Aryn Henning Nichols

Decorate your home with hearts and love this winter with this simple Paper Heart Wreath Project!

(Check out those moody, shadowy pics, haha – this Paper Heart Wreath project certainly had a winter sun photoshoot!)

Supplies:
• Card stock in whatever colors you’d like (I had a red and white page for this tutorial)
• Guillotine paper cutter (if you have one)
…otherwise scissors will do (you will need a ruler then)
• Stapler

Position your card stock pages so they’re upright (you’re cutting along the 11-inch side). Cut into a one-and-a-half inch strip. Repeat until you have five strips.

If you’re using scissors, use a ruler to mark the one-and-a-half inch strips and cut along the lines to get your five strips.

Here are my white strips with one heart already formed.

Repeat the strip cutting with your other paper color. If you’re doing more than two colors, you can adjust the number of hearts and strips – I found 10-12 a nice number…nine would probably work too. So you could do three of each color to make nine hearts, or four to make 12, etc.

Here are my 10 strips ready to be folded (okay, one is already folded)!

NOTE: I made a mistake on this first one. You should fold your first heart, but NOT staple it (so you can attach it to the last heart to make a circle wreath at the end). So imagine that first white heart is folded, but not stapled yet. Like above (where I had to remove the staple)!

Okay, back to it! To make your hearts, fold the strip in half and crease it.

Take the open ends, and roll them together to form a paper heart.

Take the first heart by the folded end, and place it inside the rolled-in heart flaps.

Holding those two paper hearts together, slide the second heart over a bit to fit into the stapler, and staple.

It will look like this!

If you’re alternating colors, switch to the next one and repeat. Make a crease in your strip…

Round the heart flaps, placing the last heart’s folded end inside those flaps…

Here’s a closer look at the process of connecting one paper heart to the other. Hold the last paper heart’s creased end. Grab the current paper heart’s left edge…

…then wrap the right edge over to meet the left. Like above.

Slide the heart bottom over so you can staple the two together! Repeat until all your hearts are attached. You should have a line of hearts. Now it’s time to make it a wreath!

As I mentioned, I should have left the very first heart unstapled so I could attach it to the last paper heart in the line, making it a wreath. I removed my first staple so I could make it happen!

You can take a look at it at this point to see if you’re happy with the size if your Paper Heart Wreath.

Take the first paper heart’s unstapled edges and wrap it around the last paper heart’s crease (just like you’ve been doing this whole time, but this time it’s closing the circle).

Fold the other flap around…

And staple!

Woot, you now have a Paper Heart Wreath! You can adjust the way the hearts fold and curl a bit until you’re happy with how it all looks. Then you can hang these in your windows or on your walls, make various sizes, etc. Hearts are my favorite shape (is it weird to have a favorite shape?) and I love putting love on display around our house. I hope you do too! <3

XOXOX – Aryn

Winter 2024-25 Inspire(d)

We’re all in this together. 

And despite all our differences – or perhaps in celebration of them – I’d like to remind our readers that we are, indeed, stronger together. We are connected in this thing called humanity, woven together into a tapestry of varieties and opinions and textures that make one beautiful, complex whole. When we embrace this fact, we can accomplish so much more.

Talented Decorah weaver Laura Demuth’s work on this issue’s cover illustrates this notion beautifully. We loved learning about her path – from shearing her own sheep, making wool yarn, and mastering various weaving techniques in her artwork to becoming a Zen Buddhist priest, Laura’s meandering journey through life is inspiring, and reminds us that it’s never too late to try something new.

This issue is also a great reminder that community building happens on many levels, but the first step is almost always showing up for others. Kara Maloney of Lanesboro Arts wisely states in her Community Builder interview that “showing up not only builds community, it creates a powerful circle.”

Kathleen Jensen of The Little Heart Project builds community while sending positive messages and love to the world through tiny, crocheted hearts. The project is an effort to raise awareness about suicide. These hearts are a reminder that you never know how your actions impact another’s, nor can you ever really know what someone else is going through.

