A Tutorial and The Winner!

 I thought you might like to make your own book page heart garland for Valentine's Day so to save you a little "trial and error" time...Here is how we made them:

**Cut 1" strips from the old book pages.  We used two books with pages that were 8.75" to 9" long.  We tried shorter pages which made a fatter heart which wasn't the look we were going for...suit it to your taste.  Hint: Take a tape measure with you to your stack of books, to the garage stack of books, or to the thrift store.  Even 1" shorter changes the shape of the heart quite a bit. 
**You need 7 strips for one heart.  If making quite a few hearts and using a rotary cutter like I did, you can cut 3-4 pages at a time and zip along.  
**Cut 1.5" off of two strips.
**Cut 3" off of two strips.
**Cut off 5" from one strip.
If using a rotary cutter is easier to think about what you cut off instead of how long you  are leaving the strips. Then, also, the length you start with doesn't matter.  The length of the strips in relation to each other is more important than the actual length. 
You want:
2, approximately 9" strips
2, approximately 7.5" strips
2, approximately 6" strips
1, approximately 4" strip

Fold the 4" strip in half, add a hole reinforcer (optional, but good for old paper) at the folded end, punch with hole punch.

**Take two of the longest strips...

Ignore my old ugly tablecloth please...I use two old tablecloths layered on my sewing room table to protect the whole table when working.  My table is really nice, but I want to use it as a workhorse bench, so I protect it with the old tablecloths.  Sounds odd, but there is such freedom in covering the whole table with something I can get paint on, rub glue on, etc.  I just shake them out, wash them on occasion, and use them again flipped over.  When I want to clean up, they are whisked away and my pretty table sits there unblemished.

**Sandwich the folded tab piece between the two longest strips.  Keep the text right side up on the long strips and the folded edge down on the tab.

Here the second piece is now on, and you have a tab sandwich.

**Continue to build the sandwich with the 7.5" pieces and the 6" pieces: adding one on each side of the sandwich in that order.

 **Staple.  Or...for mine and for the giveaway, I sewed them with my sewing machine.  However, I don't think you should sew edge to edge with old paper, it may cut it.

**Line up the bottom edges of your strips, beginning with the shortest strip.

 **Do this on both sides and then bring the two sides together, opposite the folded tab piece...

...to form your heart.

 **Staple or sew again.

There you go. 

I used an 8" piece of jute to tie a loop onto each one for the garland.  Then tied them on to a long piece of jute to hang.

And, there you are looking into the depth of a box full of these....just waiting for each one to be strung on a ribbon and placed on the back of a chair at the wedding reception.

I really think making these out of an Anthropology catalog would be pretty too, similar to this one....

So, the winner of my book heart garland giveaway is....

Linda...of Linda Jo's Obsessions!!  I will be contacting you...  Up soon, more wedding projects!