Valentine Tree

I've been loving all of the different Valentine trees out in blogville this year and I wanted to get in on the fun.  But I was having a really hard time decided on which one to copy errr use as inspiration.  Then last week I had a brainstorm...or I was really too lazy to go out to buy craft supplies...could go either way.  In Munchkin's room this Christmas, I put a tiny red tinsel tree.  Just something fun to make his bedroom festive.  Hmmm, I want a Valentine tree...I have a red tinsel Christmas tree {pause} ding ding ding we have a winner.  All by itself it looked a little to Christmas-y. 

See, even in the Valentine pot, it wasn't givin the V Vibe.  So off I went (instead of cleaning the house for the party we're having this weekend) to find some stuff to help the little guy along.  And here's what I ended up with

I lurve it.  About an 1/8 yard of pink shimmer tulle and some felt heart ornaments and she's all ready for Valentines day.

What's that?  You love her so much that you'd like to make one of your own?  Well by all means - here's how I did it ;)

Cut strips of tulle 2 inches wide and in varying legths.  The ones at the top of the tree were about 3 inches long, the ones in the middle were about 5 inches long and the ones at the very bottom were about 6 1/2 inches.  I used about 4-5 stips on each 'row' as I made my way around the tree.  I tried to stagger them as I went.

To attach them to the tree, fold the strip in half lengthwise and twist in the middle a few times. 

This gives the hot glue something to adhere to (other than your fingers).  Apply a dab of hot glue and press into the center of the tree

I'm not gonna lie to you - this took me about 90 minutes of cutting and gluing.  But I really like the fullness (and the pink) that the tulle adds. 

Now onto the felt ornaments....

These I cut free hand because they're hearts.  I swear there is no simpler shape to free hand cut.  Start with cutting a little heart out of felt.  To cut the larger heart, layer the smaller heart on top of another piece of felt

Using the small heart as a guide, cut the second heart a bit bigger.

You could just glue the two hearts together with a piece of string/floss/ribbon and call it a day, but I wanted to embellish mine with a simple running stitch around the small heart.

To assemble, cut a piece of string/embroidery floss/ribbon to the desired length.  Apply a dab of hot glue to the center(ish) of the larger heart.  Press the ends of the hanger into the hot glue (and scortch the skin off your fingers). 

Then dab a small amount of glue on top of the ends and smoosh the smaller heart on top

And there you have it.  Adorable little felt heart ornaments on my Happy Valentine tree :)