Paper Flowers from Old Books

[batfishgurl]

One of my favorite people is graduating with her Ph.D in English Lit in a few weeks, so I wanted to make something special for her. I was flipping through my new Do It Yourself magazine and saw a basic tutorial for turning old book pages into paper flowers and I decided I'd give it a shot. There are lots of little steps, so it's time-consuming, but really fun (and the results are great)!

I'm planning to make her a dozen or so, but here's what I've got done to start.

A couple of the first flowers I made:


I found another tutorial for tiny flowers. I'm thinking about making a few more of the little ones to mix into the bouquet, since they are so cute:


Here they are with some greenery added:


And here's one completely finished:


I'll update this post as I get more done!

If you have any tips for making paper flowers, or links to tutorials for other types of paper flowers, please share! I'd love to make a mixed bouquet!

Thanks for looking, and for your feedback!

[dopey_44]

those came out great i love them do u have a tut for those if i may ask

[LimeRiot]

So pretty! And what a perfect gift for an English lit Ph.D .

[Kitsune-Tearz]

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=376987.0

these are another slightly different flower that i stumbled across when i was looking for the right crafty roses for my wedding... they are really pretty, and really simple to make (you can hand cut them, there are other sites that show you can use the exact same process with a 5 sided flower as well)

hope it helps, these are beautiful

[glasstapper]

Ooh... I really, really like these, and your version best of all! Do you have any tips as far as how to make roses as pretty as yours? Just more petals, individually cut ones etc? These are awesome!

[graced]

Pretty!

Here's a link to another kind of flower: http://mayamade.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-to-instant-paper-flowers.html

I don't think you'd need shredding scissors...just make lots of little cuts!

Good luck!

[Keyzmasta]

These are great! I make the ones with coffee filters- haven't done one in a while but you have inspired me to try it again. I saw in the background that you were use food coloring- never though of that. I think it is a cool effect to watercolor the tips of the petals once assembled.

Great Job!

[carmencrafter]

I think someone else already mentioned this, but you should really try to make some coffee filter roses.  You definitely have the talent to do it.  You have me thinking about trying to make some flowers with my old nursing textbooks.  The food coloring gives your roses a vintage look! Great job!

[JuliannWade]

The rose at the bottom is so beautiful. Amazing.

[batfishgurl]

Aww, you all are too sweet! <blush>

Here are some in-process photos of the cut-but-not-assembled petals, which might help you all:



I wanted to add a bit more color to the petals above, so I painted them a little more and put them in the microwave for about 30 seconds to dry...


 I just scrunched/ rolled the bottom of the first petal to make the center and then layered the other petals around as I went. I assembled with hot glue, as I have no patience.

Once I got as many petals on as I wanted, I started at the outside row and rolled/curled the edges of the petals out with my fingers. Through trial and error, I learned that this is a bit easier with paper that you'd crumpled a bit before you glued onto the flower. I think the curled-out edges are what make them look so nice!

Thanks all for your sweet comments! I've never tried coffee filter flowers, but will certainly check them out!