Our mental health section dives into the world of loneliness and shares some ideas for finding connection that works for you. The winter holiday season can bring a lot of social outings and obligations at once. Then it all abruptly halts, often bringing a desire for hunkering down. By mid-to-late-winter, connecting with others can feel like an insurmountable task – especially when you’re an introverted sort. But connecting with others brings a light to our lives that we all really do need.

Finding light in the darkest of darks, Heidi Overson shares the tragic story of her daughter’s death due to accidental fentanyl overdose, and how she and her family built the Amara Rose Foundation in an effort to help others avoid the same heartbreak.

Folks looking for a (figurative) breath of fresh air should make sure to read our conservation story about woodpeckers. They are on full view in the winter, and writer Craig Thompson is back to tell us all about them. Paired with Mary Thompson’s gorgeous artwork, these stories are always a joy.

Eric Sovern brings joy as well – to all who pass through Cardboard Robot’s doors in Downtown Decorah, and to all reading this issue’s Sum of Your Business interview. He reminds us, “Art and craft work doesn’t have to hang in a museum for it to have value. All it has to do is express something you feel inside and then make you feel good about getting it done.”

Finally…confession: I fan-girl over Decorah’s wrestling hero Naomi Simon whenever I see her around town, so I was stoked to feature an update about her rising wrestling stardom in this issue! 

And I love when my friends get to interview their loved ones for the probituary. Be sure to read about Lynsey D. Mortiz’s grandma, Martha Deines, on the back page Q&A!

Here’s to wrapping up 2024, and looking to 2025 with hope, determination, and optimism. We can’t know what the future will hold, but we can band together to try to make it better. Happy New Year, dear readers. Let’s do this thing.

Looking forward,

Aryn Henning Nichols

Listen to our winter Spotify playlist while you read!

In this issue, you’ll find:

Connection: We’re all in this together! Artist Laura Demuth • Community Builders – Kathleen Jensen / The Little Hearts Project – Kara Maloney / Lanesboro Art • Paper Heart Wreath • Infographic: Tips for Making Connections • Connection for Improved Mental Health • Amara Rose Foundation • Woodpeckers! • Sum Biz: Eric Sovern of Cardboard Robot • Wrestling Hero Naomi Simon • Martha Deines • And more! Read the whole thing online here!

Get ready! Decorah’s second annual Wellness Weekend is scheduled for November 1-3, 2024! Find details at decorahareachamber.com/events

Last year, Decorah businesses launched this fun weekend into the world with a variety of activities – from a hot toddy cocktail hour to yoga and exercise classes to cool wellness grab bags and more. We love any reason to highlight taking care of ourselves and making time for things that bring us peace and better health, so we wanted to make sure this date is on your calendars!

To make the most of your Wellness Weekend in Decorah, we’ve put together a “Wellness Weekend Toolkit!” You can grab these goods around town, and then get ready to really lean into a relaxing weekend.

Can’t make it to Decorah? Get inspired to celebrate your own Wellness Weekend wherever you are (and whenever you want) with some of these tools and ideas!

Here’s to winding down this fall and spending some time on you.

Fuel Up

Grab a Reefuel Smoothie at Impact Coffee! Banana, spinach, and peanut butter are the main ingredients here, and it is delicious! Making one at home? Our current fave includes kale, vanilla yogurt, berries, and ice!

Relax

Set aside some time for a little qua sha or jade rolling – it’s great for relieving jaw tension or headaches along the brows. This set is from Wildcrafted Acupuncture and Herbs!

Spa Time!

Decorah’s Oneota Co-op has a great selection of bath salts and baths, plus some face masks!

We love the French clay mud mask in the bulk section but couldn’t resist this cute pink sheet mask! And the lavender foaming bath packet is our go-to!

Create the Good Vibes

Light a candle and set an intention for the weekend.

Put a new sticker on your water bottle.

Send a card to a loved one, letting them know you’re thinking of them.

(These goodies are all from Agora Arts in Decorah, IA.)

Power Up!

Sign up for a Yoga or Yoga Sculpt class at Driftless Yoga Center at driftlessyoga.org.

Read more about Driftless Yoga Center founder Laree Schouweiler in the Fall 2024 Sum of Your Business interview here!

Have a great Wellness Weekend in Decorah, or wherever you are!