How to Upcycle Greeting Cards and Make Beautiful Paper Flowers
Here is a clever way to upcycle the paper inserts that you find in some greeting cards to make lovely paper flowers that can be used in a variety of decorations.
Below you will see I have taken the paper inserts out of the cards and used them to cut out 3 x 3 inch squares. You might prefer just to use the patterned paper, and just cut around the verses, but personally I think these flowers look great with the verses winding their way around the petals. You can use birthday cards, valentines or seasons greeting cards. You can use old Christmas cards to create flowers that can be used in a wreath or Christmas table decoration.
You will need:
5 squares of paper per flower you wish to make. I have used 3 x 3 inch squares
Glue
Clips
1 x 24cm wire for each flower you make. Bigger flowers will need slightly longer lengths of wire. I have used 0.6mm gauge (that's about 22 gauge for those in the States). But thinner wire would work just as well, just don't go too thin as the wire is more likely to snap.
2 or 3 Small beads. I have used 4mm round clear crackle quartz
Instructions
Begin with a square of paper, I have used 3 x 3 inches, but you can use bigger squares to produce larger flowers. If you have a preferred side that you want to show off lay that side face down and when you finish it will be on the outside of the petal.
Note - paper smaller than 3 x 3 inches will probably be very tricky to fold
Fold the upper sides back on themselves, making sure the edge indicated aligns with the edge of the diamond shape below on both sides.
Tip:
It helps if you hold the bead with one hand, and with the other hand hold the wire to the point you want the twist to finish. Then when you rotate the hand holding the bead, the twist will not go past your fingers. Do not twist too much or the wire may break. If you are not used to working with wire, do a few practice twists - it helps if you twist until the wire breaks on the practice run as you will begin to build an intuition about how far you can twist the wire.
The finished result
The finished flowers can be simply displayed in a vase or glass (as shown), or can be used in other craft projects.
You could turn them into button holes, or make many to create a papery bouquet.
Take a look at my tutorial to learn how to turn them into Christmas wreaths or centerpiece decorations. Link coming soon.
