I’ve always been drawn to the image of a heart inside a hand.

“Heart in hand”  symbolizes charity or from the heart, some say it represents friendship, love and truth.

All of these are good things.

Some years ago, I came across a paper heart woven into a hand. I thought it was simply beautiful. I researched on how to make it and then made it.  (it’s much easier than it looks)

Since then, I’ve seen more of them on Pinterest and Etsy. Some of them on Pinterest are antiques and absolutely gorgeous. The paper and woven details are amazing! I’ve gathered a few of my favorites here; one has locks of hair woven into the paper, (the one with black background) another made with an envelope and another a poem and the ring!

The process of scissor-cutting such as this is known as Scherenschnitte, an art developed in Germany and Switzerland in the 16th century. It was brought to America in the 18th century, primarily by settlers in Pennsylvania.

Dear treasures!

I’m exchanging Valentines with a group of friends, and I decided to make this as my Valentine. I enjoyed taking a break from cleaning out my craft room and actually making a mess instead. 

I glued several sheets of music together to make it sturdier. I enjoyed embellishing the sleeves with lace, ribbon, crepe paper and even a few little velvet flowers I made, each one a little different. You can leave the sleeve plain if you prefer.  

This one is my favorite because I had glued the paper lace on a wrist but had to take it off and it pulled these words off. “With Me” I love when a mistake makes art. 

I decided to sew the hand into a square of wax paper. I added some little heart confetti I punched out of old paper and sometimes a little red thread and sewed them up adding a label and stamp to the border. I think they turned out really neat. 

I wrapped them in tissue and mailed them with love. Looking forward to hearing from the receivers and getting their handmade Valentine in my mailbox.

If you would like to make one I have included the link and some tips on making them.

Link to learn to make them: heart in hand 

Helpful Tips:

• make a practice one (a large one and use scrap paper)
• choose a paper that is not brittle (or glue several together)
• your hand and heart need to be of similar thickness of paper
• when you are weaving the heart press the little tabs from the back

I hope you have time to make one for someone special for Valentines.

With Love,

Katey