Heart Happy

Forget about wearing your heart on your sleeve. Why not wear your heart... on your heart? For all the world to see! Be bold. Be direct. Let everyone know that you mean [love] business. I went through a crafting phase a year or two ago of appliquéing hearts on sweaters. Inspired by DIY projects I'd discovered on Pinterest, as well as a sweater I’d seen in one of my favorite clothing stores, I went to work on making my own. I ended up completing one striped sweater with heart-shaped elbow patches and then this solid black one with the large, bigger-than-life red heart right smack dab on the front. 

I don’t know why but they make me feel a little jolt of happy when I wear them. Perhaps it is because of my love of love and heart shapes, or possibly it is just knowing that there is a little bit of love “hanging around” me. Or just maybe it is the simple fact that I made it myself (and saved some dough). Either way, it is a fun project that you can do by yourself, with your cat, or with a group of friends. :-) And who doesn't want to wear hearts on their clothing?!

Items you will need for this project:

An iron & ironing board

A sweater you don’t mind renovating, or an inexpensive new one from Target or H & M

Iron-on backing, fusible webbing, or even those strips you can purchase to “iron hem” curtains

Felt or other material for your heart

Needle & thread

Old newspaper to make your template, plus a few pins to hold your template in place

Here is a tutorial to show how to make and iron on appliqués and anchor the edges down with a blanket stitch. In addition, this video, also found in the tutorial, gives a great example as well. 

If you start on it now,  you could be finished just in time for Valentine’s Day! 

Day 336: Random Heart

Sometimes happy things happen in a random fashion. You don't plan for it or expect it to happen but then out of the blue... there it is! Yesterday morning I was sitting down to breakfast, enjoying a cup of tea with a couple of slices of almond butter and honey toast for breakfast, while browsing through the local neighborhood paper. Aside from having my cat as my breakfast companion I was enjoying the quiet of the morning and the soft stillness of the snow as it slowly, tiny flake by tiny flake, grew into a large mound on our balcony.

I'd finished one piece of toast and was about to start on the second when I glanced down and notice that it was shaped like a heart. How cute! I couldn't possibly eat it, could I? I grabbed my phone to snap a picture of it. It wasn't a perfect heart but my eyes saw a heart none-the-less. Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I tend to see heart shapes in inanimate objects, like stones, leaves, even clouds or in this case, toast. I'd like to think that seeing random heart shapes is like receiving a little love note. It puts a smile on my face and brightens my day.

Through the years I've assembled a small collection of stones or rocks I've found that resemble hearts. We have a friend who used to collect stones that held the resemblance of smiley faces. Smiley faces and hearts have a similar effect on us, as they both promote happiness and cheer us up. In case you are wondering, I did end up eating the heart-shaped toast. It had almond butter and honey on it, can you blame me? I couldn't let it go to waste and saving it as a trophy just didn't seem to be an option.

Here is the evidence before it went to food heaven in my belly...

Doesn't it look adorable? and tasty?

And just for the curious, here is one example of the many heart-shaped rocks I have collected.

But speaking of trophies, or prizes anyway, we do have a winner from yesterday's Emergency Happy Kit drawing. I am sure it is killing you to know so I won't dilly dally....

The photos tell the story...

My husband's adorable painted wooden Santa bowl. 

The star players.

A little black helper.

Stars face down to avoid seeing the names.

A winner! Congratulations Kimberly! 

Your Emergency Happy Kit will be on its way in the next couple of days!!!

A BIG THANK YOU to all who participated! I loved all of your lists of the things you would include in your Emergency Happy Kits! Chocolate was a common theme, or at the very least some sort of sweet, yummy treat! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and Be Happy!