How to Make a Heart Garland for Valentine’s Day! Very Pretty!!
Well, I decided to also make a tutorial for V-Day that is just not as racey. This is a lovely tutorial, quick, cheap, can involve the children if you wish, easy, pretty, fun. What more could you want?
A lot of people have been asking me lately where I get my ideas from for the site? Well, the question is where don’t I get them from? Friends who are artists, my own ideas based on crafts I have made, a lot of things are adaptations of objects and decor seen in magazine. The copious amount of time I spend in thrift stores hunting through old craft books also fills my mind with ideas. Also, nature. Whenever I am outdoors I seem to have a lot more ideas come to me than when I am at home in front of this computer screen (I nearly wrote ’scream’ just then, maybe a Freudian slip or maybe just time for a new computer). Hope this is helpful. This particular garland I saw in a paper shop some time ago and it must have been running around in my head because I just worked out how to make it.
Anyway, on with this sweet and lovely tutorial….
Ingredients
- About four or five sheets of paper. Or just use whatever scraps of paper you have if you are anything like me and you keep every little bit of paper that you are given because you just hate waste.
- 2 love heart cut-outs
- Cardboard
- Baking Paper (has to have at least one side that is not waxy and slippery).
- Pink or Red Thread (or whatever colour you choose)
- Little bits of ribbon, lace, rickrack
- Scissors
- Sewing Machine (although you could also sew these by hand if you can be bothered)
Step 1
I Googled the words ‘heart shape’. I then found a heart shape I liked and printed it. Since I wanted two sizes, I put the image into photoshop and changed the size. Of course, it is easy to find heart images. You can trace old cards, draw and make your own etc. When you have drawn and cut out the two different sized heart shapes, cut them out and glue them to cardboard. Then cut the cardboard to make two templates, one little and one larger. I made the original templates myself.Then, take the sheets of paper, turn them over and ask your children to trace around the hearts and then cut them out. While Milly did this, I started to do the sewing.I used twenty hearts for one galrland, but you can make it as long as you like. Use one hundred if you want.
(cut-out hearts ready to be sewn)
Step 2
Take the baking paper and break it in half length-wise (unless your hearts are really large). You will only need half the width.Set up your sewing machine and then place a larger heart about two inches from the top of the paper. Start to sew at the top of the paper and sew through the middle of the first heart.Continue to sew on the paper for two inches then place a smaller heart on the paper and sew through the middle of it.When I used a piece of plain paper, I cut a small piece of lace or ribbon, folded it, placed it in the middle of the heart and sewed over it (look at the purple ribbon in the photo below).
Step 3
When you have sewn four or five hearts onto the baking paper you will reach the end of the paper. When you are near the bottom of the paper, tuck another sheet under the first and continue to sew. Don’t forget to leave a space of about two inches between the hearts.
Continue making the chain until you have used all the hearts.
(A photo of the hearts all sewn onto the baking paper)
Step 4
Take the paper and gently tear it away from the hearts. Take your time doing this.And Ta -Da! Then you are left with a lovely heart garland. Isn’t that so cool that they remain sewn together? I thought that was quite clever really, well, actually I thought I was quite clever, to be honest.
Hang your garland wherever you like. I hung it on our bookshelf. If your child is keen you could even teach her how to sew them together. Milly was as happy as Larry doing this because she was busy cutting out hearts until the end.
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Owhhhhh I have something big coming up around valentines day and this would be a good idea. Thanks!!!
Wow this tutorial and the panties one are exellent! I’m linking to them from my “how to” links page, definately!
Glad you like them. We are just having a lot of fun over here, making stuff.
Genius! I never would have thought to try that with the sewing machine. Love it! Thanks for the tutorial. I’m going to garland everything now.
How CUTE is that!! Thanks so much for the inspiration!
Forgot to add in the tut. You could also sew through the hearts sideways and then hang them like that, lovely. You could hang them up in a pretty tree somewhere.
Mia
that is just brilliant!
and cute tooo
thanks for the idea
i’ve done something similar with snowflakes and dia de los muertos cards but glued them back to back on string. i think this would save you from throwing away a lot of baking paper.
[...] Are your kids itching to use your sewing machine and start creating masterpieces? Maria from One Hour Craft has posted a tutorial on how to teach your kids to sew the easiest and safest way. Perhaps after they have mastered the machine, you could set them to sewing a Valentine’s garland. [...]
Very, very clever! I love it! I’ve seen these are craft fairs and always wondered how they went from one shape (usually circles) to the next. The freezer paper is the perfect solution!
I made one today, but out of fabric
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62cherry/376258562/in/photostream/
Thanks girls
brilliant. i love love love this.
i will post my results on flickr asap.
thank you for this !!!
Too cute! I’ve been looking for some fun, easy Valentines Day crafts.
Gorgeous idea thankyou Mia – and Justine I love your fabric heart garland!
Just arrived via Not Martha. This is a great idea! Can’t wait to check out all the other ones you’ve posted, too! Looks like a craft wonderland!
Justine i love love love the fabric you used. It is so superfunky and cool. It made me happy to see it!
Mia
Great idea!! We made one this evening. We decorated 5 hearts, one for each family member and it looks wonderful!! Thank you!!
ohhhhhhhhhhhh great !!!!!!! I love this garland.
I made one and you can see on my blog
http://lesbroderiesdeyayie.over-blog.com/article-5508173.html
thank you !!!!!!
Oh thank you for the instructions for sewing the garland!! I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time but never knew how to make a “thread chain” (my words). I’ve tried gluing things onto a single thread – didn’t work. Threading – too time consuming. I thought I had to have a serger to do this. Now off to make a nubbly silk bird garland…
This is a lovely craft, so perfect to do with kids! We tried this last night, and sewed ours onto a strip of ribbon, so we didn’t need to use the freezer paper.
Just found your site via Kiddley. I love this idea. Thanks so much for the tutorial. I’m making some today!
Yayie,
Je trouve ton garland tres joli! Merci de rendre visite a notre blog.
Mia
Cool! kabababrubarta
Hi Maria,
I’m affa, a writer and editor from China. At present, I’m writing and editing a book ” Slow handicraft : 60 handmade creators and D.I.Y hot tips ” which will be published by China Light Industry Press.
From craftzine.com, I found your handmade artworks are so interesting…
So I would like to know whether you’re interested in having an interview , which you could share your mind about craft, and choose one of your fantasy handmade works to introduce how to make it step by step, and give some useful tips to all those handmade fans, sharing something funny, happy and special. And I would put these in my book, the coverage maybe 2-4 pages.
Hope for your kindly feedback soon…
I would like to send more information about this interview to you ,please reply me by email, thanks.
affa
[...] A quick tutorial for sewing together a paper banner with the help of backing paper at One Hour Craft. [...]
[...] time I made a paper garland like this was for Valentine’s Day. I found a tutorial here at One Hour Craft for the project, made it and LOVED it. So recently I thought, I have this awesome star die cut, so [...]
Hi!
So lovely!
Thanks for the tutorial
These are look great. I like to make mine from fabric, without using paper backing. Will have to try some card ones. Thanks
[...] Herz-Deko [...]
Fabulous, I’ve been wanting to make a paper garland for ages.
Now I know how!
Great tutorial, well designed and delivered.
At a guess I would say you’re a teacher, and if not you are now.
Thank you.
[...] Make a valentine garland from old cards, colored paper or felt, or sew one from [...]