Nothing says Valentine's Day like a heart-shaped box of candy! My box always comes from See's Candy in California (from my dad) and I love opening up the box and picking out my favorite pieces, the Walnut Squares, the Molasses Chips, and the Dark Bordeaux. Yum!

I wanted to send my nieces their own boxes of candy, but one of them has food allergies so I didn't want to send her something she couldn't enjoy. Instead, I decided to turn the whole heart-shaped box idea on its head and sew heart-shaped pouches instead. I love the idea that I can fill them with non-allergenic candies and that the girls can re-use them even after Valentine's Day.

For fabric, I chose some fun, playful dots in pinks and reds and used our brand new 15mm Grosgrain Ribbon for the looped handles. I also decided to take advantage of our wide selection of zippers and added a zippered closure along one side of the pouch. Even though I was a little scared of tackling sewing in a zipper on a curve I'm very happy with how it turned out. I think it makes the pouches so much more usable and, as with so many sewing techniques, it wasn't as hard as I'd made it out to be!

If you'd like to make your own heart-shaped pouch, and learn how to put in a zipper on a curve in the process, please visit my Heart Shaped Zippered Pouches Project Journal.

Happy Valentine's Day! --Molly