heart strings

I received a darling heart punch by Stampin' Up! for Christmas from a cute friend. I love how quick and easy it is to punch a bunch of hearts at once. I was putting together craft kits for our upcoming blog party, and decided to use the scraps to play around with my punch. They were so cute I just kept punching, and then I had to make something with them so all those little sweeties didn't go to waste!


Here's what I came up with. I call them Heart Strings, and you can use them for Valentine's decor, a cute kids' necklace, or even a scrapbook or card embellishment. My son enjoyed making them, and I was impressed at how cool his turned out! I think I might have a little jewelry designer on my hands!

Heart Strings Tutorial

What you'll need:
*Heart punch or die cuts
*Various papers
*Buttons
*String or crochet thread
*Glue - I used Tombow's Liquid mono glue
*Extra embellishments (Optional) - I used rhinestones and Stickles glitter glue to dress mine up

1. Punch out or die cut hearts from various papers. Embellish them with glitter glue, rhinestones, ink, etc.




2. Lay out a piece of string and start designing your heart string, alternating hearts and buttons. You'll need two of each heart and button so you can glue them together on either side of the string. Be sure to leave room at the top if you intend to tie it together or to something else.


3. When it looks the way you want it, apply glue to one heart and lay the string on top. Apply glue to second heart and place on top, matching it up with the first heart. Hold for a few seconds. Repeat with remaining hearts and buttons. The buttons won't be completely flat when glued together, but as long as they are glued to the string and touching on one side, they will be fine. Allow to dry for a few minutes.




4. I wanted mine to hang from my light fixture, so I spaced the pieces out a bit. Then I tied them to a piece of red tulle and tied the tulle to the chandelier. My son wanted his to be a necklace, so I tied his ends together.



That's it! This is such a fun project to do with little ones, although I did help with the gluing. My son loved making his necklaces, and practiced making patterns like he's learning to at school. He even wore one to kindergarten the next day. He said every kid in his class and his teacher all commented on it--he was so proud! Don't you love it when kids love to craft as much as you do?


Next he made this one to give to Grandma who came to visit. She loved it and wore it every day she was here.