note I've finally remembered to take a picture of the box I painted, so here it is: