Today, I'm sharing my ideas for making a DIY 3D paper heart garland. If you've ever wondered how to make a paper garland without sewing, this tutorial is for you. My step-by-step tutorial includes instructions on how to make folded paper hearts and paper strip hearts. We'll be combining our paper hearts to make a super easy 3D heart garland.
Ways to use a 3D paper heart garland
3D paper garlands are super cute and can be used in a variety of ways. Making paper heart garlands is also a fun holiday craft to keep the kids busy. Not only do heart garlands make great DIY Valentine's decorations but you can also use them for weddings, birthdays, Mother's Day, baby rooms and much more.
For more 3d paper crafts, check out my 3d paper stars here.
More inspiration for Valentine's Day
I've teamed up with some of my blogging friends to bring you an extra dose of Valentine's Day inspiration. Thanks to Janet of A Life of Balance for organising! Don't forget to check out my friends' Valentine's posts below.
If you are visiting from Rebecca of Zucchini Sisters, welcome to Chalking Up Success. Seriously, how did you manage to pull yourself away from that delicious red velvet bundt cake?
SAVE IT FOR LATER
If you'd like to save this idea for later, be sure to pin it to your most relevant Pinterest board - hover over or tap the top left corner of the image below and the Pinterest 'Save' button will appear
Table of contents
- Ways to use a 3D paper heart garland
- More inspiration for Valentine's Day
- SAVE IT FOR LATER
- How do you make a 3D heart garland?
- How to make folded paper hearts
- How to make paper strip hearts
- How do you string a heart garland?
- Instructions for stringing a 3D heart garland
- Finished result
- Sign up for our weekly newsletter
- Watch the tututorial on YouTube
- More cute crafts for Valentine's Day
- Valentine's Blog Tour
- These posts are great too
Here are a few ideas for decorating with heart garlands:
Heart garland for Valentine's Day
The classic use for DIY heart garlands is, of course, Valentine's Day decorations. DIY paper heart garlands made with decorative paper make great Valentine's Day crafts.
Why not combine a paper heart garland with this pretty Valentine's Day tablescape idea.
Inexpensive bridal shower decorations
DIY 3D paper garlands make pretty budget-friendly bridal shower decorations. Drape paper garlands along the front of the table as part of the table decorations or use them for photo backdrops.
Wedding decorations
3D paper garlands make beautiful backdrops for weddings and parties. You could create a cute photo booth background using paper heart decorations. String pretty pink, 3D heart garlands, across the front of the Bridal table for creative DIY wedding decorations.
Wedding Anniversary party decorations
Make a DIY 3D paper heart garland with red hearts for a budget-friendly Wedding Anniversary party.
DIY heart wreaths
Easily turn a heart garland into a beautiful wreath. Drape the paper garland around a wreath base, add some sprigs of flowers. Now, you have a lovely DIY heart wreath for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day.
Wall hanging paper heart decoration ideas
String 3D paper heart garlands vertically to create a pretty wall hanging.
DIY Birthday party Decorations with hearts
3D heart garlands are super decorations for heart-themed birthday parties especially, for girl birthdays.
Baby's nursery decorations with hearts
Paper hearts in shades of pink and white made into a garland with string or pretty ribbon will make enchanting wall decorations for a baby girl's room.
3d paper heart gift embellishments
Use 3d paper hearts as pretty embellishments to gifts for Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or birthdays.
Mother's Day decorations with hearts
Making a paper heart garland is a great Mother's Day craft for kids. 3D paper hearts also make unique decorations for homemade Mother's Day cards.
How do you make a 3D heart garland?
So now I've given you lots of great ideas for using DIY 3D paper heart garlands, let's get on with making the paper hearts.
For this DIY paper heart garland, I'm making two sorts of paper hearts. Below you will see a step-by-step tutorial for making a folded paper heart and a paper strips heart.
A QUICK REMINDER: When attempting any DIY project, please take care to undertake the necessary safety precautions. You should always follow the manufacturer’s safety recommendations when using any product or tool. When following my instructions for a DIY project, you are doing so at your own risk.
How to make folded paper hearts
This folded paper hearts origami is super simple to make and requires very few supplies.
One sheet of A4 construction paper (9"x12") makes one folded paper heart for your garland.
Make as many hearts as you would like to hang on your garland. Remember that we will also be adding some hearts made from paper strips to the 3D garland.
For my 3D paper heart garland, I made six folded paper hearts and three paper strip hearts.
