Valentines Pocket {Holiday Tradition}

Handmade Valentines

 

I have always loved exchanging Valentines with friends.  

It's a tradition that goes back to Victorian Times.  

I have two creative ways to make a very special Valentines Pocket to present your lovely little Valentines Day card to your very lucky friend!

The first one I made at a fun Valentines Day Tea Party that I had years ago.  {Hosting a special Tea Party for Valentines Day assures you that you will enjoy this fun holiday as you wish!}  Each of us had a lot of fun making these simple but beautiful Valentines Pockets.  I used a very thin antique style {but new} cotton quilting batting for the hearts.  I used cream color and not white.  Hint:  If you take the batting and gently spray it with water from a spray bottle and then put it in the dryer, before cutting, it will shrink up a little and give it that gently used look!  If you didn't have this available you could always use felt.

Then a made a pattern out of paper and cut the heart out.  I then used special scissors that had a scalloped edge {found in many craft stores} and cut around the edge.  To make the cut out dots, so it looks like a lacy edge, you use a paper hole punch!  Next I cut a second heart and only made about 2/3rds of the shape, so the top would be open.  I then used a blanket stitch and sewed this front piece down to form the pocket, using matching cream colored thread.

Then I dug into my button collection and picked out a variety of buttons, in many different shades of cream, to sew onto the front pocket of my heart. 

This is the fun part!

Next I attached a ribbon to the top, with more buttons of course, and attached a lace doily to the inside so it looked like a hankerchief coming out of a pocket.  

All that is left is to fill your Valentines Pocket with a special Valentine Card or perhaps a sweet treat or a charming bracelet or a few roses from your garden or whatever you have in mind!

And there you have the Perfect Valentines Day Pocket for that very special friend, even yourself!

So tonight I made a simpler version of my Very Special Valentines Pocket that is simple enough to do many of them in a day, and would be great for anyone!  

Great idea huh?!  

I used white felt and cut out two hearts, using a cookie cutter as my pattern.  

I cut the top off of one of the hearts {like in my other project above} so it would form a pocket to place things in.

This time I stitched them together on my sewing machine {easy and fast} and used a wavy stitch {you could do a zig zag or straight stitch} to form the pocket!  

If you didn't have a machine you could use a needle and thread and embroidery floss and do thick and chunky stitches!  

That would be cute too!

For one of them I stitched buttons along the top of the pocket!

For the other I left it plain and punched a hole at the top of one side, and attached a ribbon. 

This would be cute as a wristlet for a child to hang on their arm or to hang on a doorknob and leave as a surprise for a friend!

I filled these little Valentines Pockets with handmade paper Valentines.  

You could also use ribbons and pom poms to make creative Valentines or simply stuff your little pockets with cute Valentines you purchase from the store! 

Don't you think your store bought Valentines {with a little candy treat} would be darling in your new little Valentines Pockets?  

I do!  

So I want to know... Do you still enjoy {or have great memories} of exchanging Valentines?