How to Make Puffed Heart Garland

Make an Origami Heart Swag for Valentine’s Day

Jan 29, 2010
Melissa Howard

Origami Heart Garland - Melissa Howard

Use stuff you have around the house to make a festive garland to festoon your home for Valentine's Day or anytime of the year.

If one avoids traditional origami papers and uses what one has around the house, origami is the ultimate recycler’s craft. Consequently, for those seeking a guilt free way to decorate, origami is the answer. This origami puffed heart garland is a delightful way to banish the winter blues and celebrate love.

Supplies

Paper
Cutting board or scissors (rotary cutting board is the best option)
Glue
Jute twine

Instructions

Cut your paper into an exact square, if the square isn’t perfect the heart will not turn out. Note: Smaller size squares work best for this project.
Valley fold one diagonal and unfold. Repeat with the second diagonal. This will make marking creases for the exact center of your square. (Figure 1)
Work on the heart with one point down. This will be the point of your heart and the basis for all your views of the project.
Fold the tip of the right corner to the middle crease. Repeat with the left corner. (Figure 1)
Bring the top point down to meet the bottom point and fold the paper in the middle. (Figure 1)
Fold the paper in half from left to right. (Figure 2)
Bring the two top corners together so the points meet. Crease firmly to make a marking crease in preparation for an inside reverse fold. (Figure 2)
Open the left-to-right fold and open the top to bottom fold so that your paper is back to step 4.
Note that the marking creases in the center of the paper make a diamond.
On the bottom half of the heart inverse fold the inside of the diamond. At the same time, inverse fold the entire top half of the heart along the middle marking crease. (Figure 3)
While holding onto the inverse fold in the diamond, bring the top half of the heart back down and match the top and bottom point. The portion your bring down will be the back of the heart so you will need to force it into a concave shape so it will fit the convex shape of what will be the front of the heart. (Figure 3)
Flip the heart over so you are looking at the front of the heart.
Using the outer corner marking creases you made in step 7, inverse the corners to make the rounded edges of the top of the heart. (Figure 4)
Make as many hearts as you need for your garland. Use a dab of glue at the point of the heart to keep the two layers together. Run twine between the layers to create your garland.

Origami Terms

Valley Fold: A valley fold is a fold from the front up, which cause the paper to create a valley where the fold is located.
Marking Creases: Marking creases occur when you make a fold and then open it up. The creases that remains will be used later in the project as a reference point.
Inside Reverse Fold: An inside reverse fold can only be made when two or more layers have been folded and then pulled apart. The fold edges create a spine, which is pushed into the trough between the crease marks from the previous fold. This becomes your new fold.

Ideas and Suggestions

Thinner paper generally works better for origami as it folds better, creases sharper, and you can work more layers easily.
Always make good sharp creases.