A note about the products listed: If you order a product from one of my partners via links on this page, I receive a small percentage. I only recommend products that I have already used myself or have selected with care. You pay the same price whether you use my affiliate link or not. Please read my full disclosure here.
Here's what you'll need to make a folded papercraft heart. (See below for supplies for making paper strip hearts and supplies for stringing the garland).
Supplies
- A4 construction paper in Pink (9"x12")
- Paper crafts scoring tool (or a ruler with a rounded edge)
- Pencil
- Large plate
- Scissors
- Glue gun
Instructions
Step 1: Place a large plate onto a sheet of construction paper and draw around the edge with a pencil.
Step 2: Cut along the pencil lines.
Step 3: Fold the paper lenthwise, concertina style until you get to the end. Each fold should be around 2cm- 6/8 inches.
Step 4: Keeping the concertina paper together, fold the paper in half in the middle to make a fan shape. Make sure that the tops of the paper fan match each other. You may need to press quite hard to create the fold in the middle of the paper.
Step 5: Using the glue gun, glue the two sides of the heart shape together.
Step 6: Repeat until you have as many folded heart shapes as you need for your garland.
How to make paper strip hearts
Next, it's time to make some 3D paper strip hearts to add to our garland.
Paper strip hearts are super easy to make but require a little more cutting than the folded paper heart above.
Here's what you'll need to make a heart from paper strips:
Supplies
- Decorative paper
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Paper stapler
- Glue gun
Instructions
Step 1: Cut seven strips of paper with a width of 2cm or 6/8 inch in the following sizes:
- 2x 21cm (8.5")
- 2x17cm (6.5")
- 2x 13cm (5")
- 1x 5cm (2")
Step 1: Set out your paper strips with the two longest in the middle then, add the middle-sized paper strips on either side. Continue by adding the two small paper strips on each side of the others. (See the image below).
You should have one small paper strip left-over that we'll be using as a hanger.
Step 2: In this order, place the paper strips together and tap them on a table to make sure the strips are even at the bottom.
Step 3: Use the paper stapler to staple the strips together.
Step 4: Starting with the shortest strip of paper, fold each piece downwards and glue to the base using the glue gun. Hold and press for a few seconds whilst the glue sets.
Step 5: Repeat with the paper strips on the second side of the heart shape.
How to make a hanger for a paper strip heart
Now that we've made our paper strip hearts, we will need to add a hanger so that we will be able to hang them onto our paper heart garland.
Step 1: Add a dot of hot glue to each side of the remaining paper strip.
Step 2: Open up the middle of the paper strip heart a little and push the remaining paper strip down through the centre. Press for a few seconds until the glue sets.
Step 3: Repeat until you have as many paper strip hearts as you need for your garland.
You could make a super easy paper strips heart garland with this tutorial. However, we will be adding the paper strip hearts to the folded heart shapes to create a unique 3D paper heart garland.
How do you string a heart garland?
Now that all of our folded and strip paper hearts are made, it's time to string them up to make our beautiful 3d paper heart garland.
Here's what you will need to string your heart garland:
Supplies
- Cotton Thread (I used pink cotton thread)
- A large needle
Instructions for stringing a 3D heart garland
Stringing a paper heart garland is super simple. Here's how to do it.
Step 1: Thread a large needle with sewing thread.
Step 2: To string the folded paper heart, push the needle through one of the concertina folds at the back of one side of the heart. Bring the thread over to the other side of the heart and do the same.
Step 3: Alternate paper hearts
Step 4: Now add a paper strip heart to the garland.
Step 4: Push the needle and thread through the top of the hanger on the paper strip heart.
Step 5: Continue alternating the paper heart shapes onto your garland until you have no more hearts left.
Step 6: Space out the paper hearts how you like then, cut the thread. Make sure to leave a small thread allowance on each side of the heart garland for making a hanging loop.
Finished result
That's it! The DIY 3D paper heart garland is all finished!
Here's a look at how my finished paper heart garland looks.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter
I hope you enjoyed this easy papercraft tutorial. Don't forget to subscribe to my weekly newsletter through the form at the end of this post if you want to receive more creative ideas and DIY projects directly into your inbox.
Watch the tututorial on YouTube
Find the video tutorial for this 3D paper heart garland here:
3D Paper heart garland tutorial - YouTube
More cute crafts for Valentine's Day
Some of my blogging friends have been busy creating for Valentine's Day too!
Be sure to visit these inspirational posts for more great Valentine's Day ideas.
Valentine's Blog Tour
Next stop on the tour is Crystal at Sweet Valley Acres with a romantic vintage window vignette.
