you're the cheese to my macaroni: Paper Hearts

Early on in my planning, I stumbled across this adorable paper heart garland on Etsy.

via Etsy shop Pickled Parlour

I was immediately smitten, and was itching to include these in our wedding in some fashion. The only problem was, somewhere along the line, I started to get worried that I would just have too much going on.. paper lanterns, puff balls, ribbons, hearts.. something had to go, lest my wedding end up looking like someone threw up every rustic-y type of decoration out there. (I mean, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but still. Keep it simple, stupid.)

Good news, though.. it was not the hearts that went! (It was the ribbons, per Foxy. Boh.) A few weeks before the wedding, I realized I had no idea what to do for chair decor for the ceremony - I'm too cheap for more flowers, was banned from using ribbons, and was feeling rather uninspired. Then I remembered that I had leftover card stock from my programs and this nifty little tutorial stashed away in my bookmarks toolbar. My solution? Individual paper hearts for the chairs!

Photo by Mrs. Pony

I kind of got carried away when making them, so they also made good decorations for all over the venue (notice how they're hung with ribbons?)!

Clockwise, from left to right:

Photo by Exclamation Imagery | personal photo | Photo by Mrs. Guinea Pig

What I loved most is that some lovely little wedding elves (I'm still not exactly sure who!) moved a lot of the hearts from the ceremony space to the reception space once the ceremony was over. It was like double decorations for the price of one!

Now, in case you love these little hearts as much as I do, here's a basic tutorial!

First, start with whatever kind of card stock you so choose - I used mostly double sided 12"x12" cardstock that I got at Michaels, but also made a few using regular white and ivory cardstock.

Image via Michaels

Next, you cut the paper into 1" thick strips (use a paper cutter!). You'll need to make a few of the strips a bit shorter in order to get the layered effect.

Then, starting from the outsides and working your way in, layer each strip on top of each other so that the shortest strips are on the outside and the longer ones are in the middle. You should also have an extra strip in the middle to serve as the "base" - also the place you'll eventually hang the hearts from.

Once the strips are stacked, make sure you have a good grip on the bottom and start folding the strips outward one at a time, securing each one with your fingers as you go along.

Once all but the middle strip have been folded out, make sure the bottom edges are relatively aligned and staple together!

Since I didn't want the staple showing, I went one step further and used my favorite stand by, washi tape, to cover the staple and add a nice little finishing touch.