The day of Hearts & Flowers is almost upon us! These sweet little Heather Hearts are fast, easy and cheap to make. Hang them on a door, stick them in a pot, or wherever you want to show the love. All you need are a couple stems of fresh heather (the longer the better) and a little raffia or thin ribbon.

Start by overlapping the ends at an angle and winding the raffia (or ribbon) around the crossed bit, side to side and up and down. Tie it off securely.

Then tie one end of a long piece of raffia at the base and wind it around the stem of heather, not too tight, just enough to hold the side branches in a little. Tie it off about 3″ from the top end. Repeat on the other stem.

Next, cross the tops over each other where the raffia wraps ended and tie together. Add a longer piece of raffia to tie to the bottom of the heart. BE CAREFUL NOT TO BREAK THE STEMS! I did on one of my hearts, and well, it looks funny. Pull down gently. And you’re done!

Cuteness. These will dry in place pretty well, but be warned, they will drop some leaves. I used my hearts as centerpieces to my outdoor pots.

All year I save and dry the flowers I buy for the house when they are no longer suitable for fresh vases. (Not all flowers dry well. The ones with woody stems, like hydrangea and roses, dry best.)

Here’s what I had accumulated:

I stuck the heather hearts in the middle, and started adding the dried flowers around them with the taller stuff in back. I just stick them right in the dirt. (Dried flowers are fun to use here in Denver this time of year when it’s still too cold to put anything living outside.)

The funny-looking heart is the one where I broke the stems by bending them too far. Don’t do that!

 

And here they are all done:

 

More fun Valentine’s Day fun & weirdness to come. FOLLOW THE BLOG and you won’t miss a thing!