I am a frugal crafter to say the least and I hate to throw away any scraps left from a project. I am constantly looking for ways to use up even the smallest pieces left over. Hopefully this project will show you that what you once thought was scraps can be transformed into something beautiful.

Step 1: Initial Project

The scraps in this project were generated from a Christmas Pennant Banner. I had a group of very cute owl gift tags that I did not want tossed in the trash after being attached to a gift. I used a discarded book to make the pennants and was left with the remainder of the page for scraps.

To make the 3D Scrap Garlands you will need some additional basic supplies.

Materials needed:

Scrap paper from previous project
Sewing Machine
Thread
Paper Punches (I used various sized hearts)
Ink pads in one color family
Baby wipes
Narrow Ribbon

Step 2: Divide the Paper Scraps

Pull out some of the paper scraps with words on them for the Large Heart 3D Garland. You will need enough scraps to make 12-15 hearts.

Punch out the hearts from the section of the scraps where the heart will have words across most of the heart.

Step 3: Coloring the Left Over Paper

You will color the remaining paper scraps using the following method.

Select your ink pads in the color scheme of your choice. (I used reds and pinks in various shades)
Swipe a wet baby wipe across the ink pad.
Dab or swipe the baby wipe onto the paper allowing the ink to transfer to the paper.
Repeat the process for both sides of the scrap pages.

Step 4: Cutting Out the Hearts

Using various size paper punches cut out as many hearts from the colored scraps as you can. The length of your garlands will be determined by the number of scraps you have and the number of punches you can create.

By using various sizes you can get more shapes from your scraps.

Stack the shape punches by sizes.

Step 5: Large Heart 3D Garland

This garland is created by using the uncolored large hearts you punched from the scraps and small colored hearts.

Stack your hearts by size next to your sewing machine.
Pull your threads out about 8-10 inches to create a beginning tail for the garland.
Take a large heart and stack on the front and back two small hearts directly in the center of the large heart.
Put the group of hearts close to the pressure foot of the machine.
Place a 10" length of narrow ribbon at the top of the large heart in the center point.
Stitch down the center of all the stacked hearts using a medium length stitch. Backstitch to secure the ribbon.
Sew 3-5 stitches off the end of the large heart.
Place another set of hearts under the pressure foot leaving a small gap between the large hearts.
Continue this pattern until all of the uncolored large hearts are gone.
On the last heart place another 10" length of ribbon at the base of the heart and stitch. Be sure to backstitch and secure the ribbon to the heart.
Pull the threads out about 8 - 10 inches to create an ending tail.
Tie off the threads on each end of the garland to secure the stitching. Clip the left over threads.

See the end of the tutorial to find out how to make the garland 3 Dimensional.

Step 6: The Alternating Stacked 3D Heart Garland

This garland is created by alternating a set of large colored hearts and then a set of small colored hearts. You will only be using the colored hearts for this garland.

Take 3 large hearts and stack them on top of each other putting the heart with words in the middle.
Take 3 small hearts and stack them together again placing the heart with words in the middle.
Continue to make stacks of three until all the hearts are used.
At the sewing machine pull out your threads about 8 - 10 inches to create a beginning tail for the garland.
Take a set of large hearts and slip a 10" piece of ribbon between the middle heart and the bottom heart at the top.

Step 7: Stitching the Hearts

Place the set of large hearts with the ribbon slipped in the top under the pressure foot of the sewing machine.
Use a medium length straight stitch and sew down the center of the hearts. Be sure to backstitch at the beginning to secure the ribbon.
Sew 3 - 5 stiches off the end of the hearts.
Place a group of the small hearts under the pressure foot leaving a small gap between the large hearts and the small hearts.
Stitch down the center of the small hearts.
Continue alternating the large and small heart groups until all the hearts are gone. Be sure to end the garland with a set of large hearts.
In the last large heart grouping slip another 10" length of ribbon between the middle and bottom hearts at the base of the hearts.
Stitch the hearts together and backstitch to secure the ribbon.
Pull the threads out about 8 - 10 inches to create an ending tail.
Tie off the threads on each end of the garland to secure the stitching. Clip the remaining threads.

Step 8: Adding the 3D Effect

On each group of stacked hearts do the following:

Gently pull up the sides of the top heart to create a slight fold at the stitching line.
Leave the center heart alone
Take the back heart and pull up gently on each side to create a slight fold at the stitching line.
Your heart group should now be three dimensional.
Be sure not to fold the pieces back and forth or you will tear the heart sections apart.

Enjoy your new heart garlands made from the scraps of another project.