This is a Valentine’s Day ‘card’ based off of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time where your special someone collects heart pieces (4 total) in order to fill up their heart container. It even comes with a guideline scroll from Navi!

I had already completed this before remembering I wanted to do a instructable, so I tried my best to recreate the process with my final product, if you have any questions or need clarification, ask away!

It’s dangerous to go alone! So take these:
-Felt (pink, light blue, red, and brown)
-About half a yard of decently hardly fabric for the pouch, I used tan corduroy
-Needle and Thread (pink, light blue, brown and something to match your pouch fabric)
-Button
-Leather Cord
-Scissors
-Brown Piping (Optional)
-Sewing Machine (makes it so much easier!)
-Cardstock
-Used Coffee Grounds/Tea bags or cheap coffee
-Matches/Lighter and water (for safety)
-Black Pen/Calligraphy Pen & Ink

I also made a basic pattern for the pieces I used and included pouch measurements in the instructions, if there's enough interest I can try and make a printable pattern.

Step 1: Cutting Out the Heart Pieces

We'll get the heart pieces out of the way first.

I found that it was easier to fold the felt in half and trace half of the hearts and then cut them out while the felt is still folded. Though, if you have an easier way, more power to you! So what you need to do:

1) Cut out 4 of the medium-small light blue hearts (they are about 2 inches wide at the widest part and 1 3/4 in from the bottom tip to the top middle inset)
2) Cut out 4 of the small pink hearts (about 1in wide and 1 inch from tip to the top middle dip)
3) Cut out 4 blue triangles that match up with the bottom part of the blue hearts (about 2 in across and 1 7/8in on the two sides)

Step 2: Sewing the Heart Pieces

Now to put all those pieces together:

4)Match each blue heart with a pink heart and try and center the pink heart on top of the blue one as best as possible, hand sewing close to the pinks edge.
If you did end up tracing the hearts out, make sure that if any of the pencil showed up to put it on the back of the hearts!

5) Once you've sewn all the blue and pink pairs together, flip them over and pair up one of the triangles with the backs of each of the blue & pink heart pieces and hand sew them on close to the edge of the blue heart. I didn't sew all the way to the top of the triangle (where the pocket opens) to allow for more give--I left just a few mm free.

Set these aside because now we're moving onto the pouch!

Step 3: Zelda Heart Container Pouch

6)Take your main fabric (I'll refer to it as corduroy from now on, for ease) and cut out a rectangle of about 11.5 by 5.5 inches

7)Using the corduroy, cut out 2 pieces of 4.5 by 2 inches for the pockets (to hold the heart pieces

8)Take the large pouch rectangle placing it face down, and fold a quarter of an inch in and then pressing it, going all the way around the fabrics raw edge. Fold these edges inwards again (so the raw edge of the first fold meets this second fold and press in order to get a finished edge.

9) BEFORE sewing down the edges, place the two pockets underneath the hem, one flush with the bottom and the second a little less than a quarter inch above it. I decided to not finish the tops because it made it looked 'weathered', but feel free to finish yours before attaching them. Make sure that each pocket has enough excess fabric underneath the finished edge to be caught and held in place.

10) Use a sewing machine to sew these finished edges down, as close to the edge as possible (the pins in the first picture show a general idea as to where your stitch should be). When you get to the pockets, MAKE SURE they are getting caught in your seam!

11) Once the finished edge is done, sew the bottom of the top pocket down, close to the edge (around where the 2 pins are in the second picture)

Step 4: Adding the Belt Loop

Alright, now for the belt loop!

12) Cut out a piece of corduroy measuring about 4.5 by 2. inches. If you have a smaller belt, make the loop shorter than 4.5.

13) Laying it right-side down, fold over all 4 raw edges, about a quarter to half an inch and sew them down to finish the edge (you don't have to double fold it, because it won't be seen)

14) Place the fabric on top portion of the pouch (above where the pockets are), about 1 7/8 in below the top of the pouch, in the center. I placed it with the shorter edges on top and bottom, but if your belt is thin, place it with the wider edges on the top and bottom. Pin in place.

15) Sew ONLY the top and bottom edges down, leaving the left and right open so a belt can fit though them. Sew as close to the edge as you can(around where the pins are in the second picture) to try and accommodate a variety of belt sizes.

Step 5: Button Closure

In order to figure out the placing of the button, I put the 4 blue/pink heart pieces into the pockets, folded them up so they faced the inside of the pouch and laid against where the belt loop is sewn, making sure that the heart pieces didn't get caught when I folded it up, but also ensuring that there was enough excess fabric at the top for a closure flap.

Take the heart pieces out so they don't get in the way.
I chose to use a shank button, it allowed more give, and would catch the leather latch easier.

16) Center your button about 1 1/4 inch down from what will be the top of the pouch (this is about 1/2 an inch down from the top of the bottom pocket) and HAND sew it on, making sure you don't sew the button to the pocket!

17) Close the pouch and fold over the excess fabric (I had about 3/4 in) flush with the finished edge that is above the button. This is the flap.

