Saturday 23 August 2014

D.I.Y Paper Heart Garland Tutorial



Two things I need to say before this post: 1. I realise not everyone will like Wiggles Themed ideas (please use your imagination to think of something you would like) 2. This is home handicraft idea and therefore it has that certain homemade "je ne sais quoi" (looks like a 5 year old made it) to it! Just go with it...




This idea is one of those mishmash ones that is inspired partly by real life, partly from Instagram and partly something I made up in my head! What I have done could be adapted to many different ways using different materials, but the idea is the same. The possibilities are endless and I can already think of another way of doing this!



For ages I've wanted to make or use some bunting in my son's bedroom. Without having a sewing machine, I'm pretty limited to what I can make. The options are really only something made of paper. At a friends baby shower a few months ago I saw some really amazing paper bunting (see here and I will do another post on this soon!). This idea has sort of been floating around my head for ages until I saw a picture of some heart garlands on @shara_made's Instagram recently. I knew I could make something like that and while I was cleaning out a few drawers I saw some Wiggles magazines and Voila! Paper Heart Garland. 

Big time Wiggles Fan lives here!

Like I said, you could use a variety of materials for this garland. I have used these particular ones because I was going for a kid-friendly look. I think you need to use quite a stiff paper for the heart to hold it's shape, but at a pinch you could probably use newspaper or fabric. Also, you could probably adapt another shape, say a circle, but I like the hearts :D



Materials

Shape template (I googled "heart shape" and then printed a shape I liked and drew onto cardboard)
Paper, old magazines, fabric or newspaper
Yarn, Ribbon or string
Scissors 
Pen or pencil for tracing
Double sided tape, glue or gluestick (tape is the least messy option!)

Method

Step 1:
Make your template. Trace your shape onto some card and cut out. I made two templates just in case.



Step 2:
Cut out your shapes. Cut out as many as you want, you will need them to be in groups of three. I cut out 60 shapes for 20 garlands. 



Step 3:
Make your heart garlands. Put a small piece of double-sided tape on the same side of each heart. Join together one at a time until all three shapes are joined in a circle. Complete this step until you have used up all your shapes



Step 4:
Cut off a length of yarn/ribbon/string. It can be any length, depending on how long you want your garland to be and the space between each garland, plus extra for the ends and tying. 



Step 5:
Thread all of your shape garlands onto the yarn, try to make sure that they are all facing the same way. 

Step 6:
Working with one garland at a time, tie at knot at one end right next to the garland. On the other side of the garland tie another knot to secure. The knots can be tied as if you are tying off a balloon, pull tight. Repeat until all garlands are secured with a knot each side. Its hard to see the knots, but they are like little loops on either side of the garland. Any kind of knot would work. 



Step 7: 
Hang! 



I couldn't get very good photos here as it was REALLY sunny in my boy's room! Also my cat insisted in photobombing big time (Hello Poppi!) As well as stringing across, you could have the garland hanging down vertically instead. This is where the knots work really well as they help to hold the garlands in place. I quite like it vertical! Looks like some kind of crazy vine!


I think I kind of prefer it this way, and I've left it hanging down like this. Also, it doesn't get in the way of the blinds when they go down. I hope you've enjoyed this simple little craft. I've got a few other ideas up my sleeve, so watch this space! 


I'm linking this post in with The Sits Girls Saturday Sharefest AND Leonie for Show & Tell. Be sure to have a look at other bloggers also linking in this weekend! 


 Show & Tell Thursday's

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