Turn Cardboard Scraps Into The Cutest Hanging Wall Decor With An Easy DIY

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Your recycling bin is looking pretty full. Hold off on throwing that cardboard box onto the heap: It can be the base for a simple project that's equal parts boho and cutecore. Four yarn-wrapped heart cutouts connected compass rose-style at their points make a precious wall hanging. It's adorable as-is but even nicer with a few yarn-based or glittery embellishments. This cardboard DIY will add style and decor to any room in your home in no time.

All you need for the structure is a skein of yarn in a color you like and a piece of cardboard between 1 and 2 feet square. (Corrugated is best for this project, since it's more rigid than the boxboard material used for things like cereal.) As for tools, you'll need a pencil, paper, a measuring tape, scissors, a utility knife, and a glue gun. You'll also need a yarn needle to connect the four hearts instead of relying on potentially weak and unsightly glue. The kind with a bent tip like these Mygeromon Yarn Needles will make the task easier.

If your taste runs along maximalist or eclectic lines, this can also be a great "stash buster" craft. (Knitters and crocheters end up with lots of small balls of leftover yarn that are too small for most projects.) Hearts wrapped in yarns of varying colors and textures will give you a totally unique whimsical decor piece.

Save yourself some potential troubleshooting by snipping up a perfectly symmetrical folded heart template. This is also a smart way to repurpose junk mail. Fold, trace, and snip up a heart you're happy with. Trace this heart once onto the cardboard.

Sketch and cut out another paper heart about 1 inch smaller than the larger heart. Center this smaller heart on top of the larger one so that there's a 1-inch margin between the two, and trace it. Use the utility knife first to cut out the inner heart, then to cut out the larger one. Trace three more heart "frames" onto the cardboard, and cut them out in the same order you did for the first one.

Heat up the glue gun, and grab your hearts and yarn. If you've got a full skein of yarn, take a minute to wind up a small ball of yarn from it that's just large enough to pass through the hole in the heart "frame." Attach the free end of the yarn near the heart's point. Wrap the heart frame with yarn until you've covered it entirely. You can wrap it either in an even layer, one strand next to another, or by looping the yarn haphazardly until the cardboard is hidden. Whichever method you choose, repeat it on the remaining hearts for a consistent look. Once you've covered the frames to your liking, snip and glue the yarn's ends to the back of the hearts.

Join the four hearts with hidden stitches. Lay two of the hearts next to each other with their sides touching, back side up. Send the yarn needle under a few strands of yarn on one heart, and tie the end to secure it. Make a same-sized stitch through the yarn in the same spot on the other heart. Continue stitching until the points where the hearts curve away from each other. Cut and tie off the end of the yarn. Repeat this until you've connected all four hearts.

A yarn bauble will hide where the four hearts meet. Cut a 2 inch cardboard circle, and use scissors to poke a 1-inch hole in its center. Fit your needle with a long string of yarn. Send the needle through the hole, and tie the first "stitch" around the cardboard. Continue passing the needle through the hole, covering the entire circle with yarn. Snip and knot the yarn in place. Glue the circle over the point where the four hearts touch, making sure the side with visible knots is face-down.

Finish off your creation with three yarn tassels to hang from the bottom of the piece. Snip up a 3-inch square of cardboard. Wrap it generously with yarn, concentrating and overlapping the yarn near the middle of the cardboard. Cut the end of the yarn, and slide the bundle off the cardboard. Wrap the yarn tightly, about four times, about 1 inch from the end of the yarn bundle, and cut the yarn loops on the other end. Make two more to hang with lengths of yarn from the lowest three hearts.