Pine Needle Heart

When I lived in South Carolina as a child, I remember the ladies of my mother's garden club coming to visit when mom hosted the club at our house. The ladies always came bearing treats and gifts, but one gift that stands out in my mind was a beautiful little basket made out of pine needles. I thought it was so clever to make such a beautiful and functional gift out of something you could find in your yard. It takes a bit of skill to make a pine needle basket, but this pine needle heart is a quick and easy project to make.

You'll need the following supplies:

Pine needles - six pine needles for one heart soaked in hot water for at least 30 minutes. If you don't have a pine tree in your yard, check your local park.
Raffia - Cut a piece approx. 36 inches. Dip the strand into water and carefully run your finger along the strand to open the strand up a bit.
tapestry needle
Thread for hanging the heart
Scissors
Clothespin

It had just rained when I went outside to gather some pine needles, so I didn't have to soak them. When you select the pine needles they should be all the same length.

Tie the bundle of pine needles securely with a piece of raffia right above the woody ends.

Separate the pine needles into two equal sections. Wind one end of the raffia around one section of the pine needles like a candy cane stripe, leaving about 1 inch from the pine needle tips. Carefully bend down the tips of the needles in a curve toward the woody ends and clamp the raffia tail and pine needle tips with a clothespin.

Repeat the above step with the second section of pine needles to make the other half of the heart.

Wind the ends of the raffia in opposite directions around the heart base at least once, tie a double knot and then tie into a bow.

Thread the needle and insert the needle through a raffia on each half of the heart. This secures the two heart halves together. Tie a double knot with the thread and then tie the thread ends to make a hanging loop.

You can use your pine needle heart ornament to decorate your packages of Valentine treats and gifts. You could also hang them on a Valentine 'tree', or make a garland.