How to Make Paper Flowers with Construction Paper

Let's make some flowers! Paper flowers are fun to make and very trendy lately. There are many different types of paper flowers you can make and lots of hubs available on various ones. In this hub, you will learn how to make paper flowers with construction paper as the main material. You can use these flowers however you would like, whether it's decorating your home, or creating crafty wedding reception centerpieces, such as myself. With so many great DIY ideas available, I'm implementing a bunch of craft ideas into our wedding ceremony and reception. Please follow along to find out how to make these flowers!!

You will need:

• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Popsicle stick
• Glue - Suggested Elmer's glue to the right, but use whichever glue is the easiest for you.
• Optional - floral stem (preferably green)
• Optional - floral tape (preferably brown)

First you will need to cut out lots of flower shapes. You can free draw it by hand, or print off available templates from the internet. Once you have your shape (the more the better, but for one flower you will need three flower shapes) carefully cut it out trying to cut precisely to ensure pen marks aren't visible.

Next, you will fold each flower three times. It is very easy to fold the wrong way. You will fold the flowers at each point where the petal goes inward towards the center. There's six of these points --- fold directly across to the other point that's facing the center, three times. If you mess up, just fix it the best you can.

Now you will cut each flower. Take the first flower and cut a slit from one point to the center. This will be easy if your lines are crisp. If they're not, refold so that they are more visible.

Take the second, and cut a slit just like you did above from one point to the center, and then back outward again at the next closest crease. You need one petal cut out.

For the third petal, you will cut from a point to the center and then cut on the crease 2 petals away. It will look like a heart shape.

******Keep the scraps! The one petal shape and the heart shaped petal will both be used later on.

It's time to glue now. What you will do is place a dollop of glue on a petal on the outside. Place the petal on the other side over it so it overlaps. Each shape will now be forming into a cone shape.

Next, use a popsicle stick (a pencil if you don't have one). Tuck the popsicle stick underneath each petal to make it have a nice curl.

Next, cut the ends off of the second smallest and the smallest flower. Apply a dollop of glue at the bottom of the large flower and place the medium sized flower inside of it. Then, add another dot of glue to the middle flower and add the smallest flower to it.

Now it's time to use the two small scraps, leftover shapes. Start with the heart shaped petal. Use your popsicle stick to curl the left side in towards the right. Add a dollop of glue to hold it together. Hold it for a few seconds to let it dry. Then, using the small one petal shape, with the pointy part facing up, curl the left and then right with the popsicle stick.

Now, add a dot of glue to the center of your flower and place the heart shaped piece inside of it. Then, once that is secure, add the small one petal shape to the center. You may or may not need more glue, depending on how much glue you previously used. Hold the flower together by pressing gently in the center a few seconds to secure it.

Ta-da! You are done. Use the flowers as you would like, or continue reading to learn how to make the stem for your flowers to be used in a bouquet.

***It is best to wait for the flowers to dry before proceeding onto the following steps.

First, using scissors, make a tiny hole right through the center of one of your flowers. Use a piece of floral wire, 22 gauge or other, and place it through the hole, making a loop at one end. The loop helps keep the flower in place at the end of the wire. If a tad of wire pokes out of the hole it usually helps the flower stay more secure and that is good.

On the other end of the stem, away from the flower, stab another tiny hole through the center of a second flower and slide it onto the stem, petals facing up. Now your wire should be in a U shape with two flowers on the ends of each side.

Cut two 2-inch sections of floral tape. Use the first piece and wind it up, beginning about one and a half inches below the flower, continuing upwards. Press down firmly and use your hands to secure it as you go up. Continue until you reach the base of the flower; wrap some tape on the edge of the flower if you can for more security. Secure the ends by using your fingers to smooth out the tape along the stem.

Repeat the above for the second flower on the other end of your stem.

Then repeat again for as many flowers as you need. You will gradually have more and more floral stems with 2 flowers on each one. Consider how many flowers you need to create, or just make a whole bunch and use what you need and complete the rest later or for a different project.

For my centerpiece I used about 20 flowers. Remember each piece of floral stem has 2 flowers on it, so that is 10 stems used.

Now, arrange your stems how you want them to be arranged in your bouquet or centerpiece. They should look to be in somewhat of a U or V shape. On each stem, gently squish the ends together at the base. The bottom portion should be close together now but the top two flowers won't be; later you can fluff them and position them how you want them to be, too.

If you have a color theme in mind, make sure to place the correct color flower on the stems. For my centerpiece, I used green and blue flowers, and only a couple brown flowers, so I made sure to arrange them so one color wasn't dominating a section of the bouquet.

Finish your flower arrangement by using about 10 inches of floral tape around the base of the flowers. It's sometimes helpful to place the flowers gently facedown with stems up in the air. This way you can line up the flowers so they all peak through nicely and each flower can be visible. Now, wind the base with floral tape starting at the very end, securing and holding as you go. Wrap tightly and continue up until you're satisfied the flowers are secure. I went about 4 inches up, and stopped where the stems were beginning to pull away. You could also tape each stem individually all the way up if you wanted them to be completely covered.

Make these centerpieces for around your home or for a wedding reception. I am cutting down on our wedding expenses by implementing frugal DIY projects into our wedding planning. Using a variety of paper flowers you can significantly cut down on expenses and make your flowers exactly as you want them to be! Be creative and wow your guests with not standard flowers from the florist, but something you envisioned in your head. You can coordinate this project with your wedding plans and theme and make your day memorable and beautiful :-)

These flowers are a bit time consuming to make, but they really are not difficult! If you have the time to prepare for an event or special occasion, you can work on them overtime. Store them somewhere safe and afterwards you can have a memorable keepsake of your event!!