These DIY Yarn Hearts are the perfect easy Valentine's Day Craft. We used recycled styrofoam meat trays and yarn and to create these fuzzy 3D hearts for Valentine's Day. They look great as part of your Valentine's Day decor gathered in a bowl, or hanging on some branches.
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Why We Love These Yarn Hearts:
- We used upcyled materials with the styrofoam meat trays, and thrift store yarn.
- They're easy, and a great craft for kids.
- They're not messy.
- They're inexpensive to make.
- The yarn hearts look great and are beautiful decor for Valentine's Day.
We used them for our neutral Valentine's day decor, but you can make them in any color. Hang them from branches, display them in a bowl, or string them as a garland. They also look great with our easy 3D origami hearts and our book page heart garland.
How To Use These Yarn Hearts
I used my hearts as ornaments on a few sticks, but they'd also be great as bowl filler, or strung on some twine as a pretty garland.
I love these yarn hearts as a Valentine's Day craft, but they'd be really pretty anytime of year in a baby nursery, or as part of a winter wedding or wedding shower too. You could make them neutral like mine, or use any colour of yarn to fit your home or party decor. I love how versatile these DIY yarn hearts are.
Easy Kids or Adult Valentine's Craft Idea
The materials and method are so easy, they'd be a great Valentine's Day craft to do with kids or adults
Materials:
- Heart Base Material
I used recycled styrofoam meat trays as the base for my hearts. This worked really well. The white color was perfect for making them with white yarn, just in case any of the background color peeked through. The foam was also a great thickness to make the hearts a little thicker. It was also nice and stiff to give a good solid base for wrapping. The foam is also very easy to cut with regular scissors.
- Yarn
I wanted my hearts to look really cozy and fluffy and to be made with lots of different kinds of yarn.
I have had great luck finding inexpensive yarn at the thrift store. Look for it in the craft material section. This is the perfect way to get lots of variation in your yarns. The yarn is often sold bundled together. If you end up with a ball of yarn you don't like in your bundle or one that doesn't work color wise, you can just donate it right back. I've found this is usually still cheaper than purchasing it all new at the craft store, and the small quantities you usually find at the thrift store are perfect for this craft.
It's also a great way to use up little bits of leftover yarn in your craft stash, especially if you're a knitter. I think mixing the type of yarn adds interest.
Colors
I love making these yarn hearts in neutral colors, but you can make them in any color scheme. Make them to match your home decor in a favourite color.
Material Variations:
These would also be beautiful in rainbow colors.
We made ours for Valentine's Day so we mixed in the tiniest bit of pink with our neutrals.
You could also do these all in pink or red, or a combination of pink and red.
If you don't have a styrofoam meat tray to upcycle, you can use any stiff material like a piece of cardboard as your base.
Instructions:
1. Start my cutting out a heart shape from your styrofoam tray. I used styrofoam trays that I saved and washed from purchasing meat.
You can mark out your heart first to find a shape and size you're happy with. If you want all your hearts to be the same size, create a pattern or use a heart template for all of them. I kind of like that all my free hand hearts are slightly different shapes and sizes.
2. Once you have your heart cut out, start winding the yarn around it, holding the end of the yarn to start, and securing it as you wind around it tightly with more yarn. You can also use a small piece of tape on the end of the piece of yarn to hold it in place, if you prefer.
3. Begin by wrapping the yarn the yarn around the foam, until the whole thing is covered. Wrap randonly or start with the top of one side of the heart, and use the yarn that you've wrapped to hold the next piece in place.
4. Next, wrap the other top side of the heart.
5. Then wrap the bottom section of one side.
6. Next wrap the bottom section of the other side. You may need to add a few layers to the very tip to make sure it's completely covered.
7. Finishing wrapping the top of the heart each side.
8. Lastly, wrap the yarn around randomly a few times to create a more random pattern on top.
9. To finish, tie the end of the yarn in to one of the other pieces tightly to keep the yarn from unraveling and cut off the end.
The cute yarn hearts will naturally be thicker in the center of the heart, making it kind of 3D.
10. If you want to hang your yarn heart, you can add a thread for hanging. Just cut a piece of thread, and thread it onto a needle. Use the needle, and push it through the top fo the heart. Tie the thread together, and snip off any extra thread, and it's ready for hanging.
Hangable Hearts
Expert Tip: I prefer to use a thread to hang it because it isn't noticeable and kind of disappears, rather than a long piece of twine or yarn.
Fequently Asked Questions:
Yes, you can use some foam board, or thick cardbard as a base material instead.
If you're heart base is showing through, just wrap more yarn around until it's covered completely.
This is a great craft for kids to do because it's easy, not messy, and they can choose their own colors.
If you tried this DIY Yarn Hearts Craft or any other craft on my blog please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting today!
Equipment
- scissors
- Needle
Materials
- styrofoam tray
- yarn
- thread
Instructions
- Start my cutting out a heart shape from your styrofoam tray. I used styrofoam trays that I saved and washed from purchasing meat. You can mark out your heart first to find a shape and size you're happy with. If you want all your hearts to be the same size, create a pattern or use a heart template for all of them. I kind of like that all my free hand hearts are slightly different shapes and sizes.
- Once you have your heart cut out, start winding the yarn around it, holding end of the yarn to start, and securing it as you wind around it tightly with more yarn. You can also use a small piece of tape on the end of the piece of yarn to hold it in place, if you prefer.
- Begin by wrapping the yarn the yarn around the foam, until the whole thing is covered. Wrap randonly or start with the top of one side of the heart, and use the yarn that you've wrapped to hold the next piece in place.
- Next, wrap the other top side of the heart.
- Then wrap the bottom section of one side.
- Next wrap the bottom section of the other side. You may need to add a few layers to the very tip to make sure it's completely covered.
- Finishing wrapping the top of the heart each side.
- Lastly, wrap the yarn around randomly a few times to create a more random pattern on top.
- To finish, tie the end of the yarn in to one of the other pieces tightly to keep the yarn from unraveling and cut off the end.
- If you want to hang your yarn heart, you can add a thread for hanging. Just cut a piece of thread, and thread it onto a needle. Use the needle, and push it through the top fo the heart. Tie the thread together, and snip off any extra thread, and it's ready for hanging.
Dannyelle Nicolle-Ramjist says
These are so easy to make and look adorable!
Dannyelle says
These easy yarn hearts are quick to make and such cute decor.
Barbara at Mantel and Table says
These are just darling Dannyelle! I can't wait to make some of these with my leftover fuzzy yarn. Thanks for the great idea and tutorial!