My kids love to do crafts and so do I. Crafts are such a great way to spend time together using creativity, making something useful, and just having fun! This Valentine’s Day craft is for making your own paper strip heart garland which you can then use to decorate your classroom or home and get into the Valentine’s Day mood. I include step by step directions for the paper hearts as well as photos. I also share a video to show you how to make a paper heart chain. Creating a paper heart chain is a simple and festive way to decorate for Valentine’s Day or any other occasion celebrating love.
Heart Paper Chain Craft Tutorial
This paper heart chain craft is fun for making vertical hanging decorations and you can embellish those with a final large heart. You can also use the paper heart chains to hang horizontally across doorways as more of a heart garland swag.
As an eco-friendly bonus, by making homemade Valentine’s Day garland, you can eliminate the packaging waste, use as many eco-friendly supplies as possible, and only make what you need.
Supplies:
- stapler
- ribbon or string
- scissors
- construction paper (or other thick paper such as scrapbook paper)
- hole punch
- markers
- ruler
How To Make A Paper Heart Chain
Take your construction paper and cut into shorter strips. For example, if your construction paper measures 9″ by 12″, you can measure out and mark inch intervals up the long side of the page and you will end up with 12, 9 inch strips of paper. You can use all one color paper or can even chose a mix of colors and make a rainbow heart paper chain.
The paper heart chains can be hung vertically or horizontally as more of a swag garland. First, I will give you directions for making paper heart chains meant to hang vertically. Then, if you want to hang them horizontally, all you will need to do is add more heart links to make your paper chain longer, and leave off the final larger heart shape decoration.
Vertical Paper Heart Garland Directions:
You can make your Valentine paper heart chain any length you want. However, I suggest you start with estimating about 10 paper strips per heart garland and then you can add a few extra or leave a few off if you want your garlands to be of varying sizes.
Cut a few 18 inch lengths of ribbons to hang your heart garlands from the ceiling.
Now that you have your strips and ribbon ready, you can begin to create the garland. Take your first strip of paper and shaping it so that it almost makes a circle then push both ends into the circle so that they overlap and staple. (Above photo.) Then fold bottom circular part to create a point for the bottom of the heart. (Below photo)
That was the hardest part. Next, fold each strip of paper in half and insert the bottom of the heart garland and staple. (Photo below.)
Then fold down the two ends of the strip to create the bottom of the heart garland again. You will repeat that process of adding another strip to the bottom of the heart garland, stapling, and creating another heart in the chain over and over for about 10 hearts. There is a video below if you need any clarification on how to fold the hearts to make the paper chain links.
On the final heart link you can use a hole punch and a ribbon to attach a larger construction paper heart that your child has decorated with a marker and a fun Valentine’s Day message. These make really cute homemade paper heart decorations that you can customize with sweet messages and love sayings.
Conclusion
If you find it helpful, I also have included a video with a full tutorial on how to make paper heart chain below:
Creating a heart chain is a fun and easy craft activity that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Whether you’re decorating for a Valentine’s Day party or simply adding a touch of love to your home, a paper heart chain is sure to brighten up any space! I hope you enjoy this fun paper Valentine’s Day craft and that your vertical heart garlands come in handy for decorating this Valentines Day. Do you think you will give this fun craft a try? How many heart paper chains will you make?
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DIY Valentines Day Garland With Felt Hearts And Pom Poms
Wilson says
This chain of hearts looks so great, suitable to make it with my daughter. Thank you
Ice Cream n Sticky Fingers says
I love this idea. It is perfect for hanging on the fireplace or along the edge of the bar. I’ll have to make these paper chain hearts with my son next year.
Caroline says
I have never seen one of these heart chains before and I absolutely love it. Going to decorate with these at home and at the cafe.
Thanks for sharing how to make a paper chain of hearts!
Dyana says
Really easy but awesome design for these folded paper heart chain craft project.