Paper flowers: ideas, materials and guided tutorials to make them

Making do-it-yourself paper flowers , colorful and of great effect, is not at all as difficult as it might seem. Of course, it takes a bit of manual dexterity and patience, but with a bit of creativity and some practical advice you can create, you can make beautiful and original decorative flowers. Here is a practical guide that explains, step by step, how to do it.

Simple paper flowers to make
Paper flowers represent one of the most original and useful ideas for creative recycling in which one can try. Yes, because with these decorative items you can liven up a dull corner of a room or decorate the whole house on special occasions, and enough  tissue paper , crepe paper , newsprint and many other materials easy to domestic availability.

Making paper flowers in a simple and aesthetically pleasing way is easy and there are so many materials available. It is enough to look around and we will discover that we already have a mountain of paper at home, useful for our purpose.

You can use paper napkins , newspapers and magazines , colored or white tissue paper and even old paper . Even the glossy magazine paper is ideal: find these and other ideas in our guide on  how to recycle old magazines .

Moreover, paper flowers are perfect for decorating packages and gift packages, tables set for parties and receptions and to create truly special floral bouquets , even for a wedding decoration.


Discover, for example, how simple it is to create something unique with a few materials in an 'eternal' peach blossom branch  as well as a splendid paper orchid .

Furthermore, realizing them can become a moment of play and creativity even for children and for the whole family. We develop manual skills , stimulate the imagination and engage ourselves in a fun pastime to create something unique with our own hands.

If you like the idea but don't know where to start, here is a series of tutorials  divided by material ready to provide you with the hints and practical tips you need to try your hand at this exciting activity.

paper flowers

Crepe paper flowers
The crepe paper is one of the most suitable materials to create beautiful and colorful paper flowers. It is perfect because it is very elastic and above all very effective. In this case the equipment we need is:

1 sheet of crepe paper
string
1 wooden stick
green colour
hot glue
How they are carried out. First prepare 3 strips of crepe paper  of the color you prefer by cutting the sheet along the width direction. Fold each strip over itself and divide it into two more equal parts. In this way you will end up with 6 perfectly identical strips of paper .


Stack all the strips one on top of the other and finally fold them on themselves to form a square. Take one of the ends of your square and create overlapping folds proceeding up to the middle. In practice, you will have to fold them like an accordion , with folds of equal width, all overlapping. At this point, turn the paper over and do the same operation on the other side.

paper flowers

What you will get will be a sort of fan that you will tie in the center with a string. Opening the edges on both sides and then the individual sheets (petals) of crepe paper, you will make a splendid paper rose that you can curl and shape as you wish.

To make the stem you will use the green colored wooden stick (you can use a felt-tip pen, watercolors or spray paint ) and fix it with a drop of hot glue right in the center of the flower. Simple and impressive.

Newspaper flowers or book pages
If you have old newspapers, but also books that no one will ever read again, or school textbooks left, but even old music scores, you can make simple flowers, even quite large ones.

Try to cut out the individual petals first, all of different sizes, some larger and others much smaller, then you can outline the edges with a colored felt-tip pen and then proceed to join them in the middle by attaching them with tape. Finally, apply the central pistil, which is always made of colored book-markers and cut into strips, with hot glue.


You can wrap the flower in a shank made of wire around which you have wrapped green tissue paper or the same newspaper if you want to maintain a uniform tone to your floral creation.





Tissue paper flowers
This material is equally suitable for making large DIY paper flowers. The maximum would be to have sheets of tissue paper of at least two different colors. If we wanted to make tissue peonies, in fact, we will need 4 sheets for each 15 × 20 color .

Folding the sheets together always with the accordion technique and fixing the center with a staple point, we will obtain in a few minutes very colorful and scenographic peonies that we could make even more voluminous by opening the various layers of sheets in hands and making the whole converge towards the center.

You can use it in a transparent glass container or in the center of a bouquet of paper flowers to have an impressive and extremely refined centerpiece .

Large paper flowers
To make giant paper flowers you can make use of models, found on various sites or on Pinterest or draw yourself on a sheet four large irregular petals attached to the center.


You will need:

of flower patterns
5 sheets of  colored paper 70x 50 cm
1 sheet of black paper 70 x 50 cm
glue gun + refill or universal glue
scissors
How they are carried out. Cut the flowers on the colored paper following a pattern or obtaining four large petals that must be attached to the center of the sheet like a cross. Fold the edges of the petals in one direction or the other, rolling the edge on a knife without blades or a pencil.



You will have to get some folds up and others down. With a ruler make a square in the center of the flower and fold each petal towards the center. Overlap the different sheets with 4 petals each and glue them in the center.

Create the stamens using the black sheet. Draw two concentric circles as far apart as the height you want to give to your stamens, then cut out the outer circle and finally fray it, stopping at the innermost circle.
Wrap them on a felt-tip pen to bend them inward.




To give greater richness to the pistil, you can obtain in the same way two rounds of stamens, one smaller than the other, to be glued one on the other in the center. And then place it in the center of the flower petals and glue it. You can hide the center of the stamen with a black-colored sample clip.



Paper flowers for children
Try to propose these paper flowers made with colored cardboard and straws for your children. From the age of 5, they can try their hand at making small bouquets to give to their mothers on the occasion of her party, for example.

