This felt heart ornament craft is a simple project for the holidays. Customize them to fit any color scheme or theme. Like Disney princesses!
Christmas ornament crafts are a great way to customize your Christmas tree on a budget. You can create any color, theme, or shape imaginable. One of my favorite holiday activities is watching Christmas movies while creating ornaments, or stockings.
This year, I decided to make a felt heart ornament for a princess-themed tree. Felt ornaments are great for Christmas trees in a playroom or child’s bedroom because they aren’t fragile or potentially dangerous for little ones.
The heart ornaments complement the theme of the tree perfectly. Plus, they were very easy to customize for the Disney Princesses.
Felt Heart Ornament Supplies
- Felt in various colors
- Thread or embroidery floss
- Batting or polyfill
- Ribbon
How to Make a Princess Felt Heart Ornament
First, decide on a color scheme for your heart ornaments. I chose pastels in pink, blue, purple, white, and gray. These colors all came in a pack of 24 at JoAnn Fabric and Crafts. I also picked up a sheet of yellow for a few of the accents on the ornaments.
What Type of Felt is Best for a Felt Heart Ornament?
There are a few different types of felt available at most craft stores. The biggest ones are wool felt and craft felt. Wool felt contains wool, whereas craft felt is entirely synthetic. Craft felt is best for creating these heart ornaments. And I’d recommend the softer, more flexible felt. It’s easier to work with for sewing purposes than stiff felt.
After I purchased my felt, I used a heart-shaped sandwich cutter to trace two different size hearts on the felt. I used a variety of colors. And traced twice as many large hearts as I did small ones. The small hearts only go on one side of the ornament, whereas the large hearts are needed for the front and back.
Once all of my hearts were cut, I used my Cricut Joy to cut stencils based on the Disney Princess symbols. I chose symbols for 6 princesses.
- Cinderella – The glass slipper
- Aurora – Sleeping Beauty crown
- Tiana – A lily flower
- Jasmine – The magic lamp
- Snow White – An apple
- Ariel – A seashell
Use a Cricut to Cut Stencils for the Princess Symbols
I used the Cricut Joy to cut small stencils for the Princess symbols on these heart ornaments.
What You Need to Make These Stencils
- Cricut Joy
- Removable Cricut Smart Vinyl
- Cricut Design Space
- Princess Symbols Stencils SVG
All of the SVG files for the Princess symbols are located on my Cricut Design Space profile!
To cut these files, upload them to a design. If you plan on making more than one ornament of each princess then you will need to duplicate the images a few times. Cut them out on the Cricut Joy using Removable Smart Vinyl. Then remove each stencil and apply it to the felt sheets.
Trace each symbol using a pen. Then remove the vinyl stencil. Then I cut them out using scissors.
Once all of the symbols were cut out I attached them to the smaller felt hearts. Attaching fabric over another piece of fabric to create a picture is called appliqueing.
I used a simple whipstitch to attach the symbols to the small hearts. A whipstitch is a straight stitch that runs perpendicular to the edge of the felt shape. You can use thread or embroidery floss that matches the felt to help the stitches blend in.
I alternated between using matching and contrasting threads. This created more visual interest in the felt ornaments. When it comes to handmade ornaments, I don’t mind if they look handmade. I think it adds to the charm.
How to Do a Whipstitch
Before stitching, line up the fabric pieces where they should be. For a simple whipstitch, insert the needle from the back of the two pieces of fabric. The needle should come through about half a centimeter from the edge of the top fabric. In this case, that’s the Princess symbol. Pull the thread all the way through, then insert it back through right at the edge of the symbol.
Continue this all the way around. You may need to rethread a few times! Too much thread is harder to control as you’re stitching. Tie off the stitches on the backside! This hides all the messy bits.
Once all of the symbols are attached to the smaller hearts, attach the smaller hearts to the larger ones. Use the whipstitch again to attach the small hearts!
Finishing Your Felt Heart Ornament
Finally, attach the remaining large hearts to the backs of the decorated hearts. Use a whipstitch to attach them. But the stitch is a little different. It wraps around the outside of the two layers to connect them.
To start insert the needle from the back of the top heart near the edge. Then hold the two hearts together with the edges aligned. Stitch around the edge of the two hearts. Push the needle through the bottom heart and out of the top. Then continue the stitch almost all the way around. Leave about 1/4 of the heart open.
Use the small opening to add a bit of batting or poly-fill inside the hearts. The filling gives the ornaments a bit of added dimension. And a more finished look. Then close the heart all the way using the same wrapping whipstitch.
Hang the ornaments from the Christmas tree using ornament hooks. Or stitch a loop of ribbon to the top of each ornament. Since my kids are older, I used ornament hooks. It made my life simpler. And the kids can use the hearts for pillows or cushions for their Barbies after the holidays.
The finished result is these adorable felt heart ornaments. They are perfect for our Princess themed tree in the playroom!
