How to make recycled paper flowers | How About Orange

October 08, 2010

How to make recycled paper flowers

I learned to make paper flowers a long time ago with directions from a library book. They don't require any adhesive, and there are just four shapes to cut out.

Use them to decorate gifts or make wreaths. I chopped up a fancy Urban Outfitters catalog for these.

You can make template pieces to trace around and then cut out the shapes with a scissors—what I used to do. But this seemed like a good test for the Silhouette cutter, so I recreated the pattern pieces in Illustrator on my Mac and commanded the machine to cut them for me. It took about fifteen seconds to cut the parts for one flower. Whoa. I shall never return to my primitive, scissors-wielding caveman ways.

If you'd like to download PDF templates, get the large flower here and the small flower here.

To cut with a Silhouette machine, download a .dxf file here. (I exported it from Adobe Illustrator.) You should be able to open it and cut from Silhouette Studio.

To make the flowers, do the following:

1. Score the back of each petal along the lines shown in pencil, above.

2. Pleat the petals along the scored lines, always folding in the same direction.

3. Fold the triangle portion of the stem in half lengthwise. Do this two more times until it reminds you of a toothpick.

4. Using a chopstick or skewer, roll the "flag" portion of the stem toward the "toothpick." This curl will form the center of the flower.

5. Curl the ends of each petal backward to give them shape.

6. With a skewer or sharp pencil, poke a hole in the center of each flower piece.

7.Thread the pieces onto the stem, from smallest to largest. Finished!

79 comments:

Tanya said...

Come ON!! This is fantastic! Thanks for sharing. I love using old magazines for something cool. so much better than throwing them away! This is getting re-tweeted for sure!

Kat said...

SO CUTE!!!! I wish I'd known this before my wedding...it might've changed how I did things (I made mine from quilting fabric instead)!

la.daridari said...

wonderful tutorial!!! I have tons of magazines to work with... thank you!

Jen said...

These are so neat! LOVE!

Maru said...

Una idea muy buena para reciclar paginas de revistas.
Maru.

Cass said...

thats so cool! thanks! im gonna use it to decorate my dad's birthday gift!

Rowena said...

fantastic!

Grandma G said...

WAIT!! Two posts in one day?! I almost missed this one! (Your posts usually don't show up in Google Reader till the next day.)

Nice flowers! :)

Love you,
Mum

Jill said...

Thanks for sharing this. These are beautiful! I'm thinking I'll be making these this year to use instead of bows on christmas gifts :)

Carrie said...

Love it!!

Jenn Erickson said...

Sheesh, those are incredible!

Anonymous said...

Aw, Man! I've gotta get me some Silhouette!

hi-d said...

Simply AMAZING! Thanks for sharing this with us!

Amber said...

I'm in love with these flowers! And I just ordered my silhouette and am impatiently awaiting its arrival. I can hardly wait to try out this tutorial! Thanks

3Ms +1N said...

cool flower! That is great!
however, every time I try to fold paper things (like the bow tutorial you did about a year ago) my things turn out a tad wonky- perhaps this one will work for me :)
Thanks for sharing

Unknown said...

This is great! Perfect with the holidays just around the corner :)

stellaluna said...

very cute! love these flowers, am going to make some this weekend. thanks for so many great ideas.

Annemarie's Haakblog said...

That's SOO COOL!!! Thanks for the tutorial. If you like, come visit the link party on my blog today. I would really love it if you'll add something.
Bye!
Annemarie

HeARTworks said...

This is great! I'll add you to my post about different ways of making flowers! Patsy from
HeARTworks

oklyous said...

Oh how nice!
I have been thinking in the lines of what on earth I should use some of those magazines I get my hands on....and here it is! I'll just bookmark the tutorial:)

s. said...

oh i love these! so totally fabulous! :D

B.Link said...

I just made one! The tutorial is fantastic!

Kelley said...

Very cool!

Kristy said...

i love this <3
always getting free magazines and so far the only thing i can do is bows and coasters (inspired by you, of course!)
THANKS!

Tasja said...

WOW this is so cool!!

Beth said...

Super cute! I love how paper is so versatile and flexible that you can make these pretty flowers with it!

Paula said...

Can't wait to use my new toy to make flowers! Thanks for the info and the pdfs of the patterns!

Nichole said...

I love this idea!

pat said...

just stumbled on your blog...what a treat!!!!
Pat

Kate said...

These are really cute...great way to use old paper and magazines! I might have to try some. Although I'll have to be old fashioned and cut mine out by hand!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this tutorial, and the one on recycled bows. I've had a great time turning old magazines into objets d'art. I particularly enjoyed the subtle irony of making paper flowers from the pages of Accountancy magazine...

Elaine said...

What a grand flower to make. I'll have to give it a try.

John said...

Wow, this is very cool. I've already got a list of projects in my head!

Heather Innusa said...

Such a cool idea!! Nowadays we've gotta recycle and what a fab way to do it!!