Also ideal as a play activity in the afternoon or at school, these flowers will not take children over 45 minutes. You will need:

4 A4 sheets of colored cards to taste
string
1 paper or plastic straws
1 pencil
scissors
hot glue
1 colored ribbon
1 adhesive tape
paper flowers

How they are carried out. Cut out squares of different sizes from your sheets of paper. Draw some pretty simple flowers (preferably on the back of the leaves to avoid seeing the signs). The simpler the flowers, the easier it will be to cut them! Cut the flowers carefully. Choose 3 paper flowers of 3 different sizes and overlap them to create your flower. Glue or stop all three shapes together in the center with a brass sample clip. Attach the flowers to the top of a straw with adhesive tape.

Origami paper flowers
Here is a beautiful paper flower to do with the origami technique, that is by folding a square colored sheet of paper. With our step-by-step tutorial and images, you can easily make this origami with children too. You need it

5-6 sheets of square colored paper , preferably from origami
hot glue
paper flowers

How they are carried out. Here are the steps to make a petal. To make a complete flower, you must repeat the same steps for each of the 5-6 petals that compose it.

paper flowers

paper flowers

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paper flowers

Here is the flower as it will come thanks to the origami. You can add sheets of green paper with thin leaves to hold each flower together and thus create a bouquet.

Newspaper flowers
To make beautiful roses with newspaper, you need:

newspaper
some twigs
scissors
c hot oil
How they are carried out. Cut some petals from the newspaper of the preferred size, we recommend using a quarter of the sheet for each petal, so as to have large, beautiful flowers. To get a beautiful rose, you will need about twenty petals in total.

Now you have to 'deform' the newspaper petals with your fingers. You can fold them in half and press to raise both edges. Do the same thing in the opposite direction.



Then take a twig and roll the first newspaper petal previously coated with a drop of glue on the bottom edge. Start with the little ones and gradually attach the biggest ones. Apply the glue to the lower ends of the more and more and more large petals and stick them one by one around the previous ones. In the end, you will get beautiful newspaper flowers!

Paper flowers for wedding
It would not be a real wedding without the bride's bouquet, but to limit the budget , or not to cut off so many flowers for a single day of celebration, you can resort to decorations with paper flowers.

The creation of paper flowers does not require much material, but it is nevertheless laborious and time-consuming, since a single flower is produced between 5 and 10 minutes depending on the dexterity of the person who performs it.



Of course, the first flowers will take longer than the last ones, so you can look for someone to help. They can be made of crepe paper, which is stronger than normal paper and tissue paper. And the pom-pom species of the preferred size will be realized, even large, or of various sizes, to be alternated. Equally important is the choice of color. It takes two: one to make the petals of the edge of the flower and another to represent the corolla and the pistils of the flower. You will also need:

several sheets of crepe paper of two or more colors
wooden toothpicks for the stems
glue
scissors
raffia thread
How they are carried out. On a flat surface, overlay five layers of sheets of crepe paper approximately 10 centimeters high. Place the first two sheets - which will represent the pistil of the flower - and on top of it another three sheets that will form the outer petals, usually of a different color. Then fold the sheets in an accordion width of about two centimeters in width. Remember to crush each fold well. Make a tight knot in the center of the obtained strip. Open both sides of the fan.

Now comes the most important and delicate step. It is necessary to open and separate each sheet , and bring it back to the center, without tearing it. To do this, follow the previously made folds. You will see the various sheets take the shape of the petals.

The two inner sheets that open last will be those in the center of the flower. Perform the operation on both sides of the fan. The most difficult thing is to separate the leaves without tearing them. The quality of the rendering of the petals depends very much on the folding done previously, but also on your ability to open and raise the sheets. This is why crepe paper is better than tissue paper.



At this point, you have in your hands paper flower petals. Use scissors to level and improve yield. You can place them in glass containers , on tables, for a simple and elegant effect, or make garlands or balls to hang on the walls and ceiling.

You can also pour a little glue on the end of a piece of a toothpick that you will push in the center of the flower to obtain a stem, to be covered with green or other colored raffia thread. Thus, you can arrange them like a bouquet in a vase.

Paper flowers with napkins
Composing paper flowers with colored napkins that you will find at home is really simple. All you need, in fact, are napkins and the usual pinch of imagination.

All you have to do is open the napkin completely, bend the triangular corners towards the center until you get a square (4 equal triangles that converge towards the center). Each corner of the figure thus formed will have to be folded inwards towards the inside, obtaining another smaller square. Turn the napkin and proceed by bending  the four points towards the center in the same way.

Now hold in the center with two fingers of your left hand. With your right hand, stretch a tip and gently pull the bottom part outwards to form the first point. Do the same for the other corners, always keeping your fingers in the center.

paper flowers

Now turn the folded napkin underneath and open the closed ends towards the center. Turn the napkin over again, and pull the 4 tips out. Then, turn it over so that the flower opens on the right side.

You can create as many paper flowers as you want with this method and super-creatively recycle all the paper napkins left over from the holidays. You can also arrange a flower in the center and set up the table in this way.

Paper flowers: the plant
It is actually helichrysum , also known by this name. This small perennial plant with small yellow flowers up to 50 cm high, is also called 'immortal', it is known above all for the essential oil obtained by steam distillation of its flowering tops.

From the therapeutic point of view it is a precious ally for the treatment of scars, bruises, hematomas, and to relieve pain.

The properties of this essential oil are numerous, but it is known above all for three main virtues:

Anti-hematoma : also called "super arnica" limits the appearance of hematomas
Anti-coagulant : fluidizes the blood and at the same time strengthens the skin tissues, and is effective in the treatment of bruises and some circulatory problems.
Anti-spasmodic : it is used for back pains, joint pains, and also for hiccups.