How to cut a heart out of paper

Do your kids get flustered making paper hearts and they turn out … lumpy? Lopsided? Squashy? Yeah…that can happen when you don’t use this simple hack for cutting out PERFECT paper hearts!

Lemme tell you a secret! My mom is a retired 4th grade teacher. We are talking LITERALLY old school. She started teaching in the 70’s when the only way to jazz up your classroom was to break out the scissors and giant sheets of bulletin paper.

I remember helping her set up her room every summer and she had some of the BEST decorated classrooms around. Not a thing was store bought, everything was sketched out with a pencil and cut by hand.

One of the many crafty things I learned from Mom was how to handle some scissors.

Mom Rule #1: Always carry scissors by the blade, point down. That way when you trip and fall, you stab your leg and not your eyeball. That’s some genuine 1970’s parenting right there.

Mom Rule #2: Always fold your paper in half when cutting out hearts!

How to Cut out a Paper Heart like a Pro

Active Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Here's a simple hack to making PERFECT paper hearts.

Print

Materials

• Paper

Tools

• Scissors
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Fold a sheet of paper in half.
2. Lightly pencil half a heart, with the fold in the center.
   
   
3. Cut on the line.
   
   
4. Erase any part of the line that's still on your paper.

Notes

Little kids might want to draw a WHOLE heart, then fold the paper in half down the center. Chose the best looking side, and cut that part out.

© Denise Bertacchi

Now that you know how to cut out perfect paper hearts you can use your skills to make AWESOME Valentine’s Day cards and more!

To make a heart chain out of paper, start by cutting a piece of paper in half lengthwise. Then, take one half of the paper and fold it accordion-style, starting at one of the shorter ends. Next, use a pencil to draw half of a heart on the top fold so that the middle of the heart is facing the folded edge. Finally, cut around the outline you drew and unfold your heart chain. To learn how to make a stuffed paper heart, scroll down!

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To fold a paper heart, first fold a square piece of paper in half diagonally and unfold it. Then, fold it in half diagonally the other way and unfold it again. Rotate the paper so one of the corners is at the top, then fold the top corner down to the horizontal middle crease. Next, fold the bottom corner up to the top edge. Take the right side of the bottom edge and fold it to the vertical middle crease. Now, do the same thing with the left side of the bottom edge. Flip the paper over, then fold in the left and right corners to hide them. Finally, do the same thing with the two top corners. Flip your paper heart back over, and you’re finished! To learn more, including how to fold a 2-dimensional paper heart, scroll down.

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Read through the project and gather the materials needed for creating chains of paper hearts. If you are doing this project with a group, pre-cutting the strips of paper will make the craft go faster.

You may also want to make some heart templates that can be traced. Create your own by drawing half of a heart-shape on poster board to a size that fits the folded paper strips. Pre-cut enough templates so there is one template for every three or four people making heart chains.

Cut strips of paper that are 8" to 12" long by 2" to 3½" wide from lightweight craft paper or computer paper—use patterned or solid-colored paper. Each strip will create a chain of four hearts.

Tip: If you are planning to use construction paper, it is best if shorter strips are used to reduce the bulk of the folded strip. Try strips that are 6" long, folded in four equal sections to cut a chain of two hearts. These shorter chains can then be taped together.

Tip: Checkout Aunt Annie's Digital Papers for Valentine's Day for patterned papers to download and print.

Fold the paper strip into eight equal sections of accordion pleats.

1) Fold the strip in half, matching edges and making a sharp crease.
2) Fold one edge back to meet the fold just made, and crease. Turn the paper over and repeat with the other edge.
3) Fold the top layer back to meet the center fold, turn over and repeat.
4) Open the center fold like a book. There are three layers on each side with a single layer in the center.
5) Fold one side of three layers in to meet the center fold. Repeat with the other side.
6) Fold the center fold back to complete the accordion folds.

With the cut edge of the folded strip to the right, draw half of an heart along the left (folded) edge with the width of the heart extending to the right edge. It's easiest to draw the top half of the heart then the bottom half, leaving a ½" to ¾" space along the right edge. The space is critical, it is where the hearts join to form a chain.

Tip: If you plan to join several strips together,  tracing a precut heart template will make the chains uniform.

Hold the folded strip firmly and cut carefully around the heart outline. Do not cut along the folds.

Unfold the paper strip to reveal your chain of hearts. Tape two or more chains of hearts together to form longer chains. You could also layer two chains of hearts—see the layering tip for instructions.

How do you make a heart shaped paper step by step?

How do you make a 2D heart out of paper?