How To Make A Giant Paper Flower + Free Template

Last October I made a giant paper flower as a way to give a money gift to my friends Julia and Stefan’s wedding. You might have read about them here on the blog every once in a while as Julia and her hubby helped me set up my blog Craftify My Love in the early days. Why don’t you pay Julia’s food blog Chestnut & Sage a visit later on?

We received a very sophisticated wedding invitation in white and gold. The wonderful event was planned and took place in both a very laid back and super professional way and Markus and I enjoyed ourselves a lot! Bride and groom asked for money gifts as they already have a well-organized and functional household and love to travel.

I wanted to make a giant paper flower in forever and felt the time had finally come. Over time I had built up a vision of my giant paper flower and how to DIY it and as I looked left and right in preparation on Pinterest I felt confirmed in my plans and knew that this would be a perfect project for Erlens monthly Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop. I made sure I had all the supplies at home aka I checked my giant stash a couple of days prior to the wedding for some white and gold paper.

Same as with this darling wedding or housewarming gift idea, I started to DIY the giant paper flower only a couple of hours before the wedding. Arghhhh…I am always super last-minute with my DIYs. But fear not. Everything worked out fine!

Big paper flowers might look intimidating, but are actually pretty easy to be made.

Keep on reading for a detailed step-by-step tutorial that even includes a video, and make sure to download the free template as a little thank you for subscribing to my newsletter.

Pinterest Challenge – Join in on the Fun!

The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate all the participants of this hop (and you too) to not just pin, but to make it happen! You’ll see what my friends created this month at the end of this post.

I really enjoy this #pinterestchallenge! Look what I have been creating so far:

• IKEA Hack: Wood Slice Side Table
• DIY Stencilled Anthropologie Dresser Knock-off
• Crocheted Boho Hoop Earrings
• A Traditional German Housewarming Gift | Wood Burning Art
• Macramé Spiral Bracelet for Couples or BFF’s

Will you join in on the fun next month? Click here to sign-up ⇒ February Pinterest Challenge.

Supplies to DIY a Giant Paper Flower

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• Cardstock or scrapbook paper (12 sheets of 12 x 12 ” or 30,5 x 30,5 cm)
• Free template for the petals
• Cardboard as a base (I recycled a shipping box) + circle template (I used a lid) + pencil
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun
• garden wire & pliers

How to make a Giant Paper Flower – Video Tutorial

If you are a visual learner like I am, you’ll probably prefer watching the video tutorial:

If you enjoy Video Tutorials, make sure to sign up to my YouTube channel HERE.

Related:

• How to make a Tiny Paper Rose
• Felt Flowers (start here for a series of 5) and Tassel Flowers are super easy to make, too.
• Other Flower Crafts by Me or by AllFreePaperCrafts.com you might like.

Step-by-Step Photo Tutorial: DIY Giant Paper Flowers

1 – Prepare the Petals

Download the free petals template HERE, print it and cut out the three different sizes. The medium and small templates are designed to get the most out of a 12 x 12 ” paper sheet.

I used 6 different patterns and had 2 sheets of each pattern.

Efficiency Tips:

• Place three to five sheets of paper on top of another, trace or place the template on top and cut them all at once. Don’t freak if the edges aren’t perfect. They don’t need to be!
• You’ll find a nifty tip to make your life easier in this step in the video.
• Also, cut some more petals freehand from the paper scraps left when using the large template.

This way you’ll end up having four different sized flower petals.

Unfortunately, I didn’t count the petals I’ve cut out. Remember, I was kinda in a hurry to get to the wedding 😉 I tried counting them in the photo just now and I think you should be fine with about 50 petals. Spread them out somewhat evenly.

Now you’ll cut a slit into the base of every single petal. Again you can bundle them to save some time. See what number your scissors and your hand can handle. I was ok with 3 – 5.

Essential: The longer the cut, the steeper the angle of your petal. I’d recommend increasing the length of the cut the smaller your petals get. This way the petals on the outside of your flower will be flatter, giving the inner petals more room to stand up and shine. Does that make any sense?

Add a dab of hot glue on one side, and press the other side on top so the petal base is overlapping. By this, you are creating the first step for three-dimensional leaves for your giant paper flower. The second step will be done at the very end of this project.

2 – Build the Base & Holder of your Giant Paper Flower

For more stability, you’ll give your giant paper flower now a sturdy base. Maybe you have a shipping box or any other cardboard at home you could recycle for this project?

Go grab a lid or any other round object you could use as a template and trace it on the cardboard.

After you’ve created your circle base you’ll cut two holes in the center. Grab some garden wire and pliers and clip of a good length. I used the wire double for more stability.

Thread the wire through the previously made holes and twist it together. Voilà, you’ve created a holder to simply attach your DIY paper flower as a decorative element to any party location. Works even in trees and branches if you make the wire long enough!

3 – Now it’s time to Construct your Giant Paper Flower

I recommend you start from the outside. Using your hot glue gun, add a petal at noon, three o’clock, six o’clock, and nine o’clock of your flowers base. Then add petals in between. For the next row place the petals so that they will be overlapping the ones from the previous row and so on and so forth. As soon as you run out of one size, start using the next.

I think you’ll get a better idea of this step when watching the video tutorial.

4 – Finishing Touches

A) How to make the center of your giant paper flower

Please make sure to watch the video tutorial to see how I’ve created the center of this darling giant paper flower. It is so much easier to see for yourself 🙂

B) The second step to a more realistic three-dimensional flower

Remember that we’ve created the overlapping part at the base of the flowers? Now it’s time to give a little TLC to the opposite sides of our petals. Use a pencil and carefully curl the pointy ends. Either towards the inside or the outside. I personally, like a mix of both.

Have you ever wanted to DIY a giant paper flower? Or 10? They make for an amazing photo backdrop for a wedding, a birthday, or baby shower. If so, start right now by downloading the FREE template for the petals HERE as a thank you for subscribing to my newsletter.

Love,

PS: Don’t forget to PIN this to Pinterest.

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Now let’s see what other things Pinterest inspired! Head over and visit the other hosts to see what they crafted, cooked, built, or tried!

Erlene – My Pinterventures • Jenny – Cookies Coffee and Crafts
Debbee – Debbee’s Buzz • Laurie – My Husband Has Too Many Hobbies
Bri – Halfpint Design • Kelli – K’s Olympic Nest
Cherryl – Farm Girl Reformed
Beverly – Across the Boulevard • Debra – Shoppe No. 5
Roseann – This Autoimmune Life • Terri – Our Good Life
T’onna – Sew Crafty Crochet • Joanne – Our Unschooling Journey

Habiba – Craftify My Love • Gail – Purple Hues and Me
Kristie – Teadoddles • Lydia – Lydia’s Flexitarian Kitchen
Kristie – Love My Little Cottage
Michelle – Our Crafty Mom
Alexandra – Eye Love Knots • Marci – Stone Cottage Adventures
Ali – Home Crafts by Ali • Lauren – Mom Home Guide
Susan – Suzerspace • Audra – Renewed Projects