DIY VALENTINE KEEPER

We wanted to create some valentine catchalls for our littles to take to school or simply hang on their door to collect all of the sweet valentines that they get from their friends and family. We wanted to do something a little bit different than the average shoe box that we all know (and love..... or do we?). I may have had too much fun doing this little project.... shhh!

Here is what you will need:

- 2 pieces of felt

- twine

- scissors

- craft glue

-heat bond tape

-iron/ ironing board 

- 1 needle 

- straw (if you are doing one for a boy)

- anything you choose to decorate your bag with! I chose ribbon and felt stickers

Simply lay out your two pieces of felt, cut strips of the heat bonding tape for 3 of the sides as shown and iron over each strip holding for about 6-8 seconds per section. ALLOW TIME FOR IT TO COOL!! Then, pull the paper part off of the tape. If it has not cooled, this part will not work!

 Lay your second piece of felt directly on top of the piece with the tape.

 Iron. Again, be sure and leave the iron on each second long enough for it to actually bond. Patience! 

Allow for cooling time to ensure a good hold. Then, you should have a pocket that looks like this.

  Next, string your twine through the needle, and poke the needle through both pieces of felt. It will be hard to get it through the heat bonding tape, so be sure to poke your hole just outside of the edge of the tape.  tie a double knot to secure the twine.

Do this on both sides.

 Play with your design before securing everything to the felt. Lay it all out just how you want it.

 Then, get to gluing. I only needed to glue the ribbon I used. I used Martha Stewarts craft glue, which worked fabulously.  

 The stickers were felt, and I got them at Target! They adhered to the felt bag extremely well.

If you are doing one for a boy, you can slide a straw onto the twine before you thread each side to create a carrying handle.... kind of like a briefcase. ;)

This is such a fast and super simple project that you can actually do with your kids!! We made a couple more of these bags, and I did the ironing and threading. Then, I just let Amara peel and stick (hence the upside down hearts on hers) as she pleased. Now, go fill this thing up with some V-day goodies!

-J