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How to Make Perfect Paper Daisies

August 11th, 2008 in patterns & designs, paper crafts, home decorating

Jeffery Rudell, contributor

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These cheery blossoms brighten any table and make a wonderfully unexpected bouquet to give to a friend. Best of all, theyre simple and inexpensive to make.

Here, a bunch of white daisies sit in a polka-dot vase (also made of paper).

Pink seemed to me a perfect color for daisies. I also tried green and blue and loved the results. This year Im doing shiny black daisies for my Halloween decorations.

These cheery blossoms brighten any table and make a wonderfully unexpected bouquet to give to a friend. Best of all, they're simple and inexpensive to make.

Photo: Jeff Rudell

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The 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.

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.

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.)

Next, make eight (8) cuts as indicated in the illustration below. Each cut is about 1 inch long.

Since this project was intended to be both easy and low-cost, I tried to create something that could be done like an assembly line. This set of cuts can be done on 3–6 disks at once, making it a very fast project to complete.

Next, fold each petal in half, lengthwise, as indicated by the dashed lines in the illustration below. There is no need to pre-score these folds since the added time and effort do not significantly improve the results. Just a simple crease will suffice.

By modifying the manner in which you crease these pieces, you can achieve a great deal of variation in the final results. Try soft creases or partical creases at just the tips or even hand-shaping each petal to enhance the organic look of your own flowers.

Once you've finished creasing one disk, simply repeat these first three steps with all of your remaining disks. Blossoms are created by layering two (2) disks, one on top of the other, and affixing them with a dot of hot glue. Be sure to align them in such a way as to allow the petals on the bottom to peak through between the petals on the top.

The key to the success of these pieces is their great texture and dimension, which is achieved through simple folds and layering.

For the centers of each flower, I simply took a narrow strip of yellow or pink paper about 1/8 inch x 18 inches, and wound it into a tight spiral disk and glued it in place. I finished each flower by affixing it to a length of floral wire with hot glue, and then wrapping the stems with green floral.

The "almost finished" flowers here await the rest of their centers. Two stips of green paper do service as floral greenery.

If you've enjoyed this project, please check out my related post, Simple White Flowers.

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Pink Bouquet
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Pink and green...
jessieboo24

Paper Daisy attempt
jessieboo24

Jan's Paper Daisies
lucybug33

Elegant White...
oshynlover

Paper Dasies
crafty_gal

Jeff's paper daisies
Carolyninoz

posted in: patterns & designs, paper crafts, home decorating, flower

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Comments (38)

polvora writes: I took a look at Oshynlover's end product and they are beautiful. We will be celebrating my daughter's Quinceanera (Cotillian) in early 2009 and I was looking for decorations to candy boxes I'm putting out on tables. Gerber Daisies are my absolute favorite but in trying to save as much money on it as possible, I was looking for a way to create some inexpensively. I feel I've found my inexpensive, yet beautiful daisies. THANK YOU, THANK YOU THANK YOU. Should you have any other ideas on saving or cutting corners with our upcoming celebration, please bring them forth! :) Posted: 1:18 pm on November 4th

Louella writes: I can't wait to try making these this afternoon, and yes please show more, I know my mother is going to love making them too, I'll take her a Boquet to show her what I can do! Thanks! Louella Posted: 11:12 am on September 11th

Jrsjewels writes: These are fabulous! Thanks for sharing! Posted: 7:21 pm on August 31st

lilmissroo writes: this is so cute! Posted: 9:14 am on August 29th

lucybug33 writes: I bet they would be cute with button centers too
Posted: 9:02 pm on August 23rd

oshynlover writes: I love it and its inexpensive too! It can really make a room look great without having to put a great deal of money into. Get a nice vase and add a ribbon around it. Best part --- you don't have to water them and they won't die!! :)

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

niranjana writes: simply fabulous very attractive. please post as many as possible. Posted: 6:31 am on August 22nd

Carolyninoz writes: Thank you so much for such a great design. I have made two already but used them as ATC's Posted: 7:39 am on August 19th

Jeff_Rudell writes: A few readers have asked for the name of the paper I used for this project. All of the paper I used came out of my scrap basket so it's been a little difficult to identify everything. Still, I had some success that I hope will be of interest to anyone making these on their own. J.

