Build a Flower: A Beginner's Guide to Paper Flowers

By Lucia Balcazar

Learn to create beautiful, long-lasting paper flowers in a matter of minutes for gifts, decorations, and more, with this step-by-step guide.

 

Paper flowers are ideal for any crafter: The results are stunning but the steps to get there are achievable at any skill level. Build a Flower will teach the basic techniques needed for crafting paper flowers, building upon skills as it moves through a select number of flowers and focusing on key tips: what type of paper works best, petal shapes that work for multiple flowers, how to assemble, and more. With photographs and step-by-step instructions as their guide, readers will learn to build five flowers, variation ideas for their coloring, and final arrangements. And the designs and ideas will inspire crafters to think beyond the vase—paper flowers as gifts, as decorations, and more. This beginner book will open the door to a wide variety of possibilities and will help establish a new audience well versed in the craft, returning time and again to this book’s pages for inspiration and encouragement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ABRAMS
• Release date: Mar 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781683358817

Book preview

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PAPER BASICS

The most important material you will need to make paper flowers is, of course, paper. Different types of paper work better for different flowers. Consider the weight, texture, and color of the flower you want to create as you select the paper you’ll use to build it. You can stick to the recommended paper on each tutorial, or try different paper and follow the suggested adjustments at the end of the instructions. As you progress, you will want to experiment with different qualities and types of paper in your flower projects.

Types of Paper

Here are the most common and popular types of paper used to make paper flowers, as well as many other paper crafts.

CARDSTOCK PAPER

from 50 lb to 110 lb

Cardstock paper is a thicker version of the regular text-weight paper you find in an office printer. Cardstock is readily available at a number of craft stores and found in a wide variety of colors. It generally comes in 8½-by-11-inch (21.5-by-28-cm) sheets that vary in thickness. Because it’s so thick, it’s not easy to manipulate into lifelike petals, but it works great for modern and oversize flowers and is perfect for paper flower backdrops that need to be sturdy and durable. Decorating cardstock paper usually requires opaque media, including acrylics and layered paper techniques.

FINE CREPE PAPER

32 g and 60 g

Fine crepe paper is thin and delicate with a smooth finish and a gentle stretch. Its translucency gives petals a lifelike quality that other papers lack. You can color fine crepe with chalk pastels for gradients and use markers for petal edges. For added sturdiness, you can fuse two sheets of fine crepe into a sheet of doublette with spray adhesive or fusible bonding web. Fine crepe works great for making flowers with many petals, like the butterfly ranunculus. In a pinch, crepe paper streamers can give you a similar effect to fine crepe paper.

DOUBLETTE CREPE PAPER

90 g

Doublette crepe paper, also known as German crepe paper or double-sided crepe paper, actually refers to two sheets of fine crepe paper fused together, but the result feels completely different from the original material. Doublette paper stretches just the right amount to shape petals and has a smooth texture. The grain is not as noticeable as with heavier crepe, and there are no horizontal machine lines. Doublette paper comes in double-sided folds that measure approximately 10-by-49 inches (25-by-124 cm), and each side has a slightly different color—like bubblegum and rose, or olive green and forest green. When gently wet with a brush, both colors will blend together. You can color doublette paper with alcohol inks, watercolors, and India inks; it absorbs paint beautifully.

FLORIST CREPE PAPER

100 g, 160 g, and 180 g

Florist crepe paper, also known as Italian crepe paper, is thick and textured paper with a fantastic stretch that allows you to create deep, sculptural petals. It is sturdy and will hold its shape well, but most brands have horizontal machine lines every 2 inches (5 cm) that you may want to avoid when cutting your petals. There are some florist crepe paper brands that have no machine lines.

TISSUE PAPER

20 g to 24 g

Tissue paper is widely accessible and often used for gift wrapping—giving you a great way to upcycle your gift-wrapping materials. It does not stretch, but it can be dyed in wonderful shades. In a pinch, coffee filters can give you a similar effect to tissue paper.

OTHER, LESS-COMMON TYPES OF PAPER

Here are some papers that can also work for making flowers, depending on your project: