How to Make a Paper Heart Garland for Valentines Day {Sewing}

This year for Valentines Day I wanted to do something different.

So I made a non-traditional paper heart garland for my mantle.

I chose to use, again non-traditional, different shades of orange, purple, pink and green. 

Simple to make with only a few supplies.

All I used was...

colored thread

string

used book pages

printed or colored paper

cookie cutter

scissors

spray adhesive {or glue}

sewing machine {optional}

1.  I started by ripping pages out of a used book.  I couldn't bear to part with one of mine so I found an old romance novel at a local thrift store for .99 cents.  I ripped both edges and bottom of my pages as well.

2.  Then I sewed together two pages to each other using bright colored thread.  For my garland I made eleven of these.  I had a few different colors of thread and mixed them up by using each on a few different pages as well.  I sewed around each page twice while trying not to sew a perfect line.  After sewing for many years, this was the challenging part!  I really wanted them to be perfect and straight.

3.  Then I connected all of my pages together into a garland by sewing a long continuous string to the back of each page on top.  I used a zigzag stitch and pink thread  You see the zigzag stitch on the front but you only see the string in between each page.  Make sure to leave extra string at each end in case you end up tying your garland somewhere.  NOTE~ If you do not have a sewing machine you could do this by hand or just glue the two pages together, and attach the string on top with glue too, and use a thin marker for the stitching lines.

4.  Finally I made my paper hearts by using a cookie cutter for the shape and cutting them out of different colored/patterned paper.  I then attached them into the middle of each book page with a spray on adhesive.  NOTE~ You could use a glue stick or other type of glue.  The spray adhesive is easy, I had it on hand, and it does not wrinkle the paper.

Of course I had to have a little fun and use the page from chapter 14 just for Valentines Day!

I didn't worry about placement of hearts since I wanted it to look scrappy.

This technique would be cute to make as Valentines Day cards as well!

This garland would be cute cut in any basic shape for any other holiday too!

You are really only limited by your imagination, so have fun!

SO tell me... What shape and/or color combination would you do?

From My Heart to Yours ~ Happy Heart Day!