Make your space feel extra sweet this Valentine’s Day with these paper strip hearts! They’re a delightful classroom activity to make and display, and a charming way to add a handmade touch to seasonal decor — no fancy supplies or tricky steps required.
Hang them as cheerful window decorations, string them into a heart garland, or tie them to a gift for that special someone. However you use them, these paper hearts are bound to bring smiles all around!
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How to Make Paper Strip Hearts
Materials:
Equipment:
- Scissors (or craft knife)
Watch the step-by-step video tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Cut the paper strips
- Gather 4 shades of pink and/or red cardstock. We used light pink, medium pink, dark pink, and wine red.
- Cut 8 strips of paper (2 in each colour) to be 1 inch wide and the following lengths:Darkest colour (wine red): 4 inches longSecond darkest colour (dark pink): 5-1/2 inches longSecond lightest colour (medium pink): 7 inches longLightest colour (light pink): 8-1/2 inches long
Step 3: Connect the paper strips
- Stack 1 of each paper strip in order by length from longest on the bottom to shortest on the top.Add a paper clip to one end to keep the short edges at that end lined up.
- Line up the ends of the paper strips that aren’t paper clipped together.Start by pulling the end of the 4 inch strip up to the end of the 5-1/2 inch strip. Bring both up to the next longest. Then bring all 3 up to the end of the last strip.
- The paper strips should naturally have formed a rainbow shape. Add a paper clip to this end to keep these ends together. This makes half of the heart.
- Repeat these steps to make the second half of the heart.
Step 4: Add twine and put the heart together
- Cut an 8 to 10 inch piece of twine. Fold it in half and tie the ends together in a knot. This creates a loop to hang the paper strip heart.
- Place the twine hanger on one side of a paper bundle. Hold the paper strips together as you remove the paper clip near the knot.
- Place the other paper strip bundle on top of the twine loop. Line up the short edges of the paper strips.
- Remove the paper clip from the end of this bundle and staple the bundles together. Make sure to include the twine in the middle when stapling.
- Grab the remaining 2 paper clipped ends and bring them together below the stapled section.
- Remove the paper clips and staple the paper strips together.
- Your paper strip heart is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- For wider paper hearts, make each paper strip length 1 inch shorter or longer than the next, instead of 1-1/2 inches. Experiment with different lengths to create different sizes of paper strip hearts.
- You can use different colours than the ones we chose for this craft. Make your hearts in different shades of red, pink, or purple. Or you can even make rainbow hearts in celebration of Pride month.
What type of paper is best for this paper strip heart craft?
We used cardstock because we like the sturdiness of it, and it holds its shape well. But you can also make paper hearts from coloured printer paper, construction paper, scrapbook paper, or even thin craft foam.
Can I use more paper strips to make my paper hearts?
Yes! You can make paper strip hearts with more strips of paper, or make smaller ones with fewer strips. Just remember to make each new colour a consistent amount shorter or longer than the next.
How do I change the size of my paper strip heart?
This craft is super easy to make in different sizes. To change the size of your paper heart craft, simply adjust the size of your paper strips.
If you want your paper strip heart to be bigger, you’ll need longer strips. If you want it to be smaller, you’ll need shorter strips.
You might also want to change the width of your paper strips when changing the overall size. A smaller heart may look good with paper strips that are only 1/4 or 1/2 inch wide, while a larger paper strip heart would look good with strips that are 2 inches thick.
This Valentine’s Day craft is such an easy and creative way to bring a little love to any space!
Hang your paper strip hearts from door handles, arrange them in a shadow box to hang on your wall, or suspend them from the ceiling for a playful touch. Wherever you place them you’ll definitely fall head over heels for these paper heart decorations.
Here’s even more paper heart craft ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy, and importantly low mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
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