Iris Folding Heart Cards

These cards are a beautiful way to say "Thank You" or "I Love You" to friends and family!

Time Required:

Budget 1 hour for your first card

You will need:

Iris Folding template (see below)
A 5" x 3½" piece of cardstock
A blank 5½" x 4" card (or a piece of 10" x 5½" cardstock
Thin paper in 3 colours (wrapping paper, tissue paper or origami paper work well)
Paper cutter (optional, but helpful) or ruler & pencil
Scissors
Clear tape
Double-sided tape (or glue dots)
A pen or fine-tip markers
Embellishments such as stickers, washi tape, etc. (optional)

Directions:

1. Make paper strips

Using a paper cutter, or a ruler and scissors, cut your paper into strips that are 1.5-2" wide and at least 6" long. Technically you need one of these strips for each number on your card, but you can often use one strip to cover two of the smaller spaces.

2. Fold your paper strips in half

Fold each strip in half lengthwise. Go over your fold several times with a finger to ensure the edge is crisp and set aside.

Decide which colour will be colour #1, #2, and #3.

3. Prepare your card stock

By hand:

Cut one 4.5" square and one 10" x 5" rectangle of cardstock (preferably two colours)
Carefully cut the "cutting template" from the downloadable template (it's the plain one)
Centre this cut shape onto the smaller piece of cardstock and trace.
Carefully cut the traced piece out, leaving just the "frame"

Using a Cricut or other cutting machine:

Load the heart.svg file from the download .zip file.
Resize the image to be 5" x 3.5".
Cut onto cardstock
Using either your machine or a ruler and scissors, cut out a 10" x 5" rectangle of cardstock

4. Lay out your template

Choose which heart you would like to try (there are two levels of difficulty). Place your "Paper Placement Template on the table. If you'd like, you can use a piece of masking or painter's tape to attach it to the table and keep it from sliding.

Next, place your cut out frame over top of the pattern, adjusting until it lines up. Use a small amount of masking/painters tape to tape this to the pattern.

5. Attaching the paper strips

Lay one of your folded pieces of your first colour paper over the section labelled "1", lining up the folded edge with the black line. Tape to the frame.

Don't worry if paper sticks out from the side of the frame - it gets trimmed later on.

6. Repeat!

Continue, lining up a folded piece of your second colour over the section labelled "2", lining up the folded edge with the black line.

As you get closer to the centre, you may wish to cut your strips into smaller pieces to reduce bulk.

You may choose to leave the centre triangle of your card open, or you can cover it up with one of your coloured strips, or a completely different colour!

7. Tidy & Trim

Using your clear tape, place a few longer strips across the entire back of the card, making sure everything is attached well. Carefully remove the tape holding your card to the template and turn over to see your work!

Using scissors, trim any paper strips that stick out over the edges of your frame.

8. Attach to card

Using double-sided tape or glue dots, attach your completed frame to the blank card. Press down firmly.

You can use washi tape or other embellishments to give your card some added flare, or leave it as is.

And you are done! We'd love for you to share who you gave your card to in the comments!

Bonus!

I also have a bonus for my Girl Guide friends! I've made a trefoil/shamrock card as well! Simply print out the template below, and follow the same steps steps as you did for the heart card! Note: The sizes to cut your frame and card are slightly different and are listed on the template.

Bonus #2!

This is a thank you card that you can use for all of the people in your life who deserve a little bit of thanks! Note: The sizes to cut your frame and card are slightly different and are listed on the template.

This tutorial is also available as a video!

Downloads & Free Printables!

This zipped file has SVGs for all three cards!

Now go out and spread kindness like confetti!