Heart to Heart Swap 2021: Woven Heart Ornaments

 After a two-year-long stretch of crochet-crochet-crochet, I was overjoyed to discover that Sarah was reviving her Heart to Heart Swap in mini-form for 2021.  Here are the goodies (photos lifted from her blog) I've made in years past:

For this year's swap ornaments, I wanted to move away from both yarn and paper, but couldn't shake the idea of Swedish woven hearts (Aunt Annie has a great tutorial), probably because I remembered making them as an elementary student a loooooooooooooooooong time ago. This year I am teaching kindergarten students remotely: I'm at school, they're at home.  I've been experiencing serious kid-craft withdrawals this year, so partnered with nostalgia, I just couldn't resist. Instead of weaving paper, I pulled out a few fat quarters and some vintage hankies:

Tish-Tish helped to sort the hankies.

 The fabric was easy to pin and cut...

... but the weaving part was a little more difficult than it would have been with paper.  

Pins, pins and more pins were needed to keep everything in place.

I sewed the sides of each heart closed, leaving the tops open, and left all of the edges frayed.

Once the hearts were sewn it was time to figure out the bits and bobs.

Vintage sampler ribbon, Tim Holtz keys, lace medallions and glitter hearts all worked, thanks to the mixed fabrics.

 Burgundy t-shirt strips became hanging loops.

Party streamers and red sparkle garland lined the treat bags, while Dove chocolate filled each heart.

I used mini clothespins to clip the hearts closed.

The larger woven heart in the center was my prototype.

... and appreciating the kindness of Sarah and all of the other swap participants, it was easy to come up with a theme for my ornaments:

A short time after sending the box of my woven hearts to Sarah, I received these in return (with an extra of my own ornament):

I LOVE them, and so appreciate the creative talents and sharing nature of Sarah and all of this year's swap participants.

Happy Valentine's Day!