diy heart garland

heart garland diy

hi friends!  just wanted to share a teeny tutorial with you, in case you have a corner of your house that needs a little brightening up!  paper projects are one of my favorites because they are cheap and you can whip one up in a quick minute.  then you can pull it off the wall when you need a change. 

i love to find unique papers to use for my projects.  i have a huge collection of scrapbook paper and even just colored copy paper makes up a big part of my stash.  but i LOVE to buy old books and use the paper inside, too.  our library book sale is the perfect place to buy maps, sheet music, nature books that are perfect for cutting up and making projects with.  they only cost a buck or two and have an antiqued, faded look i love!  some people are uncomfortable ripping up something old (like this book of sheet music from 1914!!!!) but hey, if it's falling apart anyway- might as well give it a little longer life with a project or two. 

 

Start with some paper- maybe 4 sheets of each type of heart you'd like to end up with.  I chose pages from some old books; maps and violin music. I am going to make a heart garland with 12 hearts of 2 different sizes.

 Cut your pages into strips (paper cutter would help a bunch!!) an inch wide. You'll need 12 ten inch strips, 12 eight inch strips and 6 six inch strips all from the same type of paper. For your other paper, you'll need 12 nine inch strips, 12 seven inch strips and 6 five inch strips. (Whew- does that even make sense at all??I just have a big stack of strips and I count out twelve and cut those down. Whatever extra strips I'm left with I throw in my one-day-I'll-need-this-strip-of-paper-for-a-random-project box. ) You should have piles as shown below.  On your short strips (the six and five inchers, punch a hole in the top for hanging.  Easier to do this now.)

 To make your heart, stack your strips in this order:  one long, one medium, one short, one medium and one long.  They should all be in a stack with the little one sandwiched in the middle.  Set them down on a table so the ends are all lined up and staple at the bottom.  Then, take your medium and your long from one side and loop them over to create your heart shape.  Do the same on the other size, making sure they look matching and staple in the middle of your heart.  See where my fingers are pinching?  Staple there. 

 Once you have all your hearts made, string them onto a piece of yarn or embroidery thread or twine.  Anything!  See how mine alternate?  Total cuteness. 

So there ya go.  A little instant perk up for your walls.

And pardon the wacky tutorial.  I tried to write the steps while the chicks were sleeping.  And a certain little someone got out of bed 8 times to use the potty!?!?!? Holy smokes- off to check to see if we have any toilet paper left. Doubt it.