Heart to Heart Swap 2015 Tutorial: My Ornament

If you stopped by yesterday, you saw the treasures I received as a participant (again!) in this year's Heart to Heart Swap, hosted by Sarah.  She made the beautiful butterfly ornament (tutorial found here), but I kept the ornament ~I~ created under wraps until today, so I could show you how I made it.

Here's what you'll need:

Yarn (white, blue, pink).  Gray polar fleece (felt would work).  Lace scraps.  Grosgrain ribbon (pink with red "stitch" detail). Craft mini flowers (wired with ends wrapped). Hanging hook.  Hot glue.  Crochet hook (size I).  Sewing or upholstery needle.

I crocheted a bazillion little pink hearts three or four years ago, adding them to a pile of valentine what-nots that remained untouched for... ~three or four years~.   They appreciated seeing the light of day again!  Unable to find the original pattern online, I found a great tutorial by Olivia at Hopeful Honey that you can use to make your own hearts.

For the baby blue backing, I quickly whipped through the following for each of the ornaments:

Chain 17

DC in 4th chain from hook

DC in remaining chains (you should have 15 stitches in all across):

Chain 3, turn, then DC across again for 15 stitches (I didn't crochet into the previous DCs but in the space between them):

Complete the row, making sure you have 15 stitches across.  Chain 3, turn, and repeat DCs between stitches, until you've created 6 rows in all:

Ending with blue, tie on your white to the end of the row, and add 4 SC to the corner (there's only 2 in the photo), working down a SHORT side of the blue rectangle first:

I put 3 SCs in each hole across the short side, tucking in/crocheting over the loose end of white from where I'd originally tied on (see the end sticking out?):

When I reached the second corner of the short side, I used 5 SC to help curve around so I could work on a long side.  I put 2 SCs between each blue DC stitch:

After making my way around the long side, I put 5 SCs in the corner, worked up the short side with 3 SCs in each "hole" or space created by the blue DCs, put 5 SCs in the next corner, and again put 2 SCs between each DC blue stitch on the long side of the rectangle. 

See that itty bitty stitch of blue?  I crocheted 1 SC into the first corner (making a total of 5 SCs) to cover it up and close the white trim.  I tied off the white yarn, and then found a needle through which I could thread it:

Away goes the tail-end of the yarn!

Next, I cut a 4 X 4 inch piece of gray polar fleece, though felt or a heavier fabric certainly would have worked too:

I folded the fleece in half and cut a simple heart out:

I loved the mix of nubby yarn and super soft fleece textures!  While the fleece could have been sewn onto the blue yarn, I wasn't in the mood to sew.  Hello glue gun!

Add a strip of leftover lace or trim:

Slide a pick of flowers through the center of a crocheted heart:

... and trim the back, gently bending the remaining taped wires or "stub" down flat against the back of the heart.  Use hot glue to not only hold "stub" in place, but to affix pink heart onto lace and fleece heart:

I cut a length of grosgrain ribbon that was a bit longer than the rectangle, cutting a dove's' tail in to both ends:

Then I wove the ribbon through the holes at the top (short end) of the rectangle, over under, over under, over under:

Finally, I tucked a hanging hook through crocheted stitches around the center of the top short side of the rectangle.  The ornament on the left is finished (see how all of the edges are laying flat?).  Use hot glue under edges of the pink heart if needed to keep it from curling up and inward.

I do hope my creation brings a smile to all of the swap participants' faces when they open it!

Happy Valentine's Day!