Valentine's Day Pouches

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ever since I was an awkward teen with no boyfriend possibilities in sight (see last picture) I have been a hater of Valentine's Day. I do like the crafty aspect of it. I also like letting my friends know how much I like them. Last year I had a mediocre attempt at graphic design, so this year I stayed away from the cards and went with some candy pouches. Who doesn't love candy right?

I had a few inspiration points that I mixed all together. One was this cute Heart Tote Bag by V&Co. The second was these adorable little Stenciled Valentine Bags. I've been waiting for an opportunity to try freezer paper stenciling. Now that I've done it I have no idea why I waited so long. It's so easy. Once I get some more fabric paint I'll be trying this again. 

There are tons of tutorials out there about freezer paper stenciling. I used this video for the basics, but you can find tons of information on the process on google. I just cut out a bunch of hearts. Some small, some big. For a few of the bags I did just the outline of the heart, others I stenciled in the whole heart. I attempted to make a dot heart with progressively lighter colors like the tote bag above, however my patience got the best of me so instead I did an ombre effect for most of them. Others I just did one solid color.

After letting them dry I sewed them together on three sides, leaving the top open. Then fold the top over once to make a sleeve for the ribbon. Threaded the ribbon through an opening in the side seam, tied the ribbon and there you have it. Simple little pouches. The hardest part was filling them without eating all of the candy.

Here they are all ready to be sent. If I do this again I'll be sure to put the stencils lower down so that when the pouches are closed you can see more of the heart. I probably won't do this next year since I spent more than the pouches were worth on shipping. Forgot to factor that in. Oops. I hope everyone likes them, or at least likes the candy. 

Do you like Valentine's Day?

Hope you can spend some time with people you love today!

Lauren