Back again with another tutorial for creating beautiful (and inexpensive) handmade flowers like these that were created for a wedding cake display in the Therm O Web booth at CHA.
This flower starts with pages from an old book. I found this one at a used bookstore for $1. It is full of lots of text in different fonts and was printed in 1970. It seemed like the perfect thing to use for paper crafts. I didn’t notice what the book was about until I started cutting up the pages to use in projects… there are some pretty wacky articles in here! Have you heard the saying “Don’t pick the flowers”? Well if you are CHA, I should warn you not to read the flowers!
Choose a few pages that are full of text and die cut the flower petals. I created two sizes of flowers… I used the two larger dies for one and the two smaller dies for the other. For each flower, cut 4 petals from each die, for a total of 8 per flower. You will also need something to use as the center. These stems were purchased in the floral section of a craft store.
You also need some tulle or netting.
At first I tried to die cut the tulle, but that didn’t work too well. It is easier to simply use the die as a template and cut using scissors. Cut one circle that is roughly the same size as each die cut petal… no need to be exact here. Fold the tulle and cut several at once.
Now we are ready to start assembling the flowers.
First, crumple each book print petal.
The basis of each flower is a 2″ iCraft dot. It’s helpful to peel the protective liner off the front and have it ready so you can adhere each petal as it is completed.
Beginning with the largest size die cuts, layer a piece of tulle over the petal.
Fold in half and then in half again to create a quarter circle.
and place on the iCraft dot.
Continue adding the other three large petals until the circle is covered.
Add a 1 1/2″ iCraft dot on top of the first layer of petals.
Repeat the process with the smaller sized petals, adhering them at a 45° angle to the first layer.
Once you are finished with the second layer, use a piercing tool or needle to poke a hole through the center
and insert a flower stem (or another option, such as a brad, button tied to piece of twine, wired bead… lots of ways to create different looks with this).
There you have it… a simple, inexpensive handmade flower… and a great way to add new life to old books.
Here are some of the flowers I created for the wedding cake topper.
I really like the way they look mixed in with the glittery snowflakes and other flowers.
Use the same technique – minus the tulle – to create variations. Here is one made from a shimmery vellum.
and another made from a vellum printed with snowflakes.
If you would like to learn how to create the roses from this project using inexpensive coffee filters, be sure to check out part I of this post: Winter Wedding Flowers – Part One.
Therm O Web Supplies:
1 1/2″ and 2″ iCraft adhesive dots
Nested Peony die – Spellbinders
book pages
flower stems