Want to see more Valentine's ideas? Well then, that’s great because today, you are in for a treat!
❣️ 💟 💟 ❣️ More Amazing Valentine's Inspiration ❣️ 💟 💟 ❣️
Click the links below the images to go straight to their posts. ENJOY!
Chalking Up Success // Sweet Valley Acres // A Life of Balance // Peacock Ridge Farm
❣️ 💟 💟 ❣️ 💟 💟 ❣️
Cloches & Lavender // From Farmhouse to Florida // My Family Thyme // Sonya Burgess
❣️ 💟 💟 ❣️ 💟 💟 ❣️
Design of Your Life // Saved From Salvage // Zucchini Sisters
❣️ 💟 💟 ❣️ 💟 💟 ❣️
Janet says
I love how simple this garland is. Definitely pinning for later. I think the strip hearts are my favorite because of how delicate they look. Thanks for sharing.
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks, Janet! Yes, I think the strip hearts are my favourite too, the paper is so pretty!
Crystal says
Both of these projects are fantastic - easy but so attractive! I am absolutely in love with the paper strip hearts and can see using them in many places. Hint: you will be seeing them hanging from my greenhouse for a romantic Valentine's dinner! Thanks for sharing your creativity and so happy that we could hop along together!
Jayne Westerholt says
Lol, Crystal, I'd love to see them hanging from your greenhouse. I'm sure they would make lovely decorations for your romantic Valentine's dinner!
Melba / Cocoon Raw says
Such a playful and beautiful look! Thank you for sharing it!
Jayne Westerholt says
Thank you so much, Melba! I enjoyed making this paper heart garland!
Paula@SweetPea says
Your Valentine's Day garland is so pretty!
Jayne Westerholt says
Thank you, Paula! I love making paper crafts!
Kimberly Jones Snyder says
I love this idea, Jayne! I need to make the thyme to make it! Thanks for sharing! As always, so much fun hopping with you!!
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks, Kimberly! I'm so glad you enjoyed the post!
Sonya says
I absolutely love this idea and think I might try it with my EC class at school. So fun being on the hop with you. Happy Valentine's
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks, Sonya! Yes, I think this idea would make a great school project!
Cindy says
Jayne, so pretty. You have patience. I don't think I'd have the patience to cut the paper.
This would be pretty for many other occasions.
Pinned!
Jayne Westerholt says
Cindy, the paper cutting was super quick and took me all of five minutes, t would take me longer than that to set up my Cricut! Thanks for your lovely comment!
Alicia says
Jayne, these are so cute! You could use this for so many different kinds of events. Pinned!
Jayne Westerholt says
Thank you, Alicia! That's what I love about these paper garlands, they are so versatile!
Rebecca says
Your paper heart garland is so pretty, Jayne! I'm going to make some with my daughter. She loves paper crafts. Thanks for the inspiration! Pinned 🙂
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks, Rebecca! I loved paper crafts when I was a kid too. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever fell out of love with paper crafting!
Lynne Zemaitis says
I love paper crafts and your garland is beautiful, Jayne! I love the look of the hearts. I can't wait to make one for my home. Pinned!
Jayne Westerholt says
Thank you, Lynne! I love how easy it is to make beautiful home decor with just some bits of paper!
Rosemary Palmer says
These are so cute - I love the 3D aspect of it. So different.
Jayne Westerholt says
Thank you, Rosemary!
Cindy says
You have such a creative mind Jayne! Love the paper hearts so much. And btw, the image with the paper heart on its side and the pink spool of thread in front is so gorgeous! Great capture! Pinning 😊
Jayne Westerholt says
Thank you so much, Cindy! I love the heart on its side image too!
Sara says
I love a project that's pretty as well as easy! So cute!
Jayne Westerholt says
Me too, Sara! Easy decorating projects are the best!
Diane says
As a. non-decorator for. Valentine's Day, you may have won me over! These garlands are adorable 🥰
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks so much, Diane. Decorating is one of my favourite things to do!
Jennifer Williams says
I love these garlands. So pretty and so many uses for them. Beautiful photos!
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks so much, Jennifer! Paper garlands are so easy to make!
Danielle says
These are absolutely adorable! How smart to use a plate as a template! Love this craft!
Jayne Westerholt says
Thank you so much, Danielle! I love this paper craft too!
Elizabeth says
Both projects are beautiful! I might have to try this!
Jayne Westerholt says
Thank you so much, Eleizabeth!