Paper Flower Tutorial Part 2 - Flowers from Paper Strips

Hello again!

This is the second part of my Paper Flower Tutorial - see Part One here.  The flowers here are simple to make, from strips of paper.

They're great for using up those little bits you end up with sometimes, after cutting mats for photos, or bits of paper for your scrapping projects. Have a go at these, then see if you can come up with some variations of your own!

By the way, someone mentioned the papers I used, for the last Tutorial and I realised I hadn't said what they were.  The paper for these flowers is the same too - it's the "Rose Garden" range, by Papermania.  (These flowers are made from the 8" x 8" Paper Pack).

Paper Flowers from Strips of paper

Equipment Needed

As with the Circle flowers, you will need a ruler, craft knife and probably a pencil, for marking measurements (unless you're like me, and do it by the "that looks about right" method!). You will also find some paper punches handy, for cutting circles and also fancy edges for your paper strips.

Materials Needed

An assortment of pieces of paper. Waste strips from other papercrafting, bits of spare scrapbooking papers, pieces of art paper or matting blocks, even thicker sheets of gift-wrap can be used. Patterned paper is nicest, but plain can also make very pretty flowers.

Preparation

Cut your papers into strips, between 1cm/ 3/8" and 1.5 cm/ 1/2" is best.

Cut the strips into suitable lengths for your flowers - around 9cm/ 3 1/2" is good for a basic flower, using 1.5cm/ 1/2" wide strips.  Cut the thinner strips shorter (but wait a bit to see what I suggest for these!).

The flowers look really nice if you have shaped the ends of the strips. Here I've used an edging punch to cut curved ends.

Or push the end of the strip through from the inside of a scallop punch (as shown), to make a pretty frilled edge. This is specially nice on the thinner strips, as it gives a single curve, with little corners.  Be careful to line up the end as you would like the pattern to be.

Or use a corner punch to round the corners of the strip, making a "lolly-stick" effect.

Or line up the ends of your strips, then cut a "V" shape into all of them at once.  This looks especially nice on thicker strips. 

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Keep those little triangles - they make fab mini-bunting!

As do the little triangular bits left over when you cut out circles!

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Flower 1 - Simple Paper Strip flower

Take a 1.5cm / 1/2" strip, that is about 8-9cm / 3 - 3 1/2" long.  Cut the ends nicely, then put a small spot of glue in the centre of Strip 1.  Lay Strip 2 on top, at right angles and press down gently.

Do the same again for Strip 3, laying it across the gap between strips 1 & 2, as shown.

Then do the same for Strip 4, laying it on top, at right angles to Strip 3. 

Cut a slit through all layers in the centre of the flower, then push through a split pin/brad. Open out the back and push it firmly against the back of the flower.

The finished Flower 1.

Flower 2 - Circle-Backed Strip Flower

Cut a circle from cardstock, or stiff paper (plain or patterned).  Use the same punch to trim 1cm / 3/8" wide strips of patterned or plain paper. Place the strip across the centre of the punch, as shown, lining up each end to give you a nice pattern.

Put a spot of glue in the centre of your card/paper circle. Press your first strip onto the glue, lining up the ends of the strip with the edges of the circle.

Follow the method for Flower 1, to create a paper-strip flower, from four strips.

Choose a suitable small button and stick to the centre of the flower.  Alternatively, decorate with a split-pin/brad, as for Flower 1 above.

Flower 3 - Circle-Backed Mini-flower.

Make a smaller flower, by trimming 1 cm / 3/8" strips shorter than the width of a punched circle.  Use the same methods as for Flowers 1 & 2 above.  Decorate with a mini-brad or tiny button.

A Fun Fan!

I made this little fan, using 4.5cm / 1 1/2" long strips of paper (1.3cm/ 1 1/2" wide).

I rounded the ends of the strips, then made a tiny hole near one end of each strip (I have a teeny-hole punch, but you could use a craft knife, a thick needle, or an awl to punch the holes).

The handle of the fan is just one of those "Photo Turns" that you used to get with packs of brads. I used the brad to attach it and hold the whole thing together.

I think it's rather pretty.  This is the prototype - the next one will be measured a bit better and have slightly neater ends. I may also add a couple more strips of paper, to give it more impact.

So, there you are - some paper flowers and a bonus fan!

Obviously you can make these flowers with different widths and lengths of paper strip. You don't have to "fancy up" the ends - they can remain straight.  The flowers can be small - even tiny - or really quite big. 

Also, there is no rule to say you must only use four paper strips. You can use only three, if you fiddle with the angles, or five, six, seven, eight... multi-petalled flowers can look great!

The flowers don't have to be made of paper either - how about these ones, made from cotton gingham strips?

Or these, made from ticking tape?

Or ribbon ones?

I've seen similar flowers made from old envelopes (the coloured inside bits of business envelopes are fun), or newspapers and magazines.

You are only limited by your imagination!