Make Paper Strip Hearts
02/03/2021
The heart shape is a traditional and enduring symbol of love when celebrating Valentine’s Day. Why not display a beautiful heart with creativity in your home starting this week with this easy to make eye-catching version using easy to cut paper strips and a stapler? That’s all you need to make memories, while you craft lots of fun with your family.
Grab some pink, red and white construction paper or other colorful paper with or without designs that fits your vision for hearts, and enjoy this messless paper craft activity with your school-age kids. Your preschooler can also lend a hand, when you make it together.
Here’s the stuff you’ll need:
–3 sheets of construction paper in three different colors (I chose white, dark pink and a light shade of pink for these directions.)
–ruler
–pencil
–scissors
–paper cutter (optional)
–stapler
–glue (optional)
–thread or fishing line for hanging (optional)
Here’s the fun:
1. For each heart with the colors I used, measure, mark with a pencil and cut with scissors or a paper cutter:
2 strips of white construction paper, 1 inch by 3 inches
2 strips of dark pink construction paper, 1 inch by 5 inches
2 strips of light pink construction paper, 1 inch by 7 inches
2. Pile the 6 strips, starting with one white short strip, one dark-pink strip, two light pink strips, the second dark pink strip and end with the one short white strip on top. They should be evenly stacked up at one end. Carefully staple this 1-inch-wide stack about 1/4 inch from the even end.
3. Bring the loose ends of the white strips away from the pile (and over the staple) to form a heart shape. Hold with one hand as you pull back the light pink strips and then the dark pink strips in the same manner.
Staple the six strips together near the pointed end of the heart.
Bend paper near the staple to spread out the sides.
4. Tie or glue twine or thin ribbon to the heart and hang in a window, from a lamp or other fixture in your home. It can be used as a clever gift-tag decoration, too.
If you make more, string several in different sizes vertically with fishing line and hang from a hook attached to the ceiling or by a window and watch it move freely with the air.
Share with friends!
You might also like:
Decorate Mini Notebooks For A Mom’s Day Gift
Think of all the times you need a little notebook: to jot down an inspiring quote, the name of a must-see movie, an appointment and all things in between. But wait; it’s 2021. Isn’t that what memo apps on phones are for? Where reminders and inspirational “aha” moments go up to the Cloud and back…
Traditional-Look Silhouettes With Photos
Remember back in your kindergarten days, making large shadow silhouettes on black construction paper for a one-of-a-kind Mother’s Day gift? Next to small handprints pressed into a round of plaster of Paris, silhouettes rank high on the list of personalized gifts Mom expects to receive sometime along the road of motherhood. To keep with tradition,…
Gardening Kit In A Clay Pot
A first-grade teacher does a project with her class where she gives each student a bag of “mystery seeds” to plant. With no idea what they are, the kids can only guess at the right soil and the best amount of water and sun. Then they watch them sprout and grow.Isn’t being a parent kind…
Make and Decorate Easy Bunny Balloons
What is the difference between a bunny and a rabbit? And, just as perplexing, what is a bunny rabbit?To California artist Ivy Chew, whether you call them “bunnies,” “rabbits” or “bunny rabbits, they’re the inspiration for her charming “Rabbit Run” series of archival ink and colored pencil art where her imagination takes us into the…
Decorate Easter Eggs Five Creative Ways
Hop to it! Easter is on its way. Here are some Easter egg-y ideas that are real kid-pleasers. For the first three, all you need are hard-cooked white eggs, prepared decorating dyes in small bowls and a variety of household items.RUBBER-BAND TIE-DYEWind two or three rubber bands of various widths snuggly around egg. Dye the…
Spring Bouquet With Branches That Sprout Pom-Pom “Blooms”
The first signs of spring are everywhere. Maybe you are noting them on your family calendar with your kids. Crocuses and daffodils poking up through dry leaves and songs of returning birds. Even in places where there aren’t mittens and woolen hats to put away, the first, fresh spring breezes and longer days of sunshine…
Shake and Decorate an “Egg Plant”
Shake and decorate hollowed-out Easter eggs, then save them as keepsakes to display from year to year as a whimsical “egg plant” centerpiece. The lovely eggs, together with other favorites, can be “blooming” out of a pretty Easter basket, a medium-size flowerpot or several mini containers lined down the center of your table or along…
“Character” Egg-Decorating For Families
Which came first – the chicken or the egg? Well, for many families at this time of year, there’s no doubt. Eggs rule! While the kids are busy mixing, dipping and dying Easter eggs, rescue a few from the frenzy and decorate them together to fit each child’s personality, interest or something special you share…
“Spongeware”-Look Decorated Easter Eggs
When Easter is near, eggs of all colors and designs brighten our homes. We like to try a variety of egg-decorating techniques, from the easy commercial dyes in a tablet to experimenting with natural dyes that we concoct with onion skins, tea and berries.Many of the artistic memories live on in egg cartons stored away…
Decorate Easter Eggs With Natural Dyes And Designs
Bring back the past by dying your Easter eggs the way it used to be done – with natural items straight from the kitchen and garden.Here’s what you’ll need:–Hard-boiled eggs or blown eggs (see below for how to blow eggs)–Nontoxic, safe food items such as blueberries or red cabbage leaves for blue, walnut shells, tea…
- « Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next »
DONNA ERICKSON