Lynne4444 said...

Very cool and such a great time saver.

The Domestic Intellectual said...

These are great fun and just in time for Christmas decorations!

bell*bisou said...

These flowers are great. I think I will try a variation and maybe post soon :) Thanks for sharing. You rock!

Anonymous said...

These are great. For those of us lucky enought to already have a silhouette (but not illustrator) can you attach the .studio file?

Thx!

Jessica Jones said...

I would, but I don't think there's a way I can make one for you! Know how to convert an Illustrator file to whatever format you need?

Manu said...

Wow!!! I love it!!! THANKS!!!♥

Anonymous said...

Hey I'd love one as well! :-)
Shy

queen bee tracy said...

Adorable fleurs. I love the idea of using magazine and catalog pages-great color variations. I am thinking a wreath made of these would be pretty cute...

the artist said...

this could be a great use of all those bridal magazines that i am hiding away(that are way too expensive to be magazines, lets be honest. This way- i can think of them as ore of an investment.

Anonymous said...

So many brilliant inspirational ideas, thanks for sharing!

rebekah said...

i've already entered and i have my fingers crossed! love that machine! and this post.. is amazing cutting fabric and putting it on a onesie.. love!

Nagela said...

Thank you!

Wonderful tutorial!

Unknown said...

I'm so glad that someone shared this with me. :)

Thanks

Andrea said...

Just love these flowers! Made up some and took them to a very ill friend in the hospital. She enjoyed them as did her neighbor in the next bed. Thanks for helping to bring some cheer into her life!

Anonymous said...

Love these flowers - thank you!
Sally

THE BROWN BOYS said...

cuteness!!!
i made some different looking flowers to put on top boxes. They were so much fun to make!
http://thingswithwingsartjournal.blogspot.com/2010/10/paper-flowers.html

Diana Civil said...

Great idea will be having a go this evening..

Sam said...

I've got a Silhouette on my Christmas list... bookmarking this page until then :)

tchris said...

Love Love Love this! Thank you so much for sharing! You are the best!

Dyer said...

Thanks so much for showing us how to make these flowers!
I gave a gift card as a birthday present, made one of these flowers then poked a small hole in the envelope & slid the stem in. The flower made for a beautiful presentation to a simple gift.
**Thanks!**

Jessica@SewHomegrown said...

so great! linking to this-
jessica
http://www.sewhomegrown.blogspot.com

Franziska said...

thank you. I tried it myself. My flower didn't turn out as beautiful as your's. I think it's because of the paper's pattern, I will try another one.

jesslope said...

awesome. i love paper flowers so much i made my own wedding bouquet. which i'll be sharing on my blog soon. thanks for sharing.

Get Your Story On said...

I just made my first flower...so cool thanks for this post!!! Now I'm going to be like addicted.

Maria said...

These would look so cool on a wreath! Thanks for the tut!

Michelle said...

Love Love Love these!!!

Anonymous said...

It looks really stunning! :D

Kirsten said...

I made a bunch these over the weekend to use as gift toppers. Very easy! Great way to use an old calendar.

Jo said...

Ugh, so sad I just gave away a TON of old Victoria magazines (from the 90's)! I love these flowers and will def be trying them, thanks for sharing!

emerzim said...

Used your tutorial and template for a valentine flower today. Here's how it came out:

http://emilyinthedesert.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-heart-u.html

Thank you!!!

LA Smith said...

Great tutorial! Thanks.

jolie said...

Too fantastic! I'm making paper flowers for my wedding, and NOW I'm inspired to make said flowers from all those bridal magazines! Thanks!

Height Data said...

This is nice. You can actually make one for your friend!

plumbing said...

Thanks for sharing this wonderful blog. I will try that at home. Great post!

Lily said...

This is fantastic!!

Kirah said...

I'm getting married in 6 weeks...guess who's making these paper flowers!? THIS CHICK! Thank you sooo much!

Jessica Jones said...

Awesome. Happy flower-making!

Anonymous said...

wonderful!!! Made dozens of it for my daughter's hat for a school function. Thankz a ton for sharing !!! :-)

kendell said...

Thank you ever so much for sharing this tutorial, it is really appreciated. I have posted it on my Pinterest Kindest regards

Edna said...

I made a lot of these and put into a vase, I think they are cute. Thanks for the pattern;

Crystal Raen said...

Thank you so much for sharing this tutorial! I tweaked it a tad and made my bouquet for my wedding with it! If you are interested in seeing it visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crystalraen/7750320686/in/photostream

Jessica Jones said...

Wow, great work, Crystal!

Unknown said...

Thanks Jessica!

Shannon said...

A couple of my girlfriends came over this weekend and helped me cut out a bunch of petals. I now have one bridesmaid bouquet finished and have started on my bouquet. Thank you for posting this tutorial!

Free Share said...

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Please watch, like, comment and share if you like it :)
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