Paper flowers make such beautiful gifts, floral arrangements, centerpieces, shadow boxes, and more! Making paper flowers is not as challenging as you might think. In this article, I will show you two ways to make your very own paper flowers and some of the different projects you can use them for.
I will show you how to make these beautiful blooms using your Cricut machine if you have one, and if not, I will show you how to make some by using a free petal printable template you can find online.
Materials Needed
Regardless of whether you are going to be using a cutting machine such as a Cricut, or something of that nature, you will still need the same materials to get started. I will be using three different sheets of cardstock, a pair of scissors, and a hot glue gun, and hot glue sticks. You could use a glue stick or paper glue but I prefer the hot glue gun for the fact it dries right away and I won’t have to sit and hold the blooms waiting for them to dry. You may choose whatever colored cardstock you would like but I will be using the following for both versions of these paper blooms.
A breakdown of materials needed generally:
– Pink Cardstock
– Red Cardstock
– Black Cardstock
– Hot Glue Gun
– Hot Glue Sticks
– Pair Of Scissors
– Ruller
– Pen or Pencil
– A Work Surface You Are Not Afraid To Dirty Or A Tablecloth You Wouldn’t Care To Get Hot Glue Drips On
What Kind Of Paper Can You Use?
If you do not have cardstock and still are looking to make a bunch of blooms you can substitute with colorful construction paper, crepe paper, old book paper, even old newspaper. Just be sure if you are using your Cricut machine that your cut settings are properly set as to not destroy some of the more delicate papers.
Paper Flowers: Cricut Version
Making Paper Flowers with your Cricut cutting machine really could not be more simple. If you are looking for the perfect paper blooms a cutting machine will really do the trick.
Cricut Design Space
Cricut design space is a designing application that you can use after purchasing a Cricut cutting machine. Design space is designed to give you all kinds of graphic design templates, imagery, fonts, and more! You can pay as you go, only buying things once in a while that appeal to you, paying for a yearly subscription membership, or upload and design your own artwork.
Why You Need Cricut Design Space
The reason I am going into design space is I have purchased the following paper flower template off of design space to use for this specific project, these are the “spiral” cut paper flowers. It is super easy to use and all you need to do is download, place the paper on the correct cutting mat, cut, and make! So it is truly one of the easiest DIY Paper Flowers out there. Cricut really makes making specialty projects such a breeze and offers so many ideas.
Step By Step: How To Make Paper Flowers Using A Cricut
Materials Needed For This Project:
– Red Glitter Cardstock
– Cricut Cutting Machine
– Cricut Design Space
– Hot Glue Gun
– Hot Glue Sticks
To follow this Paper Flower Tutorial we need to start by turning our Cricut on and opening up design space whether you use it on your laptop or tablet.
Cricut Design Space
Next, click on Make A New Project, then once your blank canvas pops up on the left-hand side of your screen if you are using the desktop version of the application there will be a button that says images, click that.
Once you have clicked on images search for “3D Flower”, you will then see a bunch of these spiral-like shapes of all kinds of shapes pop up, I picked the one that looks like a bunch of tiny heart shapes on a spiral. Click on the one you would prefer to make and it will add it right onto your open canvas, now, if you have paid for the Cricut access subscription you will not have to pay anything else but if you do not pay for the subscription you may have to pay to use this template.
Once you have your spiral shape down on your canvas you can change the sizes, duplicate to make multiple Paper Flowers, depending on the size of paper you have chosen.
I am using cardstock that measures 12 inches by 12 inches. So I am making a few different sizes one that measures 4 inches wide, 3.5 inches wide, and 3 inches wide.
Once you have your Paper Flower designs all laid out on your canvas click make it, and set the dial or however your specific machine works to the desired cut level, just make sure that it cuts your design all the way through.
Assembly
Now that you have the cutout spirals, starting from the tail end, or the end that does not have the circle attached, start rolling the spiral together once you have reached the end, release a bit of pressure so that the petals fold out a bit, take a bit of glue and add a drop onto the circle that is the base of the flower, fold the circle onto the bottom and press slightly to glue everything together.
That’s it! That’s how simple it is to make these stunning pink paper flowers. If you wanted you could even use your Cricut to make different leaves and different foliage to add even more of a realistic flower bouquet look.
