Paper DIY Valentine’s Decor – Heart Garland Cricut Maker

I like this paper DIY Valentine’s decor heart garland because it’s so inexpensive to make and it looks so cute mixed in with other garlands. You can use this paper heart garland on a mantel, a mirror, or even in a window. I styled mine over my vintage metal lockers with a pom pom garland.

• paper or cardstock – I used this pack
• string, twine or ribbon – I used white cotton twine but this twine is so pretty!
• Cricut Maker or other cutting machine
• hot glue gun
• scissors

What Kind Of Paper Works Best?

You can use any kind of paper, but cardstock is going to be more sturdy and last longer. I used soft pink cardstock from this pink paper pack.

To store your garland and keep it from tangling, wrap it around a piece of cardboard and store in a plastic container.

What Size Are The Paper Hearts?

I used my Cricut Maker to cut the hearts using the fine point blade. I used the standard Cricut heart that is available for free and I cut the hearts at 1.5″ wide. To make the paper hearts fold easier, I also used my stylus to score the hearts.

Get your Cricut Access Premium subscription here!” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow”>Cricut Design Space has the perfect heart outline or template ready to go for you. Canva also has great designs. Some are free but I really love Pro Access. I use it for everything!

How To Make Paper Hearts With Cricut Maker

I was able to get 5 hearts across my page. Place your first heart and size it to 1.5″ wide (the height will adjust automatically). Select the heart by clicking on it and copying it (Control C or Command C for Mac). Paste the heart (Control V or Command V for Mac) four times. Drag them to where they are all next to each other. Don’t leave too much space between each one. You want all five to fit within 8 inches horizontally.

Click Select All then select Align and choose Center Vertically (all at top toolbar). All five hearts will be perfectly lined up. Click Attach (lower right corner of the page.)

Now you have 5 hearts attached together. Click Select all again and then copy your row of hearts and paste it. Drag that row below the first. Repeat this until you have 7 rows of hearts. Make sure they are all within 10.5″ vertically.

Click Select All, click Align and then choose Center Horizontally then Click Attach. Now your page of hearts should be centered horizontally and vertically.

How to Cut and Score With Cricut Stylus

Adding score lines with a Cricut Maker is easy with the Cricut Stylus. Click Shapes on the left toolbar and click the line. If you hover over the line it will say Score. This will add a vertical line to the page. Drag the line to where it cuts the first vertical row of hearts in half.

Drag the line so that it goes from the top of the page to just past the very bottom of the last heart. Once you get the first row down, Click the line you just added to select it and copy and paste that line. Drag it to the next row of hearts. Do this to each row of hearts. (pictured below)

After you get all of the score lines placed, click Select All and Attach. Now we’re ready to cut.

Cutting and Scoring Paper Hearts

Click Make It (upper right corner). Select your paper size. Mine is 8 1/2 x 11″. Make sure your computer or device is connected to your Cricut Maker. In the lower-left corner, click Continue.

On the right side click Browse All Materials and select Cardstock. Click Done.

I’m using a Cricut stylus since I don’t have a scoring wheel. If you’re using a scoring wheel, Cricut will score first, then you would change to the fine point blade to cut. If you’re using the Cricut stylus like me, click Edit Tools and select the scoring stylus then click Apply.

The scoring stylus should be inserted into slot A in the cutting machine and the fine point blade should be in slot B. To insert the stylus, open clamp A. Find the arrow on the Stylus so you know you have the front of the stylus facing you and push down until the stylus won’t go in any further and close the clamp.

Attach your cardstock to your standard or light grip mat and load it by pressing the flashing arrow on your Cricut Maker. Make sure your Cricut is pulled away from the wall. Click the flashing C to begin.

Making The Paper Hearts

Each heart will use 4 folded heart pieces. It’s easiest to fold all of the hearts in half in advance. Glue one folded heart to a second folded heart. Glue the third on top of those and then the 4th. You’ll end up with 4 hearts glued like this:

When you let go, it will look like this:

Measure and cut the length of string, twine, or ribbon you need and fold it in half. The first two hearts you glue to the string are going to be glued in opposite directions and you need to start in the center of the garland. This is so the hearts are right side up on each tail end. I didn’t do this and had to do a little mending so I’m saving you the hassle! You’re welcome 🙂

The first two hearts should have the tops facing each other like this. See my mending?

Before you fold the stacks together, run the string down the middle, add glue to the string and then glue the first heart to the fourth. Is this making sense? I tried to get good pictures.

I measured 4 inches between the top of one heart and the bottom of the next so each heart has 4″ of string between them. The one pictured is the last one. As you’re gluing hearts, you’ll see the string hanging out of both sides of each heart. I cut the string here for the very last heart on each end. You can see where I put glue and now you’ll just fold those two flaps together.