Easy Paper Flower Tutorial!

As a kid, I developed an obsession with arts and crafts, to the point where I learned early on how to do complex origami shapes. I'd like to think that flowers were the most fun to make, though, with their curly petals and cute ornaments. After hours and hours of following an instruction book I got to creating my original design, and I am happy to publish the design now so others can use it on their own free time! Here is a step-by-step process of what I remember to be one of my fondest childhood activities!

Supplies

- 1 roll of tape

- 2 colored sheets of paper, letter size

- 1 pair of scissors

- 1 fragance of your choice

- 2 q-tips

- 1 tissue paper

- 1 paint marker (I used POSCA)

- Assorted pens and markers for decoration!

Step 1: Materials

The supply list is shown in the introduction, but just in case here is a visual depiction of the materials I used and the colors I chose for my example!

Step 2: Flower Base

Grab the sheet of paper you would like to be the flower part and fold it according to the image. First fold diagonally to mark a perfect square and then fold the remainder to mark the division more clearly.

Step 3: Flower Base

Now cut the remaining part of the paper so it becomes a square, and fold diagonally to create a mountain-like fold on the paper.

Step 4: Flower Base

Once that is done, fold vertically and horizontally according to be image above.

Step 5: Flower Base

Following the guidelines on the photo, tuck in two of the tiny squares formed from the folds in the paper to create a diamond-like shape.

Step 6: Flower Base

Grab one of your assorted pens and use it to curl the front part of the diamond until around halfway (regardless you should feel the petal stop there from your previous folds).

Step 7: Flower Base

The previous step should look something like this!

Step 8: Flower Base

Repeat Step 5 two more times until only one of the folds remains untouched, just like the image. The extra paper fold should remain upwards, untouched for now.

Step 9: Flower Base

Here is an alternate view of what Step 6 should look like.

Step 10: Flower Base

Cut the paper fold through the middle crease until it reaches the bottom of your flower base.

Step 11: Flower Base

Once Step 7 is done, you should be able to tuck those triangles into the flowers base without any problem.

Step 12: Flower Base

Grab a lengthy piece of tape and place it vertically along the outside part of where you just tucked the paper fold, so it does not budge in the future. That should mark the ending of the Flower base phase!

Step 13: Flower Decorations

Grab your paint marker and use it to dye the cotton tips of your q-tips, and use the remaining slip of flower paper as a drying spot. Leave for now as is so it can dry quickly.

Step 14: Flower Decorations

Now grab your tissue paper and repeat Steps 2-4 on the paper to create an identical diamond shape. I sketched out a visual guideline again just in case you need to review it again!

Step 15: Flower Decorations

Rotate your diamond 180 degrees so the part with all the paper's corners sticks out on top instead of the bottom. Once that is done, tuck in the corners on the diamond's front face so it creates a thinner shape. Turn it around so you can repeat it on the back too, as shown in the image guidelines.

Step 16: Flower Decorations

Now grab two small pieces of tape and use them to keep the folds you made from undoing in both sides (the tissue's softer texture would make it impossible for it to keep its new shape if you were to ignore this step).

Step 17: Flower Decorations

Now grab three longer pieces of tape and stick the ends together so they each form an "O" shape. Stick each one into the center part of every flower petal's inside!

Step 18: Flower Decorations

It is time to start assembling! Grab your tissue base and stick it on with one petal covering the base's paper fold by using the tape on the base's center.

Step 19: Flower Decorations

Add a spray or two of your fragrance - a flower is not a flower without a sweet smell you know!

Step 20: Flower Decorations

By now your q-tips should be mostly dry; use that to your advantage and snip each of them right in the middle to create four separate flower pollen tips!

Step 21: Flower Decorations

I hope you still have that slip of paper from the q-tips! Now you will crumble it up so it can be used as a placeholder for your pollen swabs inside the flower.

Step 22: Flower Decorations

Insert the crumbled paper right in the middle of your flower. No tape is necessary for this step; it should stick right in there without much trouble.

Step 23: Flower Decorations

As you can likely guess, add the four swabs between the crevices created by your crumpled paper. By doing it this way, the swabs should stick up nicely and the flower will remain more lightweight (using a bit of tape on every single one to complete the same purpose would weigh the flower down and it would risk tearing the tissue).

Step 24: Flower Stem

Grab your second piece of colored paper and cut around one inch of it on the shorter end of the paper. It does not have to be precise, but make sure to cut a relatively small amount or you will have trouble completing the next step.

Step 25: Flower Stem

Grab the paper slip you just cut out and fold it halfway. Repeat that one or two more times until you can no longer fold it easily; by now your stem should be rigid enough to handle the weight of your flower.

Step 26: Assemble!

Slip one end of your stem into the crevice you made with that fold on the flower's base. You should be able to stick it in until it reaches the tissue paper, but it will be concealed without any issue because of the flower's decorations.

Step 27: Assemble!

Now that the flower is nearly done, use your pens and markers to decorate every angle of your flower! At this point creative freedom is encouraged; feel free to add anything you would like to the tissue, base, and even stem of your flower. With that, the flower is complete! I hope you enjoyed the process alongside me, and I hope it serves you as a form of entertainment if you are bored or want to make someone a cute gift!