Paper Hearts Bunting Tutorial

Hello Blog Friends,

I was playing with paper today and thought you might like to join me.  I have made a string of paper hearts - a kind of bunting. 

It's cheerful and fun; I might save it for the Christmas Tree in December - or I may just use it to decorate the studio.
Anyway, below is a photo tutorial, in case you would like to have a go yourselves. 

Paper Hearts

I was playing with some little coloured paper strips, that I had left over from a bookbinding project.   They're about 7mm (.25") wide.  You could use Quilling Strips, if you have some lying about, which you haven't got a use for!

For each heart, I used two paper strips - one coloured and one in cream paper.  The "inside" strip was about 14.5cm long (about 5.5") and the cream "outside" strip was about 17cm (6.75").   It doesn't matter too much if the lengths vary - you can experiment and use whatever suits you. 

Fold all paper strips in half. 

Apply glue to each end of the coloured strip - on the outside.   Line up the outside of the coloured strip, with the inside end of the cream strip and press together to stick.  Do this with the other end also. 

You will have a sort of "double V" shape, like these.

Now apply glue to the Outside end of the cream strip.  Turn over the ends of the strips and press the cream strips together, as in the picture (you can see that it's already starting to look a bit like a heart)

Spread a little glue along the V-shapes at the centre of each strip (ie, the bottom point of the heart).  Press the coloured and cream strips together, lining up the centre creases.

Now, gently push the centre downwards, to make the double heart shape - as in the photo (you can do this with two hands - I needed one to take the photo!).  Then gently pinch the bottom point together, to stick.

Behold! The finished two-strip paper heart!

 

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You can stop just here, if you want.  One cute paper heart, which you could use to decorate a card or scrapbook page, prop up against your pencil pot, post to a friend....

 

Or you could make lots of them, ready for a string of Heart Bunting...

  

...or just pretty patterns.

You don't have to do the final step either - you can leave the heart open, as I did with the blue one in the photo. 

Or you can use three strips of paper, to make a triple heart, like the orange one here, on the right.

Three different hearts, made with the same paper strips.

 

You could use the hearts by themselves, by adding a hanging strip - made from paper, thread or even ribbon (I know the orange ribbon isn't attached - but it gives you the idea...)

The paper strips don't have to be plain - it's a good way to use up scraps of patterned paper too.

Neither do they have to be small - use strips that are thicker and longer, to get big chunky hearts, for Christmas Tree decorations, party decor etc.

Attach a hanging loop by putting glue on the ends of the strip/ thread/ ribbon, pushing it between the top parts of the heart, then pressing together to secure.

 

Nor does the law say that you must only use paper for your hearts.  These are made from ribbons.  The heart in the top two photos is made from 1cm satin and grosgrain patterned ribbons.  I used both glue and a couple of small stitches to fix it together, with a stitched-in cotton loop for hanging.

 

The pink heart is made from 3mm (v. narrow) satin ribbon, in three shades of pink.  Again, I used glue and stitching to fix it together.  I made the hanging loop from pink cotton embroidery floss, with a matching little tassel stitched onto the bottom point.  You could even attach a jump-ring and make this into a necklace!

 

* * *

 

Making the Bunting String

Decide on an order for your coloured hearts - of course, there is no reason why you should make them all different colours - you could use the same colour(s) for every heart if you wish, to match a colour scheme. 

Red and white would look rather "Skandi" and a bit Christmassy.  Green would also be good for Christmas, or maybe you'd like pink for a little girl's bedroom, or yellow to brighten up a dull corner...  How about Black and Orange, to make a string of spooky hearts, for Halloween?

 

Use a punching mat, offcut of corrugated cardboard, old cereal carton etc and push a needle or awl through the outside paper strip, as shown.  You need two holes per side, positioned so that the thread will go through fairly close to the top of the heart, without interfering with the coloured "inside" strip.

Push the needle through all the holes, then draw the thread through.

Use a small spot of glue, to prevent the hearts sliding along the thread and bunching up.

 

 

 

Thread lots of hearts together, then hang them up! 

 

* * *

 

There you are, a Paper Heart Bunting String - so easy to make, but so pretty!  I'd love to know if you have a go at this project - leave me a message and/or a link to a photo of your own work.