Fluttery Hearts Tutorial

Hi gang! Last week I guest-posted over at Craftionary with a cute little Valentine's Day craft. In case you missed it,  I'm reposting it below.

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I've got a quick and cute garland tutorial for you today. You can do any size, any shape, any color, and it's kid-friendly too! I'm making mine for Valentine's Day, but if something else suits your fancy the same 'rules' still apply (as long as the shape is symmetrical).

You're going to need paper (I'm using scrapbook paper but you can use construction paper, computer paper, tissue paper might even work), a sewing machine or a stapler, and a needle and sturdy thread (I used Perle Cotton #8). If you want to add any embellishments like glitter or stickers or rhinestones grab those too.

Once you have your shape figured out (I'm going with hearts), cut out 4 in varying sizes. I have a stencil that makes this easy, but you can certainly freehand them, or you can find something in Google images.

Stack them up:

Sew them straight down the middle:

OR, if you don't sew or have a sewing machine, simply grab a stapler and click a few down the center:

Then, you take each of the shapes in turn and give them a little fold upwards. This gives them a nice, 3-D fluttery effect.

You can make as many layers as you want, as long as each is a different size. If you're using plain white paper you can pretty them up a bit with stickers or whatever else would work. Once you've got them all made, take a needle and a piece of string long enough to suit your needs - simply stick the needle under the stitches or through the staple loop on the back.

 

String them all up and hang your sweet little garland wherever you need a little brightening. We have a dark hutchy-shelf thing in the kitchen (can you tell I don't write an interior design blog? haha) that does well with a little bit of color in front of it, so I thumbtacked it up there. It looks simple and sweet, and not overbearing and obnoxiously Valentiney:

And I need you to have a better view of those polka dot flowers, just because:

Red and white polka dots are my favorite, followed closely by yellow and white. I'm afraid I made an unattractive grunt-of-excitement noise when I saw these for $1.00 in Michael's last week.

So that's that! Back soon, lovelies!