My first crafty post: "Love"

January 22, 2014

My first crafty post: "Love"

Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that. ~Michael Leunig.

Lately, I don't know what it is, but I'm feeling so very Martha Stewart mixed with Betty Crocker. Of course, then there's nights like tonight, where I've been VERY lazy and enjoy the antics of dear Jessica Fletcher as she solves murders all from the safety of my home, with the dogs curled up at my feet.

Anyway, thought I would take a time out from the sleuthing to post this Valentine's-themed project I completed on Sunday. I had promised a friend I'd try to give the directions for how I did this on here, so here goes. Remember, I'm a newbie at this direction-giving stuff, so bear with me :)

I found a version of this "LOVE" on Pinterest and I'm sure I'm not the only one who did. If you are like me, you are guilty of sometimes pinning without following the link. Imagine my sadness when I realized it was in a different language :(

I'm sure there's a way to translate the whole page, but upon close examination it doesn't look too terribly difficult (famous last words) and the letters in the original are stand-alone letters. Since I wanted to hang it on my door, I knew that wouldn't work, so a little creative brainstorming with a friend in the aisle of our nearest Hobby Lobby produced my version. . It's always good to shop Hobby Lobby with friends! :)

What you will need:

Yarn. I used three colors and nothing too fancy or expensive. If you want the exact brand, it was I love this yarn! from Hobby Lobby.
Cardboard letters -- "L" "O" "V" "E" -- I'd hope I don't need to spell that out, but for the heck of it :) I went standard, but I'm sure you could experiment. Just remember it is kind of tricky to cover the curves.
Glue gun and hot glue. -- I feel like I used a ton! But you can get a cheap gun from Hobby Lobby. I purchased a new one just before Christmas and was amazed -- I had forgotten how fun glue guns can be!
Patience!!! -- This project can be rather time consuming and takes a great deal of patience. I happened to be having a Murder She Wrote marathon (thank you, Netflix) and would pause occasionally to watch and let my fingers rest or to take the four legged ones out.

Sorry for the angle, I failed to right it!
Consider it a side view of how I did it
and the step before I went wrong!

First, you have to decide how you want the letters to be arranged. As I said, the one in the original post shows stand alone letters. That wouldn't work for what I had planned. In any case, play around with the arrangement BEFORE you glue them.

Now it's entirely up to you. I liked the idea of lapping the yarn across, from the "L" to the "O" and the "O" to the "E" and even the "V" to the "O"...to me, it just gave it a more connected feel. :) You also have to decide if you want the yarn to go horizontally, as shown, or vertically. To me, that seemed more difficult, especially on the "V", but I suppose it would work. Maybe even a mixture of the two would be good.

See the exposed brown
in the bottom left part
of the "O"

Anyway, I arranged the letters and determined the yarn order and where the colors would change. Unfortunately, here's where I made a mistake, one I want to share so you don't replicate it! It's fine to glue the "L" and the "V" together first — I would actually recommend it — but do NOT glue the "O" and the "E" together first. I did that and wound up having to fudge the bottom of my "O" :(

So, finish at least the bottom of the "O" before you glue it to the "E"...I'll try that on the second go-around.

"E" down, three
to go.

I worked from the bottom up. I'm not sure why that was easier for me. It's a weird habit I have at work — writing from the bottom up — so maybe that's why? I started with the "E" and the "V"...that "V" proves tricky, too.

The advice when doing the "E"? It's a good idea to glue on the ends. It also requires gluing along the edge of the ... well, the flat parts of the "E", the parts that make it not an "I" (you understand?). By putting a thin layer of hot glue along those when you get there, it helps cover more of the brown.

The "V" was more difficult because of the angles. Look closely and you'll see it isn't as seamless looking as the "E"...A tip on the "V"? Glue in the sharp angle when it's time to wrap those individual parts. Also, if you do glue the "L" and "V" together, you will have to make a small ball of yarn to fit in the space!

Ignoring the fact that these photos show my glaring "O" error...You can see how I wrapped the "L" and the "O" together. If you look closely, you see that the top of the "V" has some of that wrap as well. You definitely need to have glued all of your letters together at this point, to make sure they are sturdy enough.

I realize now, I should have taken a shot of the back, so you could see the mess it shows!

I used some extra red ribbon that I had around the house. I'm not entirely sure it matches, but I love the way the ribbon pops against the pink. I tried using three strands of the yarn, but they just didn't have the same effect, so I returned to the ribbon.

The bulk of the project is relatively easy. It just requires patience, creativity and TIME! There's no right or wrong way to do it. I bet you could cover the whole thing in red if you wanted, or do red and white...the possibilities are endless.

In fact, being from Kentucky, home of the Wildcats, I already have the next version in mind...I'm thinking UK? We shall see...

Until next time...I think that project might require some spray paint, an old rug and cardboard...Any guesses on what it is? :) I just hope I have some clear enough weather to do it before Valentine's day!

Left, the original, right, the one I made. Original found here :