How to Make Perfect Paper Daisies
comments (53) August 11th, 2008The headline will read "Beautiful Centerpieces from $5 to $500," said the magazine's style editor to me, "and we want you to design the $5 model for our readers." Now designing expensive projects is easy; exquisite papers, elaborate designs, and a lot of time (all of which translates into a lot of money) are all you need to create something beautiful. Pulling off the same effect with only five bucks and a few simple steps is many times harder. The challenge was right up my alley.
Since the price point would be modest, I decided to try my hand at making some paper daisies, those most humble of field flowers. The materials list was extremely modest:
1. Paper (I used pieces from my paper scraps pile: textured and smooth pink and white-on-white, as well as long, narrow, strips for the flower centers)
2. Hot glue gun with glue sticks
3. A craft knife
4. A circle template (I used an upside-down drinking glass)
5. Floral wire and green floral tape for making the daisy stems
I loved the results so much I kept at it, coming up with a handful of options for the editor to choose from. In the end, the magazine decided to print a number of my designs in their story. Unfortunately, this one—one of my favorites—never made it into those pages but I thought I'd share it with you here. If the response to this is good, I'll feature, in an upcoming post, one of the designs that actually made it into print. They were really gorgeous so, please let me know if you want to see more of this sort of thing.
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Get more paper flower projects: • How to Make Elegant Parchment Flowers • How to Make Crepe Paper Flowers • How to Make a Paper Flower Centerpiece • Make Simple White Paper Flowers |
Perfect Paper Daisies
Begin with a circle of paper cut to the overall dimension you want your daisies to be. I used an inverted water glass with a 3-inch mouth as my cutting template. Cut two (2) circles for EACH bloom you intend to make.
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A drinking glass provided the cutting template. Pick a size circle that best suits your purposes. Two-inch circles will make the flowers look more precious while five-inch circles will add impact. (Be sure your paper is stiff enough to maintain its shape if you opt for making the larger blossoms.) |
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Comments (53)
Posted: 10:27 pm on January 16th
Posted: 7:27 pm on January 13th
Your art is beautiful!
Wonderful, thank you for sharing.
Hope you will share the beautiful paper vase some day.
Happy thoughts,
Petrina
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Posted: 7:36 am on February 20th
Maybe I'm just not seeing it!
I would love to see the others
Posted: 2:53 pm on November 12th
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Posted: 9:02 pm on August 23rd
Hey Jeff--
Do you have any sunflower ideas? I love sunflowers but I don't know how I would make them real looking. I'm sure it would come to you quickly!
Posted: 6:06 pm on August 23rd
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Posted: 7:39 am on August 19th
For the white daisies: Echizen Washi Kozo & Sulphite paper from Thailand (Direct link to page where this paper is featured: http://www.nycentralartsupply.com/asia/japan2.html). Style number: M32 Gira-Ume, 80 grams, 31" x 43", $5.60 per sheet
For the yellow centers of the white daisies: Canford Paper (Direct link to page where this paper is featured: http://www.nycentralartsupply.com/europeii/unitedkingdom.html), Desden Yellow, 150 grams, 20 1/2" x 30 1/2", $2.00 per sheet
Posted: 1:08 pm on August 18th
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Posted: 11:12 am on August 17th
Posted: 10:42 am on August 17th
cant wait to try them!
Posted: 12:03 am on August 17th
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Posted: 11:53 am on August 16th
Posted: 11:27 am on August 14th
I would love to see more of your paper crafts!
Posted: 1:30 pm on August 13th
Posted: 10:04 am on August 13th
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Posted: 11:46 am on August 12th
Posted: 11:55 pm on August 11th
How elegant and simple all at once. Thank you Jeffery. Superb directions!
Posted: 8:52 pm on August 11th
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