While practicing cutting out paper hearts for Valentine's Day, my eight-year-old daughter and I wondered if it was possible to cut a chain of hearts, so we got started testing it out. It was a good exercise in visualization, as well as trial and error (and patience) for her! Here's how you do it.
What you need:
- Paper of your choice
- Scissors
- Pencil
What you do:
1. Cut a strip of paper that is just a little taller than you want the hearts to be. Cut the long way across the paper if you want more hearts.
2. Start folding the strip of paper like an accordion. Make sure the sections you are creating are the exact width you want the hearts to be. Try to be precise with folds because crooked folds will affect the size of the connection between the hearts. Fold a section over, then flip the strip and fold another section the same size over, flip, fold, flip, fold... note that an odd number of folds makes an even number of heart-halves. If you end up with an odd-sized final section, cut it off or fold it under and trim the outside curve later.
3. Hold the folded paper flat so the cut edge of the first section is to the outside (depending on if you're going to draw the left or right half of the heart). You may want to make some small, light pencil marks along the cut edge where the widest part of the heart will be, aka where the hearts will connect.
4. Draw the outline of half of a heart with the pencil. Yes, use pencil so you can erase if you draw a less-than-perfect heart (which I did several times). Leave a gap in the marks where the hearts will connect. A quarter-inch section is strong enough that kids will be able to handle the chain without accidentally tearing it apart.
5. Cut just inside of the marks you drew so they aren't on your finished chain. Remember not to cut all the way through the outside edge.
6. Unfold the paper and trim the outside edges to round off the hearts.
