Valentine's Crafts - Plastic Canvas Kisses

Who wouldn't love to receive a little kiss from this cute little critter for Valentine's day?  It is such a fun valentine to give to friends and family and includes a little treat, and something they can keep that you made for them.

This craft may look complicated, but it only took me an hour (while taking care of a sleepy toddler on my lap).

Supplies needed:
      Plastic canvas (3 squares that are 10 squares by 10 squares or bigger)
      Crafting or Worsted Weight Yarn (any color you desire, but red and pink are great for Valentine's Day)
      Needle that is small enough to fit through plastic canvas but big enough for yarn to fit through eye

Start with three squares of plastic canvas that are 10 x 10 or bigger, so that your Hershey's kiss will fit inside.

Start stitching by inserting your needle threaded with yarn into one of the corners and while holding the square with that corner to the top right, insert the needle back down through the hole diagonally to the left as shown below.  Continue the next few stitches in the same way, making sure that your loops on the back side are over top of the end of your string to tie it down so your stitching can't come undone.

Continue stitching in the same manner until you get the whole square finished, ending with a long strand of yarn still connected and on your needle.

For two of your squares, you want to cover two of the edges by doing an overcast stitch around those two edges.  Start in the corner where you just ended your stitching and insert your needle down in the same hole.  Do the same thing again one or two more times, so that the yarn is wrapped around the corner two or three times, covering the point of the plastic.

Then continue stitching down that side the same way, inserting the needle back down in the same direction in each hole down.

Repeat with a couple of stitches in the second corner a couple of times to cover the corner and then continue down the second side.  Cover the third corner the same way.  Finish these two squares by weaving your needle with your yarn under a few stitches on the back side before cutting the yarn.

After two of your squares are completed as shown above, start your third in the same way, stitching all but the edges as shown below, once again leaving a long tail of yarn to continue.

Hold one of your two matching squares against this square, so the two unfinished edges are lined up with the two edges you are about to stitch.  Then stitch around the two edges the same as you stitched the previous two squares' two edges, stitching through both squares as you do so.

Now the one square has two finished sides and two unfinished sides as shown above and the other square has all four sides finished, but is only joined to the first square by two of the sides.

This is where it gets a little tricky.  Open out the two squares you have just stitched together a little so that you can hold your third square with the unfinished edges against the unfinished edges of the one you were just stitching.  Continue stitching around the last 2 edges, stitching through both layers again.

Now stitch all of the way around the bottom layer again, where the squares are joined, to ensure a secure connection, including a stitch joining the corners of the two where they open, as shown below.

Knot your thread the same way as before, by weaving the needle through some of the stitches on the inside, which may be a little tough, so be patient as you do so.  Cut yarn.

Now the hard part is done.  You should now have a finished pyramid that opens  when you squeeze the two opposite corners.

To finish your little kisser, attach the googly eyes by gluing them on one of the two sides that open to make the face, and if desired glue a feather at the top of the back like I did.  Now you have a cute little creature.  Give as a valentine with a Hershey's kiss inside and a note that says, "Pinch my cheeks and I'll give you a kiss!"

Happy Valentine's Day!