Weaving Paper Hearts

by childmade

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Intro: Weaving Paper Hearts

These woven hearts are made from various prints of card stock and have a lovely pattern and texture.  If you don't have a selection of card stock available, pages from magazines are a great alternative.

They work wonderfully as-is on a lovely Valentine's day card, or glued onto a toothpick as a cupcake pick.  They also make a wonderful finish for a jewelry pendant or charm.  The size can easily be adjusted for your purposes.

STEP 1: Cut Strips

The weaving is very simple. Just cut a bunch of narrow strips of mixed colors of paper, about 1/8" wide, then begin weaving them together.

STEP 2: Weave Strips

Intersperse the colors randomly to give it a mixed tone. While adding strips of paper, use a fingernail to tighten the weave. When the desired size is reached,secure the back with some clear tape to keep the outer strips from loosening.

STEP 3: Template

Next, turn the weave over and trace a heart shape onto the back.

STEP 4: Cut

Carefully cut the heart from the weave. Having the back taped really helps keep the weave tight.

STEP 5: Full

And there you have your finished heart!

STEP 6: Partial

You can create a "fringed" effect by making a smaller weave, and cutting the heart at an angle, leaving the edges of the heart loose and rough.

STEP 7: Finished

There you have it!  Simple, quick, and inexpensive.

To see more of my original tutorials, visit http://childmadetutorials.blogspot.com.

4 Comments

kevanchristian 8 years ago

Cool I made something like this but with long grass leaves and I did it with paper and made a heart sort of like this. I'll try this design, Cool neat job!

agis68 12 years ago

you can buy even the USB mini shredder. I use it now 5 years. It gives nice strips. Only 2 pages per time..........but the low cost is significant
Anyway about your job here: Since i was kid in school i was admired the girls (mostly) doing all this complicated things. Once i tried and got messy.....pretty cute heart

plyman5 12 years ago

A home paper shredder (not the cross-cut kind) would quickly create strips very close to the width you are using.
Also, I keep a tube of clear, self-adhesive shelf liner paper around for crafting purposes (very inexpensive). If the strips were weaved to their edges, and a square of liner paper applied, you could cookie-cutter arrange several hearts or shapes on one little woven matt.
The self-adhesive paper is great for laminating home-made book marks the kids make or other projects