Paper Heart Window Hangings

I think it's obvious by now that I like to decorate for holidays, particularly with deco polymesh wreaths.  Unfortunately, I don't have room to store a wreath for every holiday and had to find some other way to decorate for Valentine's Day.  Luckily, Pinterest delivered as usual.  I fell in love with this paper heart garland and decided to adapt it to what I wanted.

Want to know how I did it?  Read on.


What you need:

• Paper - I used construction paper since that's what I had around, but you could get fancy with scrapbook paper or even recycle by using old newspaper.
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Stapler

First, you're going to use your ruler to measure out the strips of paper you'll use to create the hearts.  You can choose any width, but thicker is better in my opinion (I chose 1 inch).  Mark off your width on each end, draw a line to cut along using the ruler, then cut out your strips.

Next you're going to cut your strips so you'll have pairs of different lengths.  I used 2 inch increments, so I had a pair of 12 inch, 10 inch, 8 inch, and 6 inch strips for a total of 8 strips.  You should also have an extra 12 inch strip to use as the middle (not pictured).

Make two stacks of strips using one strip of each length from longest to shortest.

Fold your extra 12 inch strip in half.  Now you're going to make a giant stack of strips.  Start with one of your original stacks (longest strip to the right).  Add the folded strip(folded end up) next, but only allow it to overlap the stack lengthwise by about 1.5 - 2 inches (this will be where you attach all your strips and also serve as a loop for hanging).  Now add your second stack of strips (longest strip to the left) and make it even with the first stack.  Here is how mine looked (I used a clip to hold them together for picture purposes).

Staple your strips in place.  I typically use two lengthwise staples as close to the bottom of my multi-length stacks as possible.

Pull each strip down to meet the bottom of your folded middle strip and hold in place.  It should start to look like a layered heart.  If it doesn't, you may need to made some adjustments (like trimming the bottom of the folded middle strip) until you're happy with how it looks.  Once you have all your strips pulled down and in place, staple them twice width wise as the bottom.  All done!

There are a ton of ways to use these.  You can make different sizes and hang them from a string for a garland, hang them individually from the ceiling, or hang several large ones end to end in your window.  Voila!  Your space is all ready for Valentine's Day!