DIY Wedding

Crumpled Up: How to Make Paper Flowers

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Jeffery Rudell, contributor

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A small strip of paper, painted yellow and wound around a pencil, creates a whimsical spiral for the flower centers.

Take a break from the straight and narrow by making this torn-paper picture. The edges are soft, but the impact is anything but.

Crease and tear. Then remove small wedges of paper to make spaces between the petals. Nip off the corners to further soften the shape.

A small strip of paper, painted yellow and wound around a pencil, creates a whimsical spiral for the flower centers.

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For the center of each large flower, I tore a strip of paper approximately 12 inches x 1/4 inch and painted it yellow on one side and mustard on the other. I then wound each strip around a pencil to form a spiral and glued the outside edge to prevent it from unraveling. Each yellow center was then glued onto the flower as shown below.

A small strip of paper, painted yellow and wound around a pencil, creates a whimsical spiral for the flower centers.

For the smaller flowers, I tore small disks of paper and painted them black before gluing them into the flower centers. Stems and leaves were torn from the remaining scraps, creased down their centers, and glued in place. In keeping with the looseness of the shapes and the irregularity of the watercolors, I tried to use curved leaves with curved creases (accomplished easily enough with a bone-creaser or a ballpoint pen drawn along the back of each leaf).

Don't forget to overlap elements (flowers on top of stems, stems under leaves) to enhance the three-dimensionality of the finished piece.

The last step was to glue all of these pieces to a sheet of watercolor paper (approximately 21 inches x 22-1/2 inches) using a white, acid-free craft glue. (The large sheet of paper I used bears the evidence of a failed winter landscape on the backside, so this project allowed me to, quite literally, build on my past failures.) I now have a work suitable for framing that is bright and cheery. The rich colors make a bold, graphic statement and the three-dimensionality of the flowers, paired with the deckled-edge of the white paper they're mounted on, add texture and visual interest.

Take a break from the straight and narrow by making this torn-paper picture. The edges are soft, but the impact is anything but.

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Comments (11)

Nil writes: This is Beautifully artsy crafty. Will make some with my class~
Posted: 11:27 pm on March 20th

sigridsoto writes: Iv been looking around at the paper craft section on this site and ever single one i really liked is created by you
Posted: 5:23 am on October 12th

pe6teern writes: beautiful!! and thanks for the well written and displayed instructions. Can't wait to try them.

Posted: 12:29 pm on September 19th

craftiretiree writes: These will make beautiful gift cards changing the flower colors to match the seasons. Just beautiful with the best instructions ever written! Thank you!
Posted: 7:49 pm on September 6th

Nightcats writes: These are quite remarkable. I plan to make some asap.
Posted: 3:42 pm on September 6th

eveh writes: These are beautiful. I can't wait to try them. I will do them in yellow's and burgundy. Thank you for showing us how to do this. : )
Posted: 2:56 pm on September 6th

veryjeri writes: I think these rules would work well for life, not just crafts! The instructions are really easy to follow. I'll bet the flowers look different if you make them sitting on the floor instead of a chair. Thanks! I'll give these a whirl today.
Posted: 12:44 pm on September 6th

LAURAMCHUGH writes: Flowers are beautiful, love the torn edges and the addition of watercolors, you can really make it your own special arrangement for that special gift. Great project and great directions. Thanks
Posted: 4:49 pm on July 10th

sarahwww writes: Ack!! No edit button! Sorry, I bet Uncle considers himself very lucky!
Posted: 7:16 pm on July 8th

sarahwww writes: Love the flowers and the Rules! What a lucky bunch of creative young gals! I'm bettin' Grandpa thinks he is pretty lucky too!
Posted: 7:14 pm on July 8th

SusanElizabeth writes: How gorgeous are these! Love them.
Posted: 5:53 am on July 7th

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