DIY Paper Flowers Bouquet for Valentine's Day

If you have a special someone, valentine's day means a chance to prove your love. Talking about love, in folklore, cornflowers were worn by young men in love, if the flower faded too quickly, it was taken as a sign that the man's love was not returned.

Since these cornflowers are made from papers, worry not, they won't faded quickly, they won't withered, and they're perfect to prove your love!

These pretty paper cornflowers are easy to make and won't cost you a dime. I made two versions of tutorials, one is video tutorial (i embed it below, you can click to watch it), and the other one is photo + written step by step tutorial.

So go ahead, grab your materials and get started.

Step 1: Watch the Video Tutorial

Some people like video tutorial, and some people like written tutorial. If you're the first one, watch the video tutorial here. And then you can download pdf tutorial for later.

Step 2: Materials and Tools

I divided materials into two categories, one is for paper flowers, and the other one is for bouquet wrapper. If you just want to put your paper flowers in a vase, you can skip bouquet wrappers altogether.

Paper flowers materials:

Papers (in this tutorial i use crepe papers, but it can be replaced with any papers), you will need at least two shade of colors, darker one is for flower's center, and lighter one is for outer petals.
Scissor
Floral wires
Paper Glue

Bouquet wrapper materials:

Tulle fabric
Tissue paper
Rope/ribbon to tie the bouquet

Step 3: Cutting Shape for Outer Flowers

1. Cut papers into 4 cm x 4 cm square (you will need 10 pieces for one single flower)

2. Fold them accordion style

3. Trims one end of folded papers into rounded shape, then open them up

Step 4: Forming Trumpet Shaped Flowers

Cornflowers consist of flower's center and tiny trumpet shaped flowers surrounding the center.

These steps show you how to form trumpet shaped flowers.

Cut paper edges diagonally like shown in the picture above, then spread glue over it.
Roll the paper loosely (meet both sides of papers), then press it, and then twist it. Watch the video if you're not sure. (make sure you end up with trumpet shaped small flowers)
Curl those tiny flowers with scissor

Step 5: Cutting Shape for Flower's Center

To make flower's center you must prepare these:

Cut tissue paper into 2,5 x 8 cm (you will need 2 pieces per flower)
Cut crepe paper into 3,5 x 5 cm (you will need 1 pieces per flower)
Long strip of paper
Loop one end of the wire

Part A (picture no. 2)

Prepare 2,5 cm x 8 cm tissue papers
Fold those papers accordion style
Trims one end of folded papers into rounded shape

Part B (picture no 3)

Prepare 3,5 cm x 5 cm papers
Fold those papers accordion style
Trims one end of folded papers into rounded/pointy shape (trim deeper to make longer fringes)

Note : paper types actually doesn't really matter, feel free to use any types of paper (as long as it's workable)

Step 6: Forming Paper Flower's Center

This paper flower center consists of 4 layers

1. Wrap a strip of tissue paper around one end of wire to make a small bud

2. Take one of the tissue paper (from previous step) and wrap around the bud

3. Take the fringed paper, wrap around the previous layer (tissue paper)

4. Take the other tissue paper and wrap it around the previous layer (fringed paper)

Step 7:

1. Prepare flower's center and 10 pieces of tiny trumpet shaped flowers

2. Glue trumpet shaped flowers around the center

3. Secure with thread (because glue doesn't hold that fast, and you don't want the tiny flowers to fall out)

4. This step is optional, but you can paint the tiny flowers with food coloring (mix it with water), not completely paint it, just to add color gradation on it.

Step 8: Making Leaves

1. Wrap bottom part of paper flower with green paper, continue wrapping to the stem

2. Prepare 1 cm x 8 cm green papers, cut like leaf shape (as shown above)

3. Attach/glue paper leaves to flower's stem

And done, you can make as many flowers as you want.

Step 9: Wrap the Paper Flowers to Make a Pretty Bouquet

First of all, the size of tulle and tissue paper really depend on how many flowers you're going to use.

Now, i can't really explain how i made the bouquet. Just lay tissue paper and tulle like shown in the picture. Put artificial leaves and paper flowers above wrappers, then fold/roll the wrapper like shown. Remember to secure with tape after you fold. Last step, tie bouquet wrappers with rope or ribbon.

Voila, you have a beautiful paper flowers bouquet.