Colorful Heart Garland for DIY Valentine’s Photos

When I busted out the construction paper, this DIY heart garland wasn’t exactly what I had planned, but I love the outcome!

My little guy wasn’t feeling too hot but needed something to keep him busy. This simple DIY heart garland was a fun Valentine’s craft that we could do together! I didn’t know how he would do with the scissors since it’s not something he’s done very often. (Second child problems.) But with a little guidance, he really got the hang of it!

Once we finished our creations, I was trying to figure out exactly what to do with them. Should we hang them on the mantle? Decorate our play kitchen? Then it hit me, these would be the perfect backdrop for a little Valentine’s “photo booth” at home!

Now let’s take a look at how we made our heart garland and turned it into a Valentine’s backdrop!

DIY Heart Garland

As you can imagine, creating this garland is super simple! You just need a few supplies that you most likely have on hand especially if you have little ones at home.

Here’s what you need:

• Construction paper (or any paper of choice)
• Scissors
• Glue stick, liquid glue or stapler
• A creative, patient moment

Here’s what you do:

1. Cut your construction paper into 4’s.
2. Fold paper in half and draw half of a heart on all the pieces.

3. Let your little one cut out the hearts. If they aren’t used to working with scissors, you may need to help them! (My son is still new to scissors, so I’m teaching him to hold them correctly. He’s doing all the cutting and I’m simply guiding him.)

4. Glue the hearts together. You can do this many ways, but to achieve the same look as our garland, glue the edges of the hearts together.

5. Wait for the glue to dry then open up your DIY heart garland!

Related Post: LOVE Art Project for Toddlers

I love this garland for several reasons:

• It’s super simple.
• I love a project that the kids and I can do together.
• You can customize the colors!
• Garland is always a good idea.
• To make a more sophisticated garland, you can use scrapbook paper for added flair.
• You can layer your DIY Valentine’s garland with others for a stylish effect that displays your kids work!

If you’re a garland lover like me, check out these other super cute options you can snag for $10 or less!

Valentine’s Photo Backdrop

Turning this DIY heart garland into a Valentine’s Day photo backdrop is super simple and you can easily add your own flair to it!

First, you need a blank wall with decent lighting.

Next, hang your heart garland! We chose to do ours in two layers. Since the edges are glued together, you can hang one with the edges out and another with the edges in to give it a different look. (See below)

On the bottom layer, I pulled the hearts apart a little bit and reinforced them with staples to make them open up a little wider. Take some time to play around with them a little bit so you can get them just right!

Last I added these 16″ LOVE balloons because who doesn’t love balloons? (You can get these balloons in silver, gold, rainbow, black, and rose gold! It’s the entire alphabet plus happy birthday, so you can use them for tons of different occasions!)

Related Post: Fun & Interactive Valentine’s for Kids

Here’s the final product:

DIY Heart Garland and Photo Booth Wrap Up

Overall it was a fun little project. We loved making the garland together, then taking photos had us all giggling as the baby didn’t really care to cooperate and kept wiggling around and running away!

I definitely recommend giving this a try with your little ones even if you don’t use it as a photo booth backdrop. It would look super cute in a playroom, on the mantle or even decorating a play kitchen or playhouse!

If you decided to do it, be sure to share and tag me on Instagram or Facebook! And follow along for more fun and adventures as an active mom of 3.

Before you go…

Be sure to pin this for later! Add it to your Crafts with Kids or Valentine’s board!

Be sure to check out these other Valentine’s projects!

Valentine’s Thumbprint Tree from We’re the Wolff’s

DIY Valentine’s Day Banner from The Lifestyle Passport

Heart-Shaped Shortbread Cookies from Kristin Hamilton

DIY Valentine’s Decor from Mission Mami

Valentine’s Bear Craft from The Williams Party

Valentine Love Wands from Mama Llama Llama

Yarn Crafts for Valentine’s Day from Style Simpler

Valentine’s Day Tree Decor from Alex is a Mom

Valentine’s Day Crafts for Toddlers from The Smile On

St. Valentine’s Garland from Con Limon Please

Valentine’s Painting from Peace Love Military

Would you do this with your little ones? What color combination would you choose?

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