DIY with Star: Simple Paper Flowers

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

DIY with Star: Simple Paper Flowers

I absolutely love all things paper: scrap-booking paper, butcher paper, wrapping paper, card-stock... paper goods, paper decorations, paper embellishments, and crafting with paper! I actually used these paper flowers as embellishments on my DIY wrapping post last December. I've been making these paper flowers for quite some time and they are so simple, I had to share them with you! All you need are scraps of paper and tiny brads, that's it! You can use these adorable paper flowers to adorn packages or as table decorations. You can even glue them to fishing line or ribbon to make paper flower garland.

Follow this simple tutorial to make your own...

Step 1: Cut out approximately 6 paper flowers of varying sizes (they don't have to be perfect :). The ones I cut were between approximately 1 inch to 3 inches; I also used a variety of colors and textures. Once they are cut out, punch a small whole in the middle of each flower.

Step 2: Starting with the largest flower on the bottom, pile the other flowers on top of one another from largest to smallest with the smallest flower on the top.

Step 3: Take a small brad (I purchased these from JoAnn's) and secure it through the holes.

Step 4: Quickly run the brad secured flowers under water. You want them to be damp so the paper is pliable, but not so wet that the paper tears. The thicker the paper, the more water it can handle. Starting with the smallest flower on top, carefully fold it in toward the center.

Continue to work down the flower, carefully folding each paper flower in toward the center.

Once all of the flowers are individually folded into the center your flower will look like this:

Step 5: Gently unwrap the flowers, starting with the largest one. You can fuss with them a bit until you like what you see. You can then let it dry and it will retain it's shape.