Creative Use of Cards: DIY Valentine Garland
With windchills of -35 degrees and a three-day weekend, I hunkered down and worked on some projects. Now that all of the Christmas decor is put away, the mantel was looking pretty bare. I decided it was time to get started on the Valentine's decor, now that it is less than a month away.
Although there are garland galore options available to buy, I wanted to tackle my own garland this year. Last year, I'd pinned an idea to use the hearts cards from a playing card deck to create a banner with some fabric tied on in between the cards. Over the last week, I'd gathered up the supplies I needed and got to work!
Project Materials Needed
Deck of Cards
Baker's Twine (Red, Pink, or Black)
Hole Punch
Fabric (any patterns in red or pink will do)
I grabbed some pink and white baker's twine from Bullseye's Playground (formally the Dollar Spot) at Target for $1. We had some cards around the house, but I didn't want to take away from Chris' poker card stash, so I picked up a new deck from Dollar Tree for $1. I had a standard hole punch, but you can pick these up at a dollar store or Target as well. To start, I punched two holes in each card. I used cards with hearts at the top and punched the hole through the middle of them. If the card didn't have two hearts, I put that card behind one that did, punching holes in 2 cards at a time to ensure they would line up. Then I strung the cards onto a piece of the baker's twine (about 6 ft. long). I measured how much I needed up against my fireplace mantel.
I decided to use all of the numbered cards and the ace. If you want to do something a little different, try mixing in the king, queen, or jack of hearts.
Next up was selecting fabric. My go to fabric store is JoAnn Fabrics. The store often has sales going on and a quick download of its app on your phone will lead you to coupons for extra percentages off. I picked out 5 different patterns of pink and red fabric. Make sure to look at regular patterns before deciding on anything labeled "Valentine's Day" fabric. I found the holiday fabric to be more expensive and there were plenty of fun pink and red options (even some with hearts) that were marked down to 50% off. I got a foot of each type of fabric and had plenty leftover. Cut strips of fabric about 3/4 inch wide and 1 foot long. Happiness is Homemade had a good photo collage showing how to tie them on:
I tied 4 pieces of fabric on each end (before the ace and after the ten) and then tied three pieces inbetween each card. The Happiness is Homemade version only did two inbetween each card. It really will depend on how long you want your garland to be and how full-volumed you want the fabric to appear. Once the fabric was tied on, I had a festive Valentine's garland!
It looks great paired with all of my Valentine mantel decor!
