DIY // WATERCOLOR PAPER FLOWERS
I’m so excited to share this DIY with you today! But first, I want to introduce to you my friend Nicole from Bloem Hill, part owner of an amazing floral and design company based in Southern California. Nicole and I have partnered up to bring you a fresh new DIY project once a month, and I can’t be more excited about it. If you are anything like me, you need someone to challenge you in your craft endeavor’s, and Nicole’s my girl! Be sure to stop by her blog to say hello. She is incredibly talented.
Naturally, we are kicking off our DIY series with florals! But even better, florals that will never die! (my kind of flowers!) We decided to put our own spin on a paper flower with an organic, natural and painterly feel. It took a bit of trial and error, but we love what we came up with!
First, you will need a pair of scissors and some paper. We used this natural fine paper from Paper Source. Cut about 10-12 rectangular pieces roughly 4″ X 2.5″ in size (larger for a larger flower, smaller for a smaller flower). You could then use your scissors to cut them all into the shape of petals, but we preferred tearing the paper by hand so that the edges were left rough and slightly frayed. They all don’t have to be perfect. In fact, having them irregular looks even better in the end. After you are done shaping your petals, you’ll want to paint them. We used Winsor & Newton watercolors in mustard, peach and grey. But use whatever color palette is inspiring to you! This is the part that allows you to get creative. Mix your paint with water and start painting your petals. I would suggest making the bottom portion of the petal darker, and then fading up to a lighter shade at the ends. Let the petals dry.
Next you will need some rustic floral wire and some pliers. The wire will serve as your stem, so cut it to the length you desire. To create your flower, take the petals (they should be fully dry at this point) and begin wrapping them around the top of your stem using floral tape (not pictured) to secure them. We did 2 petals at a time. After you have attached all of your petals and your flower is full, it will need a “center” to cover up the exposed wire in the middle. We just twisted solid black paper into a small ball and used a glue gun to attached it to the center. We also added touches of black paint along the edges of our petals to give them a little definition.
A fun trick for adding a little extra sparkle to the center of your flower :
Cut a strip of metallic tissue paper and using shredding scissors, cut along the edge leaving at least a centimeter uncut. Roll it, metallic side facing in, around the top of your wire before you start attaching your petals. This will leave you with a pretty little pom in the center when you are finished!
I hope you all love these as much as we do! Let me know if you give it a try!
March 12th, 2013 at 12:02 pm
Oh I love this Kelli! I can’t wait to give it a try.
March 12th, 2013 at 12:22 pm
These are just gorgeous. And now I found what I am going to do this weekend! With spring around the corner I always want to fill my house with tons of flowers, so this is perfect! Thanks for sharing!
March 12th, 2013 at 12:32 pm
Wow. What a beautiful tutorial. I have a friend that is getting married soon and I’ve been sending her DIY’s constantly. You bet I’m going to send this to her.
March 12th, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Wow, what a simple, classy, idea. These are absolutely beautiful and perfect for the Spring weather that is sneaking up on us. Thanks for the idea.
March 12th, 2013 at 2:16 pm
WOW! This is so beautiful! You are so talented and these photos have me speechless. love.
March 12th, 2013 at 3:36 pm
Love how delicate and pretty these are. Bloem is beautiful, thank you for introducing us!
Well done.
-Courtney
March 12th, 2013 at 4:17 pm
They are L.O.V.E.L.Y
) I’ll try them out, too.
-Elke
March 12th, 2013 at 9:52 pm
gorgeous! i love that these flowers will never die (the only sad part of displaying the real deal). thanks for sharing!
March 12th, 2013 at 9:56 pm
Beautiful! I love the flowers paired with the decorative containers.
March 12th, 2013 at 11:55 pm
this is such a fun idea, i love the watercolor effect
March 13th, 2013 at 12:05 am
thanks for sharing this! excited to try. xo
March 13th, 2013 at 3:15 am
Wow Kelli, these are totally gorgeous!
March 13th, 2013 at 3:20 am
these are utterly amazing!!!
March 13th, 2013 at 6:21 am
Wow Kelly, these flowers are beautiful. Just the kind of thing I need to get springtime into my home. Not bothered anymore that the weather is playing crazy out there
Thanks a lot!
Nadine
March 13th, 2013 at 11:59 am
Really love this! So beautiful! <3
Thank you for sharing, Kelli!
March 13th, 2013 at 2:21 pm
Stopping by from the post I saw on your from the Mod Cloth Blog and it’s great to find another SoCal blogger as I’m in San Diego.
Cheers,
Monica
March 13th, 2013 at 7:58 pm
These are beautiful and perfect for spring!
March 13th, 2013 at 10:57 pm
Gorgeous! Also, where are those vases from? I’m in love with the whole look.
March 13th, 2013 at 11:23 pm
I have a bunch of glass bottles lying around and I wanted something decorative to put in it but I hate the typical fake flowers. This is perfect! I have all of these things lying around. Actually not the wire but I’ll manage!
March 14th, 2013 at 12:21 am
Looks easy to create one. This is perfect for my scrap work. Thanks for sharing the tutorial
March 14th, 2013 at 3:29 am
Thanks Jessica! I found on sale at Anthropologie a few months ago!
March 15th, 2013 at 6:25 am
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March 17th, 2013 at 7:19 pm
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March 20th, 2013 at 1:26 am
yeah, i’d like to see how you got the petals on with the floral tape.
let’s just say i’ve been trying with 3 petals for about 2 hours and it doesn’t work. only one stays on. the others slip right out of the tape.
March 20th, 2013 at 3:42 am
hmm. maybe bad floral tape Kylie? When you stretch it, it becomes sticky. Group together the two petals and wrap the floral tape around the base, attaching to the stem. I guess I already explained this….haha. I hope you can get it to work!
March 20th, 2013 at 12:21 pm
No it’s definitely sticky. Idk it’s very frustrating but hopefully i’ll figure something out. thanks!
March 21st, 2013 at 1:43 am
Hi there
Thanks for sharing this with us. Definitely going to give it a try!!
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:03 am
Thanks for sharing, love the DIY – and the vases! Where are those from?
March 23rd, 2013 at 12:09 am
The vases are from Anthro!
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April 8th, 2013 at 11:04 am
This was such a fun project, though my fingers paid the price for hand-ripping 100+ petal edges.
The results https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/601521_928321643832_1185777553_n.jpg
Thanks again, Lauren
April 9th, 2013 at 9:09 am
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April 10th, 2013 at 3:32 am
Ah, they look SO good though Lauren!! Well done!
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April 25th, 2013 at 12:53 am
Do check out the DIY paper flower project on this blog
This post inspires me to experiment with more such projects.
April 27th, 2013 at 12:50 am
Thanks for the tutorial. I didn’t have any floral wire or floral tape so I used Beacon 3-in-1 glue and a bamboo skewer. It worked great. Before tearing up the paper I wrote on both sides of my paper with a watercolor pencil and smeared my writing with water.
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May 12th, 2013 at 10:44 pm
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June 15th, 2013 at 2:23 pm
this is something i have never ever read. extremely detailed analysis.
June 17th, 2013 at 10:52 pm
I can hardly wait to try and make these. They are so beautiful! Hope I can do as great a job as you.