A Handmade Felt Mailbox for Valentine’s Day and Beyond
A few years ago we shared a project to make a paper Valentine’s Day mailbox that kids can use to carry their valentines to and from school. Because we are always trying to one-up ourselves, we created this tutorial to make DIY play mailbox out of felt. This adorable play mailbox is perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the tutorial is great for a DIY toy any time of year! Customize the design with your own color palette and accents to really make it your own. This project is something that can last for years to come, and it’s a great activity that you can make together with your kids, especially if you want to start introducing some basic sewing stitches.
Tools
- Scissors
- Small Scissors (recommended for cutting letters)
- Embroidery Needle
- Sewing Pins
- Iron and Extra Cloth for Ironing
- Marking Pen
Materials
- Lia Griffith Wool Blend Felt — Turquoise (3 sheets) and Ruby
- DMC Embroidery Floss — Light Turquoise (598) and Christmas Red (321)
- Plastic Mesh Sheets
- 2 Small Magnets
- 1 Large Red Button
- Iron-on Adhesive (e.g. Stitch Witchery)
Steps
Start by gathering your tools and materials, then print the PDF template below to use as a guide for cutting your felt mailbox pieces. Find all the detailed instructions in the download below, and then use the photo tutorial for a visual guide as you craft!
Tips
We picked out our fabric from our local Fabric Depot because we were able to find 12 x 19 sheets. You will need the larger sheets in order to cover the entire mailbox. For this project we also used mesh sheets in order to hold the shape of the mailbox and flag. It’s such an easy crafting trick, and you can find mesh sheets at any craft or fabric store. When you are cutting your felt letters, we recommend tracing the template onto your felt, then snip with a small pair of scissors for more precise handling. To cut the heart out of the A, fold the felt piece in half.
As you can see in the tutorial, we use stitch witchery to adhere the letters to the play mailbox. You can find stitch witchery in bolts so that you can trim any sized piece that you need. Be sure to place a piece of cloth between the iron and the felt when you are ironing – the felt can burn easily and it can also start to smell, depending on the quality of the felt. If you want some guidance on blanket stitching, head over to our Felt 101 video for a detailed tutorial!
You’ve Got Mail!
To fill your DIY play mailbox with valentines that your kids can bring to their classmates, take a look at all of our printable kid’s valentines for a huge variety. If you are interested in making more DIY toys out of felt, you will love our irresistible collection of felt animal stuffies. Find all of our Valentine’s Day DIYs for holiday inspiration, or pop over to our membership page to join our crafting community. Always feel free to share your project ideas with us in the comments, we love getting you in on the creative process. Cheers! ~ Lia & Team
Are you having trouble? Feel free to contact us and we will be happy to help you out.
19 Comments
I used 12×18 inch blue felt and discovered I needed four blue sheets, not 3 as listed above. I’m not sure even with the extra inch from the sheets linked above that I could have gotten all the blue pieces to fit on just 3 sheets. Just FYI 🙂
Thanks for your feedback. I will pass this along to the designer.
It’s the cutest!! When I check I still don’t see the heart in the SVG and it’s not showing the bottom piece (just the smaller rectangle for the mesh cutout). Am I checking it wrong? Thanks!
I passed it over to Krista, and she says: Yes, it looks correct now. And the two rectangles in the SVG are for the bottom panel – the one for the top is large and doesn’t fit on the cutting mat, so it needs to be cut by hand. I have noted in the instructions and pdf template to measure out and cut the top panel 10×14 by hand.
It looks like there are a few missing pieces of this SVG for this project- for example the heart and I think the bottom?
Hi Lauren, I just checked the file in Design Space, and it looks like the bottom is there, and now the larger white heart that goes onto the mailbox flag is in place. This is such a cute project! I might need to make one for my neighbor girls.
Do you know if there is any way to upload the template into a Cricut to cut out the pieces?
Yup, just made an SVG of the project and added it in. Keep in mind you will still want to cut out the plastic mesh sheets by hand, but the paper template for those is included in the SVG.
[…] liagriffith […]
Is there a machine that cuts out the crepe paper flower petals?
Not that we know of 🙁
I love this mail box and I can not wait to make it, my grand children are going to love it…
Yay! This was a fun one 🙂
Hi – What color is the blue felt? I looked on Fabric Depot’s website and I believe their color photos are not very accurate, as I have some of these colors at home and they look quite different from their photos online. So I wasn’t sure what color you used here, and if it is still available! Thanks!! 🙂
Unfortunately it looks like they do not have the same colors online as in store, and we are unsure of the actual color name because the felt didn’t have a sticker on it. We do know it was a wool blend in a true, bright aqua color. Hope that helps!
Hi Lia, This is beyond adorable! I think my son would love it — he already plays with his felt hamburger (made with your design) everyday!
For the magnets, about what size would fit in the red tab? 1/2 in diameter? Or do they need to be smaller?
Also, for the mesh, I’ve seen some Darice brand mesh online, with reviewers saying it’s “floppy”. Is that better for this type of project — so it’s more bendable? Or should it be a little more stiff? If you have a brand/item name you’ve used, would love to hear–rather than have to return products online!
Thank you!! I look forward to seeing your designs everyday. 🙂
Marisa
The magnets we used were 3/4″ in diameter (which is about the same size as the red button). Smaller is fine as long as the magnet is strong enough. 🙂 We also used the Darice mesh and it worked well, so it is bendable when finished and not too stiff compared to using a plastic sheet or cardboard. Hope that helps!
so beautiful mail box and i really like its design.You shared amazing guide to design it and want to make it at my home.
Thank you 🙂