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

cindynsa writes: Absolutely lovely. Can't wait to see your other designs! Posted: 9:55 pm on August 17th

Ktquilt writes: Beautiful and simple. I must remember this one for a Mother's Day project for my 3rd grade students. I might change the stem directions a bit. If you make a small hook at the top of the wire and insert it through a pin hole in the center of both sets of petals you can secure them without glue, and need not worry about popping off. Using the center as designed, hot glue it in place over the exposed wire. Wrap as directed. Posted: 12:04 pm on August 17th

Floridamomsie writes: Wonderful, beautiful and easy. These flowers and the water lilies posted on a previous newsletter are certainly inspiration for those of us who love crafts and yet do not always have original ideas. Thank you so much. Posted: 11:12 am on August 17th

craftyNvegas writes: Jeffery, you are amazing! To take the most simple materials and create such fabulous designs puts you in the A+ category of artisans. Best of all they are "doable" by almost anyone so please continue to show your outstanding projects here for us with limited time to think up these show pieces. I am making both your flowers that I've seen on this site since joining and taking them to work. Thank you for being generous enough to share. Posted: 10:42 am on August 17th

nick0166 writes: what a great rainy day/brownie or scout activity, to use up leftover scrapbooking materials!

cant wait to try them! Posted: 12:03 am on August 17th

Starrycat writes: This project is simple, yet elegent. I love these! Posted: 7:04 pm on August 16th

Hil writes: I absolutely love these! So cheerful looking! Would love to see more of your ideas. Posted: 6:47 pm on August 16th

kimmersk9 writes: Love these! :) Posted: 4:48 pm on August 16th

Debbydo writes: I agree - more, more, more! Have you any projects that use recycled materials? Posted: 2:33 pm on August 16th

Debbydo writes: I agree - more, more, more! Have you any projects that use recycled materials? Posted: 2:32 pm on August 16th

cdymit writes: Very elegant yet simple - wonderful idea and, yes, we can use more of these. Thank you Posted: 2:25 pm on August 16th

cdymit writes: So simple, yet so elegant. Thank you and yes, more of your wonderful flowers. Posted: 2:24 pm on August 16th

Fancone writes: Sweet little flowers,and I love flowers, show us more!!!! Posted: 2:14 pm on August 16th

GrammaVal writes: Fun-and doable. Fancy for adults and could be kid-doable too. More, more, more. Posted: 11:53 am on August 16th

petunia4141 writes: Looking forward to trying this one---the kids will love it too! Posted: 11:27 am on August 14th

shananigan writes: I LOVE paper crafts.. especially those that can be made with office supplies :) I made paper roses just the other day - My desk is now covered with paper dasies made out of scrap printer paper. I cant wait to try this with decent paper!

I would love to see more of your paper crafts! Posted: 1:30 pm on August 13th

joannelj writes: These will be perfect for my Girl Scouts to make - our founder's nickname was "Daisy!" I'd love to see more. Posted: 10:04 am on August 13th

moonrose writes: Oh more more more please! Posted: 6:46 pm on August 12th

brendamarks writes: Lovely! I'd like to see more, and more, and more. Posted: 11:46 am on August 12th

MaeveQ writes: These are spectacular! Oh, yes, please post the other ones! Pretty-please? Posted: 11:55 pm on August 11th

Tracy230 writes:
How elegant and simple all at once. Thank you Jeffery. Superb directions! Posted: 8:52 pm on August 11th

offbyone writes: Would love to see the ones that went to print! Posted: 2:27 pm on August 11th

LAURAMCHUGH writes: Hello Jeffery, Once again your work is spectacular. Nice and elegant. A great project to do and save for that special gift for that special someone. I would love for you to keep sharing. You are so good at that as well. Thanks for sharing and for all your hard work. You are so talented. Can't wait for your next posting...... Posted: 1:15 pm on August 11th

Deana writes: Simply gorgeous! I'm sending this to a good friend who just loves daisies. Posted: 12:12 pm on August 11th

JenniferStern writes: I am amazed at what you can do with paper!!!! Posted: 10:57 am on August 11th

vicky_north writes: This is great Jeffery. A friend of mine has an obsession with blue daisies. I think I will attempt these to earn my paper craft merit badge. Any suggestions about the type of paper I should use? Posted: 10:32 am on August 11th