Starched Yarn Hearts

I decided to try out a new craft idea I discovered at the Disney Family Fun website..... Starched Yarn Hearts!   I thought my three-year-old would want to help me make these, but alas, he was more interested in playing with water in the sink.  Kids are funny that way!

I think they turned out ok in the end, but man, this was a HUGE mess to make.  The instructions basically involve combining cornstarch and water, dipping pieces of string in the starch and shaping them into hearts using a cookie cutter.  Great concept, but the starch stuff was incredibly messy and once it cooled, it turned into huge globs.  At that point it was pretty hard to get the string saturated. 

So, if you want to try this one out, consider yourself warned.. It's Messy!  I also had to adjust the cornstarch/ water ratio.  I used 1 1/2 cups of water for 1/4 cup of cornstarch.  I've heard of others using fabric stiffener or even Elmer's glue.  Those probably work better.

I let the hearts dry for a good 24 hrs on some parchment paper and then strung them up for some simple Valentine's decor for my apartment.  I actually had more fun photographing them than making them- hehe!