Step By Step: How To Make Paper Flowers Without A Cutting Machine
Materials Needed For This Project:
– Pink Glitter Cardstock
– Black Cardstock
– Pen
– Ruler
– Scissors
-Hot Glue Gun
-Hot Glue Sticks
First, we are going to want to find some flower petals as a reference to cut out, you can do this by hand drawing your own or by finding templates online, free or something you can pay for on sites like Etsy.
Petal Sizes
What size should the petals be? That totally depends on what you are planning to do with your Paper Flower and how you planning on using them in your crafting. You will want petals ranging in sizing though, so the petals on the outside of your flowers will be larger than the ones going closer to the center of the flower.
For my project I am using 3 different sizes, all of the petals are flat on the bottoms and rounded at the tops, the large petals are measuring 3.5 by 2.25 inches the medium petals measure 2.5 by 2 inches, and the small petals are 2 by 1.5 inches. I just roughly measured out these sizes and cut out petal shapes without the use of a template.
A Quick Breakdown
– 6 Petals sizing 3.5 inches by 2.25 inches
– 5 Petals sizing 2.25 by 2 inches
-4 Petals sizing 2 by 1.5 inches
Assembly
Once you have all of the petals cut out cut a slit in the flat side going upwards towards the rounded top. Cut about halfway, then take the left bottom side and add a bit of glue then gross over the right side to attach. Do this to all the petals and leave for a bit to make sure they are completely dry.
Next, take one of the larger petals at a time place a bit of hot glue on the end, and place another one of the larger petals slightly offside to the right creating a circular shape with the petals. You will do this step with all three of the sized petals we made.
Now that we have our three separate-sized petals hot glued together now I can assemble the petals together. Place a drop of hot glue into the center of the large petals to glue the medium petals to the larger petals then do the same with the medium and small.
Once we have all of our petals together the final step is to create the flower centers cut a 2.5-inch circle from black cardstock then cut slits in the paper but not all the way through leaving the center of the circle un-cut, once you have done that using either your finger or a pen or pencil curl the paper pieces around giving it a nice full and fluffy effect. Place a dap of glue in the center of the petals and place the black cardstock in the center and you have created a truly stunning paper flower.
I really loved how these turned out and think they would be so beautiful on so many different crafts and projects, I will definitely be making more of these in the future.
What To Do With Paper Flowers, Different Types Of DIY Projects
There are endless ways you can use your newly created paper blooms they don’t just need to sit on your craft table and collect dust.
Centerpieces
Using paper flowers for table décor and centerpieces is a great alternative to using real flowers, they do not cause allergies and you can make them specific colors to fit your décor or party theme. They would be perfect for hot outdoor parties where normal fresh flowers would wilt and would be perfect for bridal showers and baby showers.
Wall Decor
If you wanted to switch up some of your home décor you could even add these beautiful blooms to your walls, they would look adorable in a little girl’s bedroom.
Wedding Bouquets
Weddings cost a ton of your hard-earned money, so why not put together a bunch of these paper flowers and make your very own unique wedding bouquet! It would be a lot cheaper and definitely something different for your big day.
Gift Box Toppers
Step up your gift wrapping game with paper flowers. Adding some of these florals to a gift box would make it stand out from the rest and it shows just how much time and effort spent in giving a thoughtful gift.
Shadow Boxes
Valentines Day is just around the corner and what could be more special than a homemade shadow box with gorgeous paper flowers and photos of you and your special someone. Show someone how much you truly care about them with these gorgeous flowers that will never wilt away.
Wrapping Up Paper Flowers
Now of course there are hundreds of different ways you can create paper flowers, these are just two of my personal favorites that are easy and fun to make. Whether you have a cutting machine or just a pair of scissors you too can create one-of-a-kind paper flowers from the comfort of your own home.
Lauren loves a good crafting project. Whether refinishing a coffee table or playing around with cutting machines or macrame, she isn’t afraid to give it a go!
As a mom and wife, Lauren knows time management when crafting projects is a must! That’s why you can count on her for her easy-to-follow guides and pro tips for making your projects flow flawlessly.
No matter what creative aspect Lauren has dabbled in most, that’s why we love her advice!