18) The length of your leather latch will depend on the type/size of your button, but I used about 2.5 in of the leather cording. Fold your leather cording in half and center the bottom edges on the edge of the flap, aligning it with the location of the button on the opposite part of the pouch. Hold/Pin it in place and make sure it can comfortably slip over and hold onto the button. Trim it as needed to make it a decently snug fit and then machine sew it down, going over it a few times to ensure you have a strong hold.

Step 6: The Heart Container

We're almost done with the pouch! Now we'll make the heart container and the heart that ends up filling it. We'll need the brown and red felt to do this (and the brown piping if you want to do that).

19) Fold the brown felt in half and cut out a heart that is about 4 inches at the widest point, and about 3.5 inches tall (from bottom to inner dip). Depending on how wide your pouch ended up being, your hearts may need to be wider/narrower, so I suggest measuring the width of your pouch before cutting the hearts out.

20) Fold the red felt in half, and cut out a heart of the same size (you can always trim the edges down to make it smaller to allow for a 'border' of the brown heart to show on the final project)

21) If you want, you can use brown piping to create an edge on the brown heart and machine sew it on. An example of how i did this can be seen in the second picture. I pinned the piping onto the heart and then sewed it on, following as close to the edge as possible.

22) Center the brown heart on the inside of the corduroy, in the area above the pockets, but below the 3/4 in top flap that has the leather button loop. Pin down (see picture). Before sewing, flip it over and see if the seam overlaps the belt loop. If it'll still allow your belt to fit, machine sew it down, trying to carefully match up this seam with the one created when you sewed on the pipping (if you did this)--don't sew on the piping.

23) Cut the red heart into four pieces, as seen in the picture

Step 7: Pieces of Heart All Tucked Away

In order for your SO to complete the heart container, the 4 pieces of the red heart will need to go into the back pockets of the blue/pink heart pieces and they'll get one when ever you decide!

24) Take an individual piece of the red heart and fold it so it fits into the back pocket of the heart piece but doesn't show over the top. Repeat for the other 3 red pieces. I tried to go in order from top left rounded part, down to bottom left, continuing counterclockwise, because that's how I remember the heart container filling in Ocarina of Time. It really doesn't matter though.

So now you're done with the pouch!! You keep the 4 heart pieces with the red tucked away and whenever your SO does something nice, cute, considerate, funny, or whatever you decide you give them a piece. when this happens 4 times, they'll have filled up their heart container!! YAY! If you want, you can even give them a special congratulations thing once they finish the heart container--I'm giving mine a beer he likes, but it's up to you ;)

If you want, you can make an aged accompanying guidelines scroll from Navi, or just stick with the heart container pouch! Basic instructions for the scroll follows.

Step 8: Optional Guidelines Scroll From Navi

I used half of an 8.5x11 sheet of white stock as the base for this (folded hot dog style, not hamburger!)

I don't have any pictures of the aging process but I'll try to explain what I did, or you can look up 'coffee staining paper', 'staining paper with tea', 'staining paper with coffee' or a similar variant. Some people soak paper in actual coffee, I probably go the more tedious route and use leftover coffee grounds.

1) Cut a sheet of paper in half, hot dog style

2) Get your leftover coffee ground from the mornings wake-me-up, some water, and matches or a lighter and head outside (this is a messy process!), you may want to wear rubber gloves, though I didn't notice that the coffee stained my hands--just wash them right after you're done staining the paper.

3) Lay the 2 pieces (start with one, and if you mess up or don't like it, do the other one) of paper down on a hard, smooth surface, and take small handfuls of the grounds and spread them onto the paper, smearing, smooshing and massaging the grains into the paper--you should be noticing that the paper is starting to look aged. Continue using small amounts of coffee to stain the paper all over, from edge to edge. I also used a moist tea bag to get a lighter shade, so go ahead and experiment!
--Another option is to use cheap coffee, set out a shallow tray that fits your paper, and pour a thin layer of watered down coffee into the tray and let your paper soak. Just make sure to take the paper out when its a shade or two lighter than what you want because it usually darkens as it dries. If an edge rips, don't despair, just remember, you'll be burning the edges!

4) Once you're happy with the look, let the paper dry a bit before using matches or a lighter to just barely burn the edges of the paper--KEEP water next to you in case it gets out of control. Before it's totally dry, roll the 'scroll' up and tie it so it'll hold it's shape once it dries completely.

5) Let the paper dry completely, unroll it and then use either a black felt tip pen or a calligraphy pen in order to write your message! Mine reads as follows:

Hey, Listen!
(SO NAME)!

Congratulations on your new quest!

I'll be leaving you in the capable hands of (MY NAME), your new fairy companion.

Your goal is to obtain four (4) pieces of heart through various actions & adventures (determined by (MY NAME)) in order to complete your heart container!

GOOD LUCK!
~Navi

Roll it up, tie some leather cording or something similar around it, and give it to that special someone!