DIY: love garland

by Bar

DIY love garland - Valentine's craft | small for big

I’m crazy about garlands. Aren’t you? I love making them for my kids, my family, my friends, and just about any and every occasion. Today I am sharing with you how to make this colorful & artsy LOVE garland. It’s perfect for Valentine’s day (or any day) to give to the ones you love most.

DIY love garland - Valentine's craft | small for big

Supplies:

Newspaper

Watercolors

Heart stencil

Black fine tip sharpie

Chalkboard markers

Black or gold cardstock

Pink or red cardstock

Heart punch (or heart stickers)

Mini pom-poms 

Rubber cement

Baker’s twine

Hole punch (1/16”)

Large sewing needle

DIY love garland - Valentine's craft | small for big

Step one: Lay out some newspaper on top of an old towel. Start painting it with shapes and stripes and dots…whatever! We used liquid watercolor, which can drench through (which is why you want an old towel underneath), but you can use regular watercolors, too. Hang dry the newspaper (a few hours), then use the stencil to cut out hearts.

DIY love garland - Valentine's craft | small for big

Step two: Next, use the same stencil to cut hearts from black or gold cardstock. Though this time cut the heart a bit bigger than the pencil line so when you glue on the newspaper heart there will be a little border. Glue on the hearts using rubber cement. I have mentioned this before, but the best way to use rubber cement for the strongest bond is to evenly coat both surfaces, then press wet surfaces together.

Step three: Freehand write your letters using a black fine tip sharpie. This sounds intimidating, but I know you can do it. It doesn’t have to look like mine. Make it your own! Then color in your letters with a neon pink chalkboard marker. Or…if you don’t have one, use a highlighter or a regular marker. No sweat!

DIY love garland - Valentine's craft | small for big

Step four: Punch holes at the top of the hearts. I punched two on each side (see photo below). Next, cut out your mini hearts with a heart stamp. If you don’t have one, you can cut them out freehand, use heart stickers, circles, or all pom-poms. Lay out your design as you would like it to look. Thread your needle with twine and start to assemble the big hearts and pom-poms together.

DIY love garland - Valentine's craft | small for big

Step five: Lastly, thread the needle again, this time running a piece of twine through the middle of the pom-poms that are in between the letters (three altogether). Tie a knot at the top and leave the twine hanging down underneath. Attach the mini hearts with tape.

DIY love garland - Valentine's craft | small for big

All done! There are many steps, but it is really fun to put it all together, and the kids can make most of the parts with you.

A labor of love, indeed!

xo Bar

{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Tina Peterson January 12, 2014 at 3:23 pm

Hello – LOVE this activity! I will be making it with my 2 kiddos that I watch in the afternoon. Should take us up to a week to finish – lol! I’m going to feature this in a post today on my blog @ http://familyliteracy2.blogspot.com/2014/01/february-heart-activities.html

Tina ‘the book lady

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2 Bar January 16, 2014 at 4:46 pm

thank you so much tina, i love that you are sharing and i love your blog! send me photos if you can of your finished product. have fun! xo bar

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3 Melissa@Julia's Bookbag January 15, 2014 at 1:09 am

this is SO charming and darling! pinning, sharing & making asap!

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4 Bar January 16, 2014 at 4:47 pm

thanks melissa…i do hope you will make it! a good one to keep up all year round. send photos if you ever get to it! xo bar

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5 Brooke February 7, 2014 at 10:22 am

LOVE these! Shared them on facebook here https://www.facebook.com/ImaginationStationBlog and we will be making this idea as name banners and will post at above facebook page. The colours are beautiful!!! I Love painting on newspaper.

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6 Brooke February 7, 2014 at 10:19 pm
7 Bar February 13, 2014 at 2:05 pm

they look amazing brooke!! i just checked them out. you are the best for doing this, you have made my day…my week!! happy valentine’s day. xo

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8 Renee February 5, 2015 at 3:26 pm

I just started a blog and I featured your garland…Check it out!
http://entertainingdelights.com/2015/02/05/valentines-day-heart-garland/

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9 mari February 13, 2015 at 9:46 am

Wonderful! Thanks!

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10 Tina May 5, 2016 at 8:08 am

We made this and it turned out adorable. Ours said Love and we strung it up over the tv. Even the one my 2 year old made was very cute!

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11 mari May 9, 2016 at 9:13 pm

That’s so wonderful, I love knowing that it worked so well for you!

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12 Dustin1979 July 21, 2017 at 6:32 am

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13 Mandy Williams December 31, 2022 at 3:27 pm

Just found through Pinterest. I’ve been interested in testing newspaper for art and this is just the push I needed. I’ll be making a Valentines garland with my 6 year old great niece. She will be wild about this!

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15 cricut.com/setup March 21, 2023 at 1:49 am

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