Coiled Magazine Page Heart Tutorial

You saw this coming, right?  Valentine’s Day is approaching, and a coiled newsprint heart tutorial is all but mandatory here at SBLC.  This would be a great craft for Valentine’s Day decor or gifts.  The technique is pretty much the same I have shown you in other coiled projects, with the addition of the best paste option I have found so far.  I will share with you the step by step, including the glue recipe that is key in strengthening the strips and neatly coiling/shaping them.

Supplies:

• Magazines pages in colors you love
• Paper cutter or scissors
• Toothpicks
• Paper mache paste (recipe below)
• Wax paper
• Heart shaped cookie cutter
• Craft glue (I prefer Crafter’s Pick for these projects because it sticks to the wet strips, grabs fast and dries clear)

Instructions:

• Fold strips as shown in this magazine page coiling tutorial.  I use a 1/4 magazine page for each strip.  Some tutorials show 1/2 page or full page.  I like 1/4 because I think the end projects look much nicer (less bends and crinkles in the strips).
• Make your paste as follows:
  4 tbsp. flour
  1 c. cold water
  1 c. boiling water
  1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
  Mix flour + cold water then add boiling water and bring to boil. Add sugar, stir constantly until thick. Makes 2 cups.
• Dip each strip in the paste as shown, then lay on wax paper to dry.
  
  
  

• Let strips dry; I usually prepare a bunch of strips and make the piece the next day. I am sure a couple of hours would suffice.
• When you are ready to being shaping your strips, wet each one, one at a time as you are using it.  The paper mache paste makes the strips stronger and wetting them makes them easier to shape,  The paste becomes a little sticky again, helping the strip to stay where you place it. 
• To get the heart shape outline; wrap strip around cookie cutter.  If you are using a larger cutter, you may need more than one strip to go around.  No problem.  Just overlap the strips about 1/4 end to beginning and continue wrapping.  When you come to the beginning of your first strip, overlap the current strip with it about 1/4 inch and trim off any remainder of the end strip.  When that dries, slide heart shape off of cookie cutter.  .

• To make the inside coils, I just start coiling (using strips i have re-wet) and use the outline as a guide to help me figure out what size and how many coils I need.  Place the coils inside the outline, and using a toothpick, place a dab of glue at each contact point (where the coils touch one another and where the touch the outline).  Let your piece dry completely and cover with a couple of coats of mod podge or sealant of choice for durability
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The possibilities are endless.  I would love to see what you come up with, and am happy to answer questions!