Mother’s Day is only a couple of Sundays away, and I’ve got a great craft for all the family to do. I’m going to show you how to make a Paper Flower Wreath, which is not only beautiful to display in your home when it’s finished. But is also a great activity for all ages; from kids to adults.
I recently put on this craft workshop for a lovely group of teens, and it really well, with some impressive results. It took a good few hours, but it was brilliant for their focus (away from the digital world), and their creative well-being.
To know how to make A Paper Flower Wreath, you will need:
- Cardboard (roughly 40cm x 40cm)
- Scissors/Scalpel
- Pencil
- Assorted colour paper or card of your choice
- Glue Stick
- Ribbon
The process on how to make A Paper Flower Wreath:
1) Draw a donut shape design on your cardboard square. Leaving a 4-5 cm distance between both outer and inner pencil edges.
(Donut pictured) The outer circle (measures around 30cm diameter, and the inner circle measures 25cm.
Remember, the circle shape does not have to measure perfectly.
Top Tip: To get a large circle design drawn up without worrying about drawing it freehand; tie a piece of string around the end of your pencil. With the other end, hold it in the center of your cardboard square. Measuring your outer circle distance from the middle, hold down the string in the center, and start to draw you circle form.
When you’ve completed your outer circle, shorten the string in your fingers to the appropriate size, and draw your inner circle.
2) Cut out the outline of your cardboard donut shape, either using craft scissors, or a scalpel (with a cutting mat).
Then, cut out the inner circle shape.
3) When the cutting is complete, pierce a hole using your pencil on a selected area of your donut shape, roughly 1cm away from the outer edge.
This will later be where you tie your ribbon through, and hang your paper flower wreath from.
4) Designing your leaves!
Select from your assorted papers which colour/s you would like to have as you leaves. These can be one colour, mutli colours, or tones of the same colour.
Top Tip: A variety of colours or tones work best, to give more perspective and depth to your final paper flower wreath.
5) On the reverse of your papers, start designing a range of different leaves. Think about the variety of shapes and sizes. The more variety the better.
You can either draw different designs, cut these out, and then use these are your leaf templates.
Or simply draw as many leaf designs as possible. The choice is yours.
Top Tip: Add some interesting leaf designs to your standard leaves. You don’t have to cut out as many of these, because they will be layered in between your leaves and flowers to create lovely textures.
6) Cut out your leaves with either your craft scissors or scalpel (with your cutting mat).
For the size of cardboard donut I worked with, I used 30 (plus) leaves to complete the wreath. Start with this amount, and cut out more if you need.
7) Once you’ve cut out your paper leaves, start to arrange them around your cardboard wreath, mixing up your colours and/or tones if you’ve chosen a few.
Focus on placing your leaves over the edges on the outer circle and inner circle, facing in a variety of directions. This will enable your wreath to create the natural look.
Use your glue stick to secure your leaves in place.
8) Do not worry if the middle of your wreath is not covered with leaves, because our flowers and ‘interesting’ leaf designs will fill in these gaps.
Top Tip: Make your leaf designs 3D by curing up the ends of each leaf. This will give each leaf a natural feel, and make your paper flower wreath look more natural.
9) Designing your flowers!
Select from your assorted papers which colours you would like to have for your paper flowers. Similar to the leaf design stage, draw your flower variations on the reverse of your coloured paper.
You can either create a variety of different flower designs, or stay with one design throughout.
The choice is yours.
Top Tip: Select a range of colours that compliment each other and your leaves. Plus make sure you incorporate a variety of sizes, as you’ll be layering each flower design.
10) Like your leaves, when your designs are created, cut out your flowers using either your scalpel or craft scissors.
11) Next, you will start to combine your size and colour variations of flower cut outs, and start to play around with layering.
Top Tip: Mix and match on your choice of colours and designs. Really thinking about the end product of your paper flower wreath, and how it will look.
12) When you are happy with your flowers, start to stick each layer together with your glue stick. Finish off each flower by cutting out a circle middle, imitating the Ovule section of a real flower.
13) Locate the pierced hole you made in stage 3). This is the top of your wreath.
14) Next begin to arrange each paper flower around your wreath, keeping in mind where the top of your wreath is. Place your flowers in the middle of the cardboard area of your wreath.
Top Tip: You will find that large flowers still leave gaps in between each. Fill these gaps with smaller paper flowers, to make your paper wreath appear more full, and more natural.
14) When you’re happy with the placement of your paper flowers, start to stick down each flower with your glue stick.
Curl up the edges of each flower layer, to create a more 3D natural effect.
15) Finally, get your ribbon and thread it through your pierced hole in your cardboard wreath. Tie a knot where the two ribbon ends meet, then slide the tied end to the base of your pierced hole.
And there you have it, a fabulous and floral paper flower wreath. A perfect homemade, craft accessory to display in your home.
Happy Crafting!
P.S. If you would like to know any further information about my Craft Workshops I teach for private classes (adults, teenagers and children), please do get in contact.
[…] You can read how to make your own, with my step-by-step how to guide from my previous blog post, ‘How To Make A Paper Wreath’. […]