Friday, June 7, 2013

Paper Flower Tutorial

Want an easy way to get creative and add a pop of color to your party?  
These DIY paper flowers are so easy to make, super cheap, you can make them to coordinate with your party colors AND you can make them big, small or even gigantic!!!  Here's how to make them...

How to make Paper Flowers 

You will need:

Paper 

Scissors

Glue   

Step 1: Start with a square piece of paper and fold in half.     

Step 2: Make a crease half way along the folded edge.

Step 3: Fold one side of the paper over at an angle of 60°.  Then fold the other side to the opposite edge, making all the edges line up.  (This step may be a little tricky at first but you eventually get really good at being able to estimate 60° folds)

Step 4: Now fold the shape in half then use your scissors to cut a curve from one folded edge to the other. 

Step 5: When you open the flower the creases won't be in the right places.  You will have to refold some of the creases so they alternate from mountain fold to valley fold. 

Step 6: Now that you know how to make the basic flower shape, make a whole bunch of them in different sizes, shapes* and colors.  

*If you want to make the flower petals different shapes.  You do this at step 4 when cutting the petal.  Just experiment by cutting different shapes and angles.


Step 7: Make centers for your paper flowers.  Here are a few different types...

Scrunch and twist a strip of paper then coil it around to make a circle.
Roughly cut out a circle then cut it into a spiral. Starting from the outside, roll the paper until you get to the center of the spiral.  Use a bit of glue at the bottom to hold it together. 
Use a scallop punch to punch out 4 or 5 scallop shapes.  Make a cut between each scallop toward the center of the shape.  Glue each of the scallop shapes on top of each other then fluff out by folding and scrunching the petals.
Make vertical cuts along a long strip of paper leaving about 1cm at the base. Apply glue along the base then roll it up. Bend the strips outwards to fluff it out. 

Step 8:  Apply glue at the center of one flower then stick a smaller flower on top.  You can keep adding more flower layers or just leave it at two.  

Use glue to add a center to your flower and your done!

You can see how I used these paper flowers for Ashlee's Fairy Party here and here.

Have fun decorating your party space with a mass of colorful flowers! 
post signature