Things to Make & Do - Valentines Gifts for Boys

Well hello, I hope you all have had wonderful weekends! Mine was spent in full crafting mode and I have managed to tick off a few more things off my to-do list, which is always a good feeling!

The first thing I ticked off my list was something for valentines day. Now I must be honest I'm not usually a huge fan of Valentines day (if valentines has a grinch...it's me! Read Miss Marie's post it sums up my feelings exactly) but I thought this year I would put some effort in and craft something nice for the Boyfriend as he at least is quite keen on upholding the tradition.

I soon realised that it's a bit more tricky than I had first thought. It is all very well for us crafty lasses to go all mushy over mugs with hearts on, silly on stuffed teddy's, and gooey over glittery jewellery (yes please!), but at the end of the day many of us are wanting to give our crafty creations to the one(s) we love, and they are not always going to be keen on receiving a shabby chic fluffy bunny covered in love hearts...even if you have spent the last three weeks crafting into the night to make it!

So I decided I was going to have to try and put my creativity into something he won't be totally embarrassed to own, and since my embroidery obsession is still in full swing I thought I would make the most of it and create a very simple and quick solution to the problem with...

Em-Boy-dery
(Sorry I couldn't help myself:))

Ingredients:  Scrap of Fabric
                      Embroidery hoop
                      Scraps of Wool or Embroidery Thread
                      Large eyed sharp embroidery needle
                      Pencil or Wash-out-able Fabric pen

Free Pattern: Click below images to make larger (sized to UK A4)

All of the above fonts (apart from my hand drawn one) are free to download from various websites, (just google the name) so you can change the text to anything you like!

Know How: Embroidery Stitches, Split stitch and Satin Stitch 

I searched the web for some manly looking fonts, well to be honest anything, nerdy, sci-fi, I.T. or Tattoo styled, I knew would fit the bill. In the end, I opted for a very quickly sketched block style font which I thought would be the quickest to do (had to get it done while he was out!)

I drew out my desired pattern onto a piece of paper to the size I wanted, blue-tacked it to a window and quickly traced it onto my fabric using a wash-out-able fabric pen, you could use a soft pencil too, but if you are using light colours then it is best to avoid as the graphite will stain the thread.

I popped my fabric into an embroidery hoop and then using white wool, I Split Stitched all around the edges of the letters and then with a long Satin Stitch I filled in the shading!

I kept mine really simple by just using white as I know anything frilly or wildly colourful tends to leave my boyfriend cowering behind his computer screen in fear. And even if he does turn his nose up at it, I think it is pretty cool, it took only a few of my precious crafting hours and it will look really cute on the book shelf!

Some Fabulously Creative Valentine Tutorials:

• Why not try Miss Katie's fabulous tutorial for a very personalised valentines gift, it really is just too cute!
• If your chap is rather dapper then why not try A Beautiful Mess's tutorial for a homemade bow tie!

Have a great Monday!
Wendy x