Paper Dahlias That Are Easy To Make! by Heather Nunes

I am giving my neighbor, an ecologist and avid gardener, the Womanswork Houseplant Kit for Christmas.  I wanted to make her gift pop with a paper dahlia instead of a bow.  Here’s how I made it.

Supplies needed:

Scissors

Paper – Scrapbook, Cardstock, Construction Paper, etc.

Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

Step-By-Step Instructions:

• • • Step One: Cut a circular base out of paper.  You can use the same paper as the petals or a complimentary color/style.   In the example I used a base with a 2 1/2″ diameter.

  

• Step Two: Cut squares out of the paper for the petals.  We used 2″ squares.  Then, cut them in half diagonally to create the triangles that each petal is made from.  For a point of reference, our example called for 33 petals.
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• Step Three: Making the petals. We opted to keep the pattern on the inside of the petal as this is what you see the most of.  Take a triangle with the long flat side on the bottom and curl the left side into a cone shape and curl the right side around the outside of the cone.  Carefully use hot glue to seal the right side to the cone.  (See video here) In the end each petal has a pointed funnel top with a cone base.  Repeat until all petals are prepared.  You may have to prepare a few at the end depending on how many you need after gluing them to the base.

• • Step Four: Take your circular base (decorative side down) and begin to hot glue each cone (pointed funnel side down) to the base.  Once the first round has been glued down, glue the next rounds to the base.  Each round is smaller than the last as you work your way to the center.

• • Voila, you now have a paper dahlia!  They make beautiful decorative accents on gifts or as ornaments. How will you use your paper dahlias?  Let us know in the comments.