Paper Flower - Paper Craft Technique

One of my goals this year was to give hand-made cards to my friends & family on their birthday. I didn't want to send everyone the same card so I began looking for new ideas. I was happy to find this paper flower technique in a magazine. 


Paper flowers are a great technique to use when you need to make a card in a pinch. The steps are simple and use a limited amount supplies. Also, they can be sent through the mail with standard postage.  

Tools Needed:

• 1" circle punch
• 1-1/2" circle punch
• double-sided card stock
• coordinating solid card stock
• 1 brad
• 1 small flower embellishment
• scissors

Punch one 1-1/2" circle and one 1" circle from the solid card stock and set aside. Punch twelve 1" circles from the double-sided card stock.

Fold in the corners of six 1" circles to form the shape of a petal. Fold the other six circles in the opposite direction so an alternating design is showing on half of the petals. 

Using a dry adhesive begin adhering the petals to the 1-1/2" circle. Try to keep the top of the petal's aligned. It's okay if the flower doesn't sit exactly on the center of the circle because when your done the circle isn't visible. 

To finish the flower, lay the 1" circle from the coordinating card stock in the center of the flower. Using scissors pierce a hole through the center of both layers. Lay the flower embellishment on the circle and thread the brad through all the layers opening the prongs of the brad to secure.

To make the card in the example, I matted patterned card stock with solid card stock and adhered to a pre-made card base. I also added a 1-1/2" strip of patterned card stock to the left side of the card. Then, I punched a tag out of cream card stock and applied a "Happy Birthday" rub-on with 3 adhesive rhinestones underneath. 


The options are endless with this technique. You can increase the size of the flowers by using larger punches. You can add stems to your flowers using ribbon or even assemble a entire garden!


Enjoy!!

Pleated Circles - Paper Craft Technique

I've been seeing these pleated circles everywhere and I can't get over how cute they are!!


Recently, I read an article about how to make them and couldn't wait to try it out. I had to play with them a bit but I finally got it down. I really liked the creative liberties you can take with these circles. I listed some of the variations in the tips section. 


Tools Needed:

• Hot glue gun & glue sticks
• 12 x 12" card stock
• Paper trimmer
• Scoring tool or popsicle stick
• 1" Circle punch
• Brads or stickers 

1. Cut card stock to 12 x 1-1/2"

2. Using the guide of a paper trimmer and scorer or popsicle stick, score the strip every 1/2" and fold it accordion-style. 

3. Using a hot glue gun apply a small line of glue and connect the edges together; you will have something that looks like a pleated cylinder.

4. Punch a circle from scrap stock and have it ready. Working on a smooth surface press the edges into the center until they meet in the middle, making a little tee pee. Continue to press down until your tee pee is flat, forming a circle. 

5. Hot glue a circle to the back of your flower to help stabilize it. Flip it over and squeeze a little more glue in the middle. 

6. Embellish the center of your circle with brads, smaller circles or stickers. I used 3 different brads on my example. I felt the easiest way to attach the brad was to clip the prongs off the brad and hot glued it to the front. 

Tips:

- I used my circles to make a card, however in the magazine they had sewn many circles together to form a garland. It was awesome, but I don't have that kind of time!! If you do, simply punch one or two holes on both sides of each circle and stitch them together. 

- For smaller circles, cut the strip 12 x 1/2" up to 12 x 1-1/2"

- For large circles, you will need to cut 2 wider strips of card stock (for example, 12 x 2-1/2" up to 12 x 4"), glue the strips together after you accordion fold them. 

- Your accordion folds can be as wide or narrow as you wish.

- I don't think I would recommend this project for kids. I ended up with 2 blisters on my fingers from the hot glue. Ouch!!