TUTORIAL: Paper Flowers

I originally found the tutorial to make these flowers at 52 Mantels. She has an excellent tutorial as well. Probably better than mine because well, this is my first ever! I also apologize in advance for the picture quality. As of right now all I have is a Samsung point and shoot camera. I can fake it up pretty good with furniture, people, animal, everyday shots.. but when you try to take an up close picture, it's not that great. But never the less, hopefully it gets my point across and teaches you how to make an awesome flower!!

You will need lunch sized paper bags, scissors and some twine. The twine is used to secure the paper together in the middle of the flower, so you could use almost anything. Staples, twisty tie, glue, tape, etc. On the ones I made for Thanksgiving, I used staples. But all I had on hand when I made this tutorial was the twine.

The first thing you do is cut down one edge of the bag and then around the entire bottom. You'll be left with one big piece and the bottom will be thrown out. Or if you're crafty you could save all the bottoms. I debated on it, but then threw all mine away. I actually thought they might make good stencils.

After your bottom is cut out, you will then fold the large piece in half. Cut down the fold. Then fold those two pieces in half again. Cut down the folds. You will then have 4 smaller rectangle pieces.

Next, line up all four pieces and accordion fold them like you are making a fan. Then use your twine (or staple, glue, what have you) to bind the pieces together in the middle. It doesn't have to be tied super tight, just strong enough that it won't pull apart easy.

If you have been thinking that your edges aren't even, this step will solve that problem. Take your scissors and round the two ends. This is so that when fluffed out, it will look more like petals of a flower. You could also make the ends pointy, zig zag'd, it all depends on what you want your petals to look like. Use your imagination!

The last step is to start pulling your layers apart. This part was hard to capture in a picture. Just start with the top piece of paper and pull it up and towards the center of the flower. I go around in circles and do the top piece of paper on both sides, then move on to the second and so on. There is no right or wrong way to do this, just figure out what is easiest for you. And yes, you will rip some of the pieces. That's ok! On a few of my flowers, I actually ended up ripping a few spots on purpose just so I could fluff a certain spot to fill in a hole. Just keep going until you get it nice and full looking!

 The final product! A pretty awesome flower! There are so many uses for these too. I made a garland out of mine. (Which you can see here!) But you could also glue some stems on them and use them in a vase. Christmas ornaments! Scatter them throughout your dining table centerpiece. Glue them to a picture frame. Attach magnets and stick to your refrigerator. The possibilities are endless!

LINKING UP @ Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Home Stories A to Z, DIY Home Sweet Home, 

Savvy Southern Style, My Girlish Whims, 

Posted in: diy, tutorial