Book Page DIY Heart Garland: How to make a DIY watercolour book page heart garland with an old book and a sewing machine that's easy and inexpensive to make.
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This sweet book page DIY heart garland is a quick and easy project to make, and perfect for Valentine’s Day.
I love how simple and neutral it is, with just a touch of watercolour pink. I've used it as part of my Valentine's Day decorations. It would be lovely in a little girl's room anytime of year. I also think it could be very sweet as decor for bridal showers, or baby showers. We've made ours pink, but you can change the color to suit your decor or the occasion. How fun would this be in soft pink and blue for a gender reveal?
Paper
I used some old books from the thrift store for this project. Some people hate to cut up an old book, but actually so many old books end up in landfill that this is really a great upcycle project. I love how the book page paper looks for this project, but you could also use any other kind of paper. Scrapbook paper would be a great choice, and is available in so many beautiful colors and textures. You could also try using sheet music or old vintage maps for another really beautiful look and a great idea. You could even try cutting your hearts out of paint chips. This could help you create a beautiful ombre effect in any color for your Valentine's day garland.
Cutting Out Your Hearts
I used a large heart hole punch to cut out my paper hearts. It's a great time saver, and every heart comes out exactly the same size. The heart shape punches come in different sizes you can find them for making small, medium or larger hearts. I just used one and kept all my hearts the same size, but you could mix the sizes if you prefer. I found this was the quickest and easiest way to cut the hearts out for our simple paper heart garland. You'll find lots of different options in Cricut Design Space for different shapes of hearts.
You could also use a cutting machine to cut our your hearts. A silhouette cameo or a Cricut machine are a great option if you have one. With one of these machines you might even make a fancier heart with a scalloped edge.
You can also cut out your hearts by hand. You might want to use a pattern on piece of cardboard to make the all matching sizes. You could also try using pinking shears to make a decorate edge of the hearts.
Painting With Watercolours
I wanted to add a little soft pink to my hearts so I used some watercolours on the finished heart garland and painted individual hearts. One trick is that you must paint each side of the heart, or the paper will curl up as it dries. I love the watercolour effect, and the variations in the pink, it also allows you to still see the book page writing through it, creating a cool effect. You could of course do this in any color or series of colors. We choose pink for Valentines day but red could be a good choice too if you prefer. You could also create a really fun project by painting the hearts rainbow colors.
Sewing Machine
You may not have none that you can sew paper. Treat the paper just like you would regular fabric. No great sewing skills required. You just need to know how to sew a straight line with sewing machine to make this fun craft. Use regular thread. The sewing creates a really cool effect on the paper. We used white thread for this project, but you could also choose pink, or red, or even metallic thread for a really interesting look as well.
If you don't have a sewing machine, you can of course just glue and string to make this simple heart garland. If you're gluing your hearts on to a piece of string, or baker's twine, put your craft glue or hot glue near the top of the heart, and glue another heart onto the back. You could also punch small holes into the hearts and string them on to your string, or piece of twine or narrow ribbon. This will create a different look but also be really pretty if you don't have a sewing machine.
Equipment
- paint brush
- Sewing Machine
Materials
- old book
- heart punch
- watercolors
- thread
Instructions
- To get started, you need to cut out some hearts from and old thrift store book. I used a craft punch, which was super fast, but you could just cut them out by hand too.
- Once the hearts are all cut out, add some watercolour to just a few. I like pink for Valentine’s Day, but you could do red, or any colour to fit your decor, or wedding, or nursery colour. When one side is dry, be sure to flip the heart over and do the other side. Painting both sides of the hearts will help keep them from curling up, and also make the garland pretty from both sides.
- Next, once the paint is dry it’s time to stitch the hearts into a garland. Just feed the paper hearts through your sewing machine just like you would with regular fabric. To create the spaces just run the machine for a second between feeding the hearts in to create the gap. Try and your gaps as even as possible.
YouTube Video
In case you’ve never sewn paper with your sewing machine, I thought a video might help, so watch below to see how really easy it is.
This garland really is the perfect pretty, inexpensive decoration for heart day. It's really easy to make and will be a great Valentine's Day decoration to use year after year.
With a book page DIY heart garland, life really is a party!
More Valentine's Day Inspiration
Love this idea, check out our DIY Origami Hearts too.
You might also like our Yarn Hearts here.
Also check out our Nail Polish Marble Hearts here.
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