Craft: Heart Doily Poms (Tutorial)

The most fragile things seem to be the most beautiful. I guess it's the fleetingness that captivates us. Paper hearts. Sometimes we have paper hearts.

For Valentine's this year I hung heart poms made from paper doilies. I had ideas for more--a rare Valentine's inspired brainstorm--but I didn't get to them. Maybe I'll go ahead and make some of them later anyway. A belated happy heart day.

I want to thank you for all your heartfelt comments on my last post. They were generous and beautiful and really did give me comfort. It's true that we all encounter heartache, and it makes me all the more grateful for the happy, pretty times. And I've realized (and am reminding myself again) that the heartache and the beauty often happen at the same time. You just have to lift up your eyes so you don't miss the beauty that is still there. 

So I made the hearts and hung them and my girls were thrilled to see them hanging over our kitchen table. We're going to have a happy Valentine's day. I hope all of you do too. If you'd like to include some doily heart poms, or take note for next year, click to read more and view the tutorial.

You will need 24 6-inch paper doilies (I purchased them in packs of 12 from Michael's). Separate them into stacks of 3.

And fold the stacks in half.

Snip two little holes in the top and bottom of the solid part of the heart. Place these holes in the same position on all the doilies by using the first stake as a guide.

Using the heart doily as a template, cut out a heart from card stock. This will create a little more stability for the pom. Cut two holes in this heart using your doilies as a guide so they are positioned similarly.

Now sandwich the card stock heart between two stacks of heart doilies.

Using a needle threaded double and knotted, "stitch" through the bottom hole of the "sandwich" but don't pull the thread all the way through.

"Stitch" down through the top hole back to the first side.

Now thread the needle through the knotted end of the thread to secure the thread.

"Stitch" in and out of these holes again.

Now you'll add "stacks" of heart doilies (they are like little "signatures" if you are familiar with bookmaking) to your card stock heart with the fold against the card stock and the sides of these stacks touching.

"Stitch" through the holes to secure this next stack but pushing the needle through one of the original stacks at an angle and out the center of the stack you just added. 

  

Stitch through both holes in this new stack, looping the thread at least twice and keeping it taut to secure the stack of hearts to the card stock.

Repeat this process by adding a stack of doily hearts on alternate sides and stitching through the holes until you have four folded stacks, or signatures, on each side of your card stock heart. Secure your thread by knotting it around itself, but don't cut it.

 

Use the thread to sew on a thin ribbon into the center of one of the stacks. I stitched through the ribbon all the way to the top of the heart to help it hang straight.

Separate the doilies so they stand out from each other.

Make a few more, and hang.