Oversized Paper Heart Chain

I’m baaack from three conferences last week and I can’t wait to tell you more about it.

But in the meantime… I came up with this oversized paper heart chain, which would be perfect to hang from a door or an entryway. I had to add some arrows in to act as support so it would retain its shape, and it worked pretty well. Let me show you how to do it ombre style.

Scroll down for the full tutorial!

Materials:

Photography by Trisha Zemp

I got inspired by some cute paper heart chains I’ve spotted on the interwebs (like this one from Trendenser) and of course, I wanted to try and make it huge like I do everything else.

DIY oversized paper heart chain

Materials:

Canson art paper (learn how to ombre it here)
paper wrapped wire (order some here)
white crepe paper to wrap around the wire
black paper
glue gun
hole punch
craft knife

Instructions:

To make the heart strips:

Ombre your paper (learn how to do it here)
Cut it into strips 1 1/2″ strips
You will hole punch two sets of papers per heart. The first strip: punch about 1/2″ from one end and then about 8″ from there. The second strip, punch 1/2″ from the end and then 8″ from the other end.

To make the arrows:

Cut a piece of crepe paper about 3/4″ inch strips going against the grain and wrap it around the wire. Use glue to secure it at both ends.
Cut out arrow tips out of black paper.

To form the heart:

Glue two strips together at the end (the ends without the holes) and glue another set of strips together. This last one will form the second heart.
Glue the ends of the first set of strips onto the outside of the tips of the second heart shape.
Bore a hole at the point of the first heart. I used a craft knife here.
Repeat until you have the amount of hearts you would like on your garland.

TIP: You will want to trade off which way the arrow points (for balance) so make sure to switch off which way the holes face.