Sweet Heart Hanger Craft

I made this adorable door hanger a few weeks ago for my niece's baptism, which is today! I was inspired by a similar hanger featured on Nini Makes.

It's very simple and if you're the crafty type, you can probably use materials that you already have lying around - that's what I did. I didn't have to buy a single thing for this project. The whole thing took me approximately 3 hours, but that's because I kept re-doing the embroidery, ripping out the stitches and it took me a while to figure out what I was going to do for the hanger. Here's what you need:

• felt, at least 2 colours
• embroidery thread & needle
• ribbon, string or beads for the hanger
• filling (optional)
• decorative buttons for embellishments

Start by cutting two large pieces for the hanger. You can't see it in the picture, but the back is actually made out of the beige felt. Embellish the front piece with flowers, shapes, words, anything you'd like. I was inspired by Little Birdie Secrets' felt needle books for the flower and butterfly that I made (BTW I really want to make a needle book too - great for travelling). I used a vintage button for the centre of the flower.

As I mentioned above, it took me a while to decide what to do about the hanger part of the project. The original project used ribbon, but I didn't have any that I liked with this craft. I thought about using faux suede strips or decorative rope, but I didn't like those either. I decided to go through my beads and I found these blush pink little hearts. Perfect-o! I strung them on crotchet string and pin it to the top of the heart.

Now you can either use a decorative stitch to sew both hearts together, or place right sides together and stitch on the machine. I chose to machine stitch, leaving a 3 inch gap to turn right side out. I stuffed the finished piece with filling and then hand stitched the gap closed.

I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I think my niece (who's only a few months old) will really appreciate it when she gets older.