Woven Heart Shaped Box

 This adorable woven heart shaped box is a very versatile container for Valentine treats! And when that special day is long gone, use it to store your what-nots and what-evers! And the best part about creating this lovely heart shaped box, you probably have everything in your craft supplies to make it, like I did! Plus it's a great project to do during those dark and chilly days of winter!

Welcome to our very first Creative Craft Hop of the new year, hosted by Sara @ Birdz of a Feather!  

If you're coming over from Jenna @ The Painted Apron, wasn't her valentine gifts for the cook or chef amazing? Be sure to stop by each and everyone in our creative group listed at the end of this post to check out their exciting project! 

So let's get started with gathering the craft supplies to make one!

Materials Needed:

• Heart template Parchment paper - Posterboard
• Cardboard (Amazon box)
• Craft Knife/craft scissors
• Fabric (crushed velvet/felt)
• Fabri-Tac fabric glue/Tacky glue
• Macrame Cord or thick yarn
• Skinny Wood Sticks (Dollar Tree)
• Cutting Snips or Craft Scissors
• Hot Glue Gun/glue sticks

How to:

First, let's make three heart shapes out of cardboard. Since I can't draw freehand very well, I needed to make a heart template out of parchment paper by folding a sheet of parchment paper in half, drawing half of a heart shape and then cutting it out. This way the heart shape will be the same size on both sides. The heart template is about 11.5" at it's height and width.

Next, I drew the outline of the parchment paper heart on posterboard - which is much sturdier and cut that out.

Then got out a couple of Amazon boxes, and copied the outline of the posterboard heart three times on the cardboard. 

And used a craft knife to cut the hearts out.

Next, laid one of the hearts on a piece of crushed velvet fabric I had in my stash and cut the fabric out leaving a border allowance.

Then applied fabric glue all over the heart cardboard and .  .  .

smoothed out the velvet fabric heart over the cardboard heart. 

And then glued down the edges on the backside.  And repeated the same steps for the second cardboard heart. 

Then added hot glue to the back of one of the hearts and .  .  .

pressed the two cardboard side hearts together, matching edges for the bottom of the heart shaped box.

To make the sides of the heart box, I had a pack of skinny wood craft sticks from the Dollar Tree in my stash. The original pack contained 75 sticks which would have been more than enough to glue onto the sides of the heart, but I had used some on a previous project and didn't have enough. So I had to cut the sticks in half- from 6" to 3" - to use them for this project. I needed fifty-five sticks.

Next, attached the skinny sticks to the sides of the heart using a hot glue gun.

Now comes the fun part of finger crocheting the cord to cover ends of the sticks on the bottom! I never learned to crochet or knit but I have used finger crochet in a few of my crafts - especially when I was younger. To refresh the technique (if you want to call it that) simple tie a slip knot on one end of the cord or thick yarn.

 Start by forming a loop with your cord.

Pull the cord tail through the loop you made so it forms a new loop. The tail is the short end of the cord, that’s not attached to the cord roll)

Tighten the slip knot by pulling it so that it holds it shape. The slip knot is your first loop. Then make a chain stitch by holding the working cord with your left hand and using your thumb and index finger of your right hand to grab the cord through the slipknot loop.

Continue repeating this chain stich over and over until reaching the desired length around the heart.

Once you have the desired length of the finger crochet chain, begin gluing it onto the bottom of the sticks along the heart shape edge .  .  .

all the way around the heart shape.

Once the finger crochet chain cord is attached, it's time to weave the cords around the sticks. Lay one color cord around the back of one of the sticks and take the cord over the next stick and under the next one. Lay another cord (different color) in front of the same first stick and go under and over the next couple of sticks - alternating the color cords. 

Before you go too far going over and under the sticks, secure the ends of the cords by adding a bit of hot glue down in between the cord chain edges, using the tip of scissors to press the cords down. 

Continue taking each cord alternating over and under all of the sticks as you weave the cords around the heart.

It's easier to do one color code over and under at a time, so the two cords won't get tangled as you move around the heart.

Over and under .  .  .

and around and around!

Once you've reach the end of weaving the cords, cut off excess cording and secure the cord ends by adding a bit of hot glue and inserting them down into the weave. 

Next, make two more sets of finger crochet cord chains to cover the exposed wood sticks outside top of box and .  .  .  

the inside exposed sticks. 

To make the heart shaped box top, add tacky glue to one side of the third cardboard heart and .  .  . 

place on top of a scrap piece of felt. I didn't have enough of the crushed velvet fabric leftover to use for the top. But the felt fabric blends in quite well with it all!

Smooth the felt out over the cardboard, cutting off excess fabric. Add additional glue to the back and attach more felt fabric to the back, as before, cutting off the excess fabric.

Make two more finger crochet chains in each cord color and attach to the edge and top of heart top using hot glue. Cut off excess cord chain. And finally, glue on another cord chain for an additional decorative look!

How cool does this look!

Filled with dark chocolate kisses!

Enjoy using this woven heart shaped box, it's not just for Valentine's but for any time! 

💜💜💜

I hope you are inspired by my tutorial on making a woven heart shaped box to create one! Next up is Cecilia sharing her Framed Vintage Valentine! Be sure to stop by each and everyone in our creative group listed below to check out their exciting and inspiring project! 

Denim Hearts  Ann @ Apple Street Cottage

Valentines Day Gift Idea and Valentine Cards - Leanna @Pretty DIY Home

DIY Farmhouse Style Valentine Centerpiece - Niki @ Life As a Leo Wife

Sling Water Bottle - Sara @ Birdz of a Feather

Easter DIY Riser - Terrie @Decorate and More with Tip

Valentine Gifts for the Cook or Chef - Jenna @ The Painted Apron 

DIY Woven Heart Shaped Box  - Gail @ Purple Hues and Me

Framed Vintage Valentine Upcycle - Cecilia @ My Thrift Store Addiction

Winter White Grapevine Wreath - Donna @ Modern on Monticello

DIY Dollar Tree Valentine Door Hanger - Allyson @ Southern Sunflowers