Spring is just around the corner, and if you’re searching for DIY seasonal party decor, look no further. After hosting a floral-themed brunch for a friend’s baby shower, I received several compliments on the hand cut paper flowers that were central to the design. The truth is, they’re a cinch to make if you know how. Read on for a step-by-step tutorial and free printable template.
Materials: flower and leaf printable templates, colorful craft/scrapbook paper, scissors, hot glue gun
I purchased a pad of scrapbook paper (24 sheets) on clearance for $5, and it was enough to make all the flowers I used for the shower.
Print out the flower and leaf templates, and cut out the shapes.
Trace the templates onto your colored paper and cut them out. Natural flowers are perfectly imperfect, so don’t fret about making the shapes precise.
You will need five petal shapes and only one of the other shapes for each flower you make. I like to add a little sparkle to my flowers, so you’ll notice I used glitter paper for the smallest center circle.
To create the cupped shape of the petals, dab a small amount of hot glue onto one side of the stem. Gently bend the other stem to overlap the glue. Press and hold until secure.
After all the petals are cupped, assemble them by first gluing the stems of three petals together like I did in the photos below.
Attach the final two petals underneath to fill in the gaps.
Use your scissors to fringe the edge of the largest center circle.
Cut a slit into the center of the middle-sized circle. Dab glue on one corner of the slit, and overlap the edges to create a shallow cone.
Stack and glue the three centers down inside the flower petals.
Attach the leaves to the bottom of the petals, overlapping slightly.
Not only are these DIY paper flowers a big hit as baby shower or party decor, but they can also adorn nursery walls as art or be used to beautifully embellish gift wrap.
Once you’re confident making these hand cut paper flowers from the template, experiment with changing the shape of the petals, centers and leaves to create a variety of floral designs. Scale them bigger or smaller to achieve different looks. Most of all, have fun and be creative!
This is awesome. Thanks sOo much for this tutorial.
Beautiful! I can’t download the flower, only the leave. Can you please help. Need it for mother’s
day. Thank you for sharing.
When you click the link, it should download as a 2-page document. The flower templates are on the second page. Is it not opening with 2 pages for you?
Thanks so much! Just what i’ve been looking for to spice up my bulletin boards!
Hi, I can not get the flower templates to download to a PDF. Am I doing something wrong?
Hi Evelyn, Which browser are you using? Sometimes it’s in a little menu that pops up in the corner when you hover over the image. Or you can try going up to File in your browser for an option like Export as .pdf.
Hi! I made these flowers for Mother’s Day and my mom absolutely loved them! Thank you so much for this simple but beautiful DIY. Would you consider adding additional petal templates? I would love to make more that have different shaped petals to add some variety, but I can’t draw a good one without a template.