Valentine's Day Heart Garland Tutorial

Hi, friends! So I've clearly neglected this blog... the last post in JUNE 2016 was all about how I was going to post more. Cue eye roll! Since then, so much has happened, including launching our online store and releasing all the products you see there. Hopefully I’ll be able to carve out more time to share some of what's been going on with Frankie Baby here.

Today, I wanted to share a DIY tutorial with you--Valentine’s Day heart garlands. I love making things and I love Valentine's Day, so it's a perfect match! I definitely have a sappy/sentimental side so I enjoy an opportunity to tell the people in my life how much I care about them (and it’s a great excuse to send more cards!). Remember making little card receptacles out of milk cartons or some other crafty thing in elementary school and then handing out cards to everyone? Can we start that in offices or is that weird?

Okay, so let’s get into this garland tutorial. It’s perfect to layer a few across a doorway, to hang vertically at a cubicle, or whatever floats your boat. This idea is adapted from a project in Hello!Lucky's amazing book Handmade Weddings. Theirs is admittedly much quicker because you don't have to cut anything out, but I was feeling crafty.

Supplies:
Paper for hearts (I used paper I have around for wrapping gifts, but you could use any kind of paper that will stand up to glue {not tissue paper})
Scrap paper (not pictured)
Scissors
Ruler
Pencil
Bone folder (optional, you could use your fingernail or the handle of your scissors)
Tape (this goes on the inside of the garland so it doesn’t have to be pretty)
Glue (I used Mod Podge, but any kind of craft glue, PVA, etc would work. You could also use double sided tape or glue dots for zero mess.)
Small brush (not pictured here, but helpful for spreading glue)

Step 1: Prep paper:
Measure out squares of paper. You can do large or small. Here, I did 2 sizes—3 inch and 1.5 inch long strips of paper that I cut into squares.

Step 2: Make template:
Using scrap paper in a contrasting color from the paper for your hearts (so it's easy to see when you trace it), cut a square the same size as your heart paper (I did one 3” squares and one 1.5” square), fold in half, run your bone folder along the fold to make a nice crease, and trace/cut a heart shape. This will be the template for your finished hearts so make sure you like the shape when it’s unfolded.

Step 3: Cut out hearts
Fold your heart squares in half, crease with the bone folder, and trace your half heart template onto the paper.

Step 4: Cut out hearts:
Cut out all your hearts, the same way you did with your template. I used 6 pieces per heart on my finished garland. You could use more for a fuller look, or less. I would use at least 3 pieces per finished heart to achieve a 3D look.

Step 5: Assembly:
Unfold 1 heart piece and place your string on top along the folded line. Your unfolded heart should be a mountain vs a valley on your tabletop, so you are working on the outside of the fold.

Using a small piece of tape, stick the string down to the paper. This is just to hold it in place so it doesn’t have to look pretty, but make sure the tape isn’t showing outside the border of the heart.

Next, paint a thin layer of glue on the left half of the heart and stick another folded heart on top of the wet glue. (This is where a brush helps, because you want a thin layer. Too much glue will seep out of the sides, making it messy and also risking gluing all the pieces together.) Using your finger or bone folder, press down so it’s all stuck. Repeat with the next 3 pieces, putting a thin layer of glue on the left side and stacking folded hearts on top.

With your last heart, paint glue on both sides—the top half of the heart that’s showing and the right side of the bottom heart—and glue the last heart down, open, to both sides. You’ll have closed up your 3D heart around the string! If any of the sides have stuck together, gently separate them while the glue is still wet.

Repeat as you wish, spacing them however you like along the length of string until your garland is finished. You can alternate sizes and colors, and even alternate paper colors on the individual hearts.

Happy Valentine’s day from Frankie Baby! I hope you like this little garland and that it brightens up your space. I have 3 hanging next to my desk right now and they are super cheerful. ❤ ❤ ❤

I'm so sorry, little blog!

Okay okay, I know! I’ve seriously neglected the blog lately. But it’s only because (insert the oldest excuse in the book) I’ve been so busy.

But really, there are big things happening around here! We now have a studio which means I’m not working in the corner of our kitchen anymore. The days of starting projects and getting interrupted with thoughts of “I should really do the dishes/vacuum/some other household thing” are over. Although that space is still not usable because it’s basically a pile of the stuff I didn’t move into the studio…everything is a work in progress!

The studio is in the Mission, surrounded by awesome stores and restaurants and amazing coffee shops. I feel so incredibly lucky and inspired to create!

Speaking of making cool stuff, we finally got our Risograph! It’s an awesome printing process and I am pumped to start experimenting with designs. Like I said, lots of developments. I’m really excited to be able to share what we’re working on in the next few months and hope you’ll follow along on Instagram in the meantime.

Playlists & Paris

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Whether it's music, interviews, stories, or even shows on Hulu, I'm a person who needs to have background noise while working. My husband--a writer--has a hard time listening to words while writing, which makes sense, but lucky me! I have the luxury of being able to listen to podcasts while working on visual things.

What's a mystery to me is why sometimes I want to listen to something that's an active listening experience (new music, an interview or short fiction) and sometimes I want to zone out and not pay attention to it (an album I've heard hundred times or a familiar movie). This morning, I chose zone out mode with the soundtrack from Amelie. If you haven't seen it, recently or ever, it's always worth a watch. It's currently giving me a serious longing for Paris and flashbacks to our honeymoon there last year. 

Signing off to do some more illustrating (while dreaming of sipping un café watching the boats in the fountain at the Jardin du Luxembourg).

Spring has sprung! Can you smell it?

Studio flowers!

Sunday was the first day of Spring, woohoo! I've finally adjusted to the "Spring forward" time change and we're working on some fun Spring-themed things to share with you. I am loving all the blossoms popping out along the city sidewalks. The smell of jasmine blooming in San Francisco is seriously intoxicating.

Speaking of Spring smells, I have this thing with lilacs. Having grown up in the Midwest with a flower-loving mother, they are an integral part of spring for me. They're connected to some very nostalgic part of my brain and there are about a billion memories that collide whenever I smell them. I carried the ones pictured above around the house and studio with me for an entire week!

They inspired me to start a running list (in addition to lilacs, of course) of favorite scents: Lavender, paper, peonies, tomatoes & basil, coffee!, peeling citrus fruit, fall leaves, movie theater popcorn, etc. etc. etc.

What are some of your favorite smells--springlike or not?

Hello!

So nice to meet you! Thanks for visiting. I'm Lizzie and this is Frankie Baby. We are over-the-moon excited to be in the beginning phases of something that's been a dream for going on 10 years--starting a stationery line!

Soon, we'll have product up in the shop. But in the meantime, follow along on Instagram and here on the blog to keep up to date with what's going on as we get everything up and running. BONUS: If you like cat pics, you're in luck. Our namesake is Frank the cat and she is very photogenic.