Children will love this adorable Valentine's Day heart suncatcher hanging in your window. A fun project for a snowy day!
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Crafting Time30 minutesmins
Drying time20 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Age Group: Kids Crafts
Project Type: Valentine's Day
Makes: 1suncatcher
Supplies
Clear contact paper
Variety of tissue paper colors
1sheet of 8 1/2×11″white paper
Yarn or ribbon for hanging loop
Optional: 2 sheets of red construction paper
Optional: glitter in color of your choice
Craft tools
A large piece of cardboard (should be at least 12x12," to tape your project to while making it)
Black marker
Ruler
Blue painters tape or low tack tape
Optional: Hole punch
Instructions
Cut the tissue paper into small pieces and shapes. I cut mine in a range of 1/2″ pieces to tiny confetti sizes. Place piles of tissue paper within easy reach on the table.
Draw your heart design on the white paper, using the black marker. If you want “perfect shaped” hearts, you can use a stencil, or fold/cut a heart shape out of a piece of scrap paper and trace that. Make different sizes for a fun window display!
Measure/cut a piece of contact paper 9×20″. DO NOT peel off the paper yet! Tape the contact paper down on the cardboard piece, paper side up, using pieces of the blue painters tape on each corner.
Carefully peel back the left side of the contact paper so the sticky side is exposed and fold the paper over the right half of the contact paper. Add a piece of blue painters tape to the top and bottom at the centerfold, on the left side of the fold (so you are putting the tape on the sticky side). Then slide the white paper with your heart design under the left side and use this as your guide to create your tissue paper hearts.
Design the suncatcher by placing the tissue paper pieces on the sticky contact paper within the heart shapes. You can overlap tissue paper pieces, and it is OK to have small areas where there is no tissue paper. It is also OK to go outside of the lines of the heart.
Once your design is complete, slide the white paper out from under the contact paper. and put aside. When children are done decorating, peel the backing off the right side of the contact paper and fold it over to the left, sticky side to sticky side. This will sandwich the tissue paper design between the contact paper.
Cut out the heart shape designs from the white paper and position those on the tissue paper designs and cut the heart shapes out of the tissue/contact paper.
To add a construction paper frame and yarn/ribbon hanger:
Trace the white paper heart shapes onto 2 pieces of construction paper and then cut out the center of each heart to make a 1/2 -3/4″ heart-shape frame. Use the glue stick to coat 1 side of a frame in glue and then position on your tissue paper design. Glue down the ends of your yarn or ribbon and place on left and right side of the heart and glue down the top construction paper frame.
Optional: You can also hole punch one hole on the left and right side of the heart and tie the yarn/ribbon through the holes to create a hanging loop.
Frameless Suncatcher:
I cut some heart shape frames out of tissue paper and applied them to the sticky contact paper and then added the tissue pieces inside that. Once the tissue paper is sandwiched between the contact paper, just cut out the suncatcher heart shapes (step 7). Use clear tape (rolled up) to tack the suncatchers in a window.
Expert Tips & FAQs
Use tissue paper from your stash of gently used or new from the Holidays!
You can use whatever colors you’d like, we suggest Valentine colors like red, purple, or pink.
If prepping Steps 1-4 ahead of time, give yourself 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your group.
If you are working with a group and want everyone to make the same size/shapes, create the heart designs that you want on the paper first, and then photocopy that sheet so everyone has their own.
If you want to simplify this project, work in smaller sizes and have each person make 2-3 smaller (3-4″) suncatchers instead of 1 big one. The contact paper is easier to handle in smaller sizes. To work smaller, just cut your white sheet of paper in 1/2 and create the heart designs on that 1/2 sheet of paper. Adjust your contact paper size to fit that.
For some sparkle, add a light sprinkle of glitter when creating the tissue paper designs! Try cutting out some tissue paper hearts to use in your designs as well.
If you have younger kids, they may need your help. The contact paper can stick together quickly and unexpectedly. If you end up with bubbles or folds, use the smooth side of a pen, or handle of the scissors and gently burnish down the contact paper working from the center out to flatten bubbles or folds that may have happened.