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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
metalic
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.
Materials
- Metalic
silver paper, 8.5" X 11"
- Metalic 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,
printed on photo paper (here are four to choose from).
- Cutting
template
- Candy.
Don't forget the candy.
Instructions
Copy template
shape to silver and gold paper, and cut out one of each. See Tips for a shortcut method.
- Weave
your heart basket according to the weaving
instructions at the bottom of this page.
Using
the hole punch, punch 16 holes, each hole centered at the top of each
woven strip.
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.
Make your
own "scrap"
by cutting out a heart-shaped image.
- 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.
- 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.
- Cut two 12" lengths of
ribbon, and tie them to the front and back ribbon knots as a basket
handle.
- Make
two ribbon loop bows and tie them to the front and back.
- 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 tempate (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. |
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| Insert
the left-most PINK strip through the layers of the right-most RED strip. |
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| 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). |
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| Continue
weaving the same PINK strip through the layers of the next RED strip. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| All
done? You should have a dandy woven heart with a vague Amish
atmosphere. |
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| Opened
up, it is about the size of a fistful of candy – or 30-seconds of
eating time. |
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Return
from Heart Basket Craft to the Main Craft Page


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