PAPER BLOOMS

Paper flowers are definitely a fab and affordable way to decorate spaces or brighten up any kind of day. They can be made as thoughtful handmade gifts as they are easy to customize and can last for many seasons. Paper flowers are so easy to make and you can probably whip up close to a dozen flowers in about an hour. Materials are also cheap and readily available in stores (e.g. crepe, Japanese or construction papers, fabric tape, glue, wire, etc). They have a number of great uses such as home accents, table centerpieces or party décor. You can even make a flower wall backdrop for your candy table or dessert station. For weddings, you can make them into bouquets, flower crowns, corsages or boutonnieres.

 

Peony and Anemone (below). Photo grabbed from Artisan Design Studio

There are more than 100 types and techniques in making paper flowers. Through the years, even when I was still a child addicted to everything DIY and made of paper, I’ve learned a bunch of styles through pages of Origami books --- starting from the very basic to the more elaborate blooms. Nowadays, one only has to tune in to YouTube for video tutorials to get the idea and technique planted in mind.

 

 

As for me, I enjoy a classroom setup type of learning, especially when it comes to crafting. Special classes or workshops make learning more fun and interactive, and you get support and help from classmates whenever you have difficulties in carrying out the technique. Just this weekend, I, together with fellow mommies, attended a workshop by April San Pedro of Artisan Design Studio. There we learned how to make a Peony, Carnation, Anemone, Tulip and Camellia, plus methods in bleaching and dyeing papers to give them that gradient or two-toned effect. April shared with us her childhood frustration of having her own flower garden. She mentioned none of those she planted reached full bloom, despite the care and love she gave them. She soon realized this dream by creating blooms out of paper. Simply put, if you can’t plant them, craft them.

 

 

 

For the past days I’ve been posting photos of paper flowers on Instagram, I got a couple of requests from mommy-friends and little girls, asking if I can also share with them some basic guides or how-to’s. So I thought I’d take this chance by sharing what I know and show you some techniques and styles in making paper flowers. I hope kids and moms will have fun bonding over this DIY project at home. Soon, I’m sure you’ll be making more of these blooms for your “indoor garden”.

Enjoy!

Origami Flower

1.    Prepare 5 squares.
2.    Take 1 and fold it into a triangle.
3.    Lift the 2 side corners and point them up to the tip of the triangle. This will create a pleat on both sides. Just follow the line and fold accordingly.
4.    Insert your finger inside each fold and slightly open it from the inside to make a squash fold. Press down and flatten.
5.    Fold each triangular tip inward.
6.    Fold the side corners into the middle.
7.    Pull both sides together.
8.      Glue them together. The final petal will look like a cone.
9.      You need 5 pieces of this to make a flower. Just glue all 5 together.

Tissue Flower / Pom Pom
1.    Put together 6 layers of tissue / Japanese paper.
2.    Fold them like an accordion and cut and make a curve on both corners.
3.    Tie the folded layers in the middle using a rubber band or wire.
4.    Open the entire piece to shape like flower by pulling the ends together.
5      to 6. Separate the top 3 sheets by pulling each upwards, with the creases as your guide.
7      to 9. Do the same for the bottom part.

 

Flower made from layered petals

1.    Draw and cut 3 whole petal flowers. Keep 1 piece in its original shape. Cut off 1 and 2 petals accordingly from the 2 other flowers.
2.    to 7. For those 2 other flowers, you need to put glue on the corner petal and let it ovelap with the adjacent petal to create some sort of “cup”.
8.  to 9. Put together the layered flowers by gluing each in the middle, one on top of the other. You can add more layers if you want to add volume to your flower.





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 Story published on my newspaper column, Metro Mom.
A1, INdulge, Edge Davao, Vol. 7 Issue no. 117, 27 August 2014.