How to make a Valentines wreath out of paper
Give the gift of love this Valentine’s Day with this heart-shaped wreath, which you can fill with treats they’ll love.
Published:
Make your own DIY Valentine’s wreath using your favourite patterned papers! We’re here to show you how.
This easy paper wreath is made up of 14 boxes, arranged round the hoop. So it doubles up as a valentines countdown. Your loved one can open one a day, and remember how much they are loved.
To give your Valentine’s wreath a vintage look, distress the edges of the paper hearts and boxes. This is a simple papercraft trick where you dab them with an ink pad. You can easily change the size of the boxes to fit larger or smaller presents, or even add a little envelope notes or tickets.
This project is one of our favourite Valentines Day Craft Ideas this year. Why not adapt this idea for other occasions such as a birthday? You could swap the heart shapes with stars or circles.
For more romantic crafts, check out our 35 Handmade Valentine Card Ideas or stitch this valentines embroidery design.
Stock up on valentines papers
This DIY valentines wreath is easy to adapt to suit your loved one by changing the paper you use. You can make it with plain paper or opt for a matching set of valentines patterned papers. We like these for giving your finished wreath a coordinated effect…
Dovecraft Back to Basics paper
Whaline Valentines patterned papers
Sweet Valentine scrapbook paper
If you’re short of funds, browse our free patterned papers. We love these Sweet Valentine papers!
You Will Need
- Patterned paper
- Baker's twine
- Embellishments
- Cardboard ((you can cut this from a cardboard box))
- Sellotape
- Gold ink pad ((optional))
- Double sided tape
- Glue
Total time:
Step 1
Cut a 270mm circle from thick cardboard with a 200mm aperture in the middle. This will be your main base to your Valentine’s wreath! Tie a length of baker’s twine around the top of the ring to create a hanger, and secure in place with tape.
Step 2
Cut out 20-30 heart shapes of different sizes from different patterned papers (use enough to cover the entire Valentine’s wreath). We used a die cutting machine for this but you could also download our Free heart templates (PDF).
Step 3
To add a bit of texture to your hearts, dab the edges of each heart with gold ink to create a “distressed” effect. Starting at the top, attach the hearts around the cardboard ring using double-sided tape – overlapping each of the hearts so that no cardboard is showing.
Step 4
Trim some patterned paper into a rectangle that measures 75 x 85mm and score all four sides at 20mm. Cut a tab at each corner, fold up and stick the tabs inside to create a gift box. Repeat to make 14 box bases.
Step 5
Trim some patterned paper to 45 x 120mm and score the long side at 35mm, 55mm, 9mm and 11mm. Add glue to the end flap to form a sleeve. Repeat to make 14 sleeves for the gift boxes.
Step 6
Fussy cut various motifs from the patterned papers, or you could use stickers or gems for this. Attach an element to the top of each of the box sleeves with foam pads to differentiate the boxes.
Step 7
Slide the boxes into their corresponding sleeves and arrange them around the heart wreath. Secure the reverse of the sleeve onto the wreath, so the box can still be pushed in and out.
Add small gifts or notes to each box…
Step 8
As an optional step, you can turn your wreath into a numbered gift or valentines count down wreath. To do this, attach some number stickers ranging from 1 to 14 onto small paper tag shapes, cut from patterned papers (you can also use a pen to add this lettering if you have neat handwriting). Tuck the tags under the box embellishments and secure in place with double-sided tape, to finish. If you don’t have any number stickers, write your own using a fine liner pen!
Authors
Holly is the staff writer at BBC Science Focus, and specialises in astronomy. Before joining the team she was a geoenvironmental consultant and holds an MSc in Geoscience (distinction) from UCL.
