Weave a Heart Basket with a vintage touch to deliver your Valentine candy.
This one is a classic in every way.  We call it
"Silver Threads Among the Gold."

Here is a simple paper craft so traditional, you probably made it in 2nd grade. Our Heart Basket is dressed up with silver and gold metallic paper, some satin ribbon, and a vintage Valentine "scrap." Add some fancy chocolates, and this is the perfect “door knob” gift from the office Valentine Fairy.

A Victorian "scrap" is a small illustration, usually color lithographed, embossed, and die-cut. As you guessed, they were sold to decorate scrapbooks!

Materials

• Metallic silver paper, 8.5" X 11".
• Metallic gold paper, 8.5" X 11".
• Black construction paper, about 5" X 5".
• Thin ribbon.  We used about 4' of red satin.
• Glue stick or paper adhesive.
• Hole punch.
• Scissors.
• Decorative-edge scissors.
• Vintage image (PDF download) printed on photo paper (here are four to choose from).
• Cutting template (PDF download).
• Candy.  Don't forget the candy.

Instructions

1. Copy template shape to silver and gold paper, and cut out one of each. See Tips for a shortcut method.
2. Weave your heart basket according to the weaving instructions at the bottom of this page.
   
   
3. Using the hole punch, punch 16 holes, each hole centered at the top of each woven strip.
   
   
4. Thread 12" of ribbon through all of the holes on the left side of the heart basket. Start from the center of the basket, at the top, and end with the corresponding hole on the back of the basket. Repeat on the right side of the basket. Adjust the ribbon so the loose ends are equal length, tie the ends together in front and again in back in square knots.
   
   
5. Make your own "scrap" by cutting out a heart-shaped image.
6. Glue your scrap to the black construction paper, and cut around it with the decorative-edge scissors. We used a scallop cut, leaving about 1/16" of the paper showing as a border.
7. Punch a hole at the top of the scrap, thread through 5'" of ribbon, and tie it to the ribbon knot on the front of the basket.
8. Cut two 12" lengths of ribbon, and tie them to the front and back ribbon knots as a basket handle.
9. Make two ribbon loop bows and tie them to the front and back.
10. Fill your shimmering heart basket with candy. Don't forget the candy.

Tips

• Here is a shortcut for cutting your paper.  Print two copies of the template page.  Fold your silver paper in half horizontally.  Fold the template page (uncut) on the marked "fold" line.  Place the folded edge of the template on the folded edge of the silver paper.  Staple them together 4-5 times around the template (not within the template design).  First, cut the slit lines through the template and the paper.  Next, cut around the template.  Repeat for the gold paper.
• A "scrap" is a small, die-cut image, very popular during the Victorian period for decorating scrapbooks - and just about everything else.
• Silver and gold paper is elegant, and looks good with any color ribbon.  Deep jewel-color velvet ribbons are especially nice with this design.  You can use any kind of paper, as long as it is substantial in weight, and the colors are contrasting. You can also use felt or stiff fabric.

 

Weaving Instructions

You’ve already used your template to cut two pieces of contrasting paper colors, folded them, and cut the slits.  We used RED and PINK for these instructions.  Place your RED paper on the left, and the PINK paper on the right, folded edges at the bottom.
Insert the left-most PINK strip through the layers of the right-most RED strip.
Insert the next RED strip between the layers of the PINK strip (or more visually, put the layers of the PINK strip “around” the RED strip).
Continue weaving the same PINK strip through the layers of the next RED strip.
Insert the last RED strip between the layers of the PINK strip.  That’s one row.  Slide the woven PINK strip up toward the rounded end of the RED paper to give you room for weaving the next PINK strip.
Next row.  Insert the Red strip between the layers of the PINK strip.  Now, insert the PINK strip between the layers of the RED strip.  Continue to the end of that PINK strip, and again slide the PINK strips up to give you weaving room.
Next row.  Insert the PINK strip between the layers of the RED strip.  Your working space will become more cramped, so bend the paper gently to reduce creasing.  Continue weaving and moving rows up until you reach the end.  If you have serious trouble squeezing in the last row, your slits may be cut too short, and they’ll need to be cut a fraction of an inch more.
All done?  You should have a dandy woven heart with a vague Amish atmosphere.
Opened up, it is about the size of a fistful of candy – or 30-seconds of eating time.