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Paper Chain

Written and Created by PaperCraftCentral Susan

A Paper Chain is a quick and easy project to try. You could even try making some with your children to decorate your home for a special occasion. My family always liked to make them for Christmas and festoon the whole living room with them. Now that was a good memory to have!

"The weakest link in the chain is also the strongest.
It can break the chain."
~Stanislaw Jerzy Lec


You can make your own decorations for your next party with some of these, a little time and a few of your paper craft supplies. Remember, you don't need adhesive to make these unless you want to make them totally secure. If they are going to be used inside a house with no strong breezes blwoing through, adhesive will not be needed.

paper chain


Maria from Pakistan asked me to show her how to make these decorations without using any adhesive. That almost stumped me till I remembered how to make slotted joins. This type of join work well for making paper chains and if you learn the technique, you can probably apply it in many other papercraft situations.

NOTE: You can actually make your links with or without adhesives. The links will be stronger with tape or glue and may even be necessary if you plan to use your decoration where the wind will blow them apart, but really it depends on the type of paper you choose and how careful and accurate you are with slotting the links together.

TIP: Using cardstock weight or construction paper will work well. Thin paper won't work as well in holding its shape or in staying linked together. You may even find a thin foam sheet that you could make your chains from.



How to Make a Paper Chain


You Will Need:

  • Coloured construction paper or cardstock. Choose a couple of colours for a more festive look, or make them out of metallic foil cardstock for some real pizzazz
  • Scissors, pencil & ruler
  • Staples or tape if you want the chains to stay together well

If you like this project, you may like to make some pretty paper balls to hang from your chain as well.


Here's What to Do:

  • Cut out rectangular strips of construction paper or cardstock in the width and length you want the individual links to be. Make sure your strips are all about the same width and length. Mine are 7cm (2 3/4") long and 1cm (1/2") wide
  • Some of the strip you cut will be overlapping, so be sure to allow for this overlap when deciding how big you want the chain links to be


paper chain



  • Measure back from the end of each strip. I measured back 5mm or 1/4". Also lightly mark the middle of each strip with a pencil.
  • On each end of your strips, draw a horizontal line from the edge of the strip to the middle of the strip.
  • Make a similar line on the other end of the strip, only on the opposite side as shown below
  • NOTE: Be sure to put your pencil marks on the inside of the links so they will not show, or erase them once you have made your cuts

    • paper chain

  • Cut along the lines you have drawn, making sure you don't cut through the whole strip. Stop cutting in the middle of the strip or just past the middle, like so:

    • paper chain
  • Form a circle with the strip, then overlap the ends so the end winds up inside the link, and then slide the other slit you cut into the first one.
  • You can now add a piece of tape or a staple to the joined edges if you wish, but try it without the adhesives first and see if your string of links will stay together without it. Mine is working well!


    • paper chain
    Paper Chain




  • Insert the next strip of paper inside your first link, and then slot it together like you did the first one.
    • Paper Chain



  • Keep repeating the last step until you have the length of chain you want. We used to make them to string from the corner of a room to the central lighting fixture, then would hang a star of something like that where all the chains joined together.

    • paper chain


    And there you have it - How to Make a Paper Chain Without Using Any Adhesive!

    There's no shame in taping or stapling your chain links, but if you do not use adhesive, you can easily take them apart for flat storage and use them on another occasion. That's yet another reason to go adhesive-less if you can!


    Now you know how to make these paper decorations, you might like to make a Paper Chain Christmas Tree using the same technique described on this page but putting the chains together in a slightly different way:


    Paper chain
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