3D Origami Heart Garland

I was recently organizing my craft closet, which is the bottom half of my clothes closet (aka the floor), when I came across my old box of origami paper from middle school. Even though it’s been years since I’ve done any origami, I just haven’t had the heart to part with it yet. It hit me – wouldn’t origami hearts be the perfect thing for a Valentine’s day heart garland? To up the ante a little, I decided to make 3D origami hearts for this project.

Thanks to the wonders of Google, I found this amazing and easy to follow tutorial from Samuel Tsang.  I did my first couple with typing paper cut into a square so that I didn’t waste any origami paper. A few tips for working with origami paper – make sure you press your folds very well and line up your corners precisely! A few edges out of line, especially early in the folding can make a big difference. It took a few times going through the tutorial before it really clicked.

My lovely bloggie friend (and now real life pal) Kia and I have started weekly craft nights and Valentine’s day heart garland was our first project. You can see her upcycled chocolate box garland DIY here.

Get the full tutorial after the jump!

How to Make a 3D Origami Heart Garland

You will need:

Origami paper – I used 6″ standard sheets and smaller 3″ square sheets
Twine or string

1. To make the 3D origami hearts, follow this amazing video tutorial by Samuel Tsang.

2. The hearts have a natural area that is open where you can string your twine. You can use a darning needle, or a quick and dirty way is to reinforce the end of your twine by wrapping the last three inches or so with tape and threading that through each heart.

3. Space your hearts as you’d like on your garland. I made nine hearts for a 4 foot garland.

For the sake of full disclosure, a few of my hearts had folds that didn’t seem super sturdy, probably due to my technique. I put a few strategic dots of glue in these areas to give the garland a bit more longevity.