paper flower present topper

hello all!

 

for the first project in hunter gatherer maker i thought it would be great to do something easy and something that is fun and cheap. as you may know; i focus on using items already in the house and try to reuse and recycle as much as i can so you can just whip up crafty projects with bits and bobs you already have.

 

so what better way to  do that than by learning how to make a paper flower present topper?!

 

this little baby is a fab idea for adding that little somethin' extra to chrissy presents; but also for birthday and wedding/engagement presents. they also make fab table decorations!

 

 

below is a snap of what you'll be making!

///////////////////////////////////////////////

[step one] what do i need?

> scissors
> brown twine or string
> a pencil for tracing
> kraft paper [or brown paper] [picked this up from my art shop for 
  about 50 cents for an a1 sheet!]
> a couple of pages from a newspaper, book or music book
> buttons
> a thick sewing needle or pin board pin

///////////////////////////////////////////////

[step two] tracing the template

i've whipped up a simple template with three different sizes of flowers you can create for different sized presents. i've used the "large A and large B" for my flower; however you can make them bigger or smaller when you print, just by changing the settings on your printer from a4 to a3.

///////////////////////////////////////////////

[step three] tracing the templates and cutting them out

pick a size that best suits your sized present and trace both matching sizes [i've used large A and large B] for my example i've cut out 4 x large A and 3 x large B. i've also chosen to use newspaper as my base material however feel free to use any other type of paper such as old christmas paper, sheet music or magazines!

///////////////////////////////////////////////

[step four] putting it all together

lay the templates on top of one another with the templates 'A' at the bottom and templates 'B' on the top. you can line them up so they match each other or arrange them in a mis-match fashion - whatever you think looks good! place the button [of your choice] on the centre and using the pin/needle poke through the button holes through all templates to the other side. this will enable you to work the hole with the pin to make it a wee bit wider to poke the string through. cut a sizable length of string so you can wrap it around the whole present. i've only threaded string through two holes of the button; but use all four if you'd like! pull the string through so it is of even lengths and tie a small knot on the bottom side to stop the templates from moving.

 

///////////////////////////////////////////////

 

 

[step five] bringing the flower to life

 

gently fold some of the petals from each template flowers[but not all] in a tee-pee shape to make it look 3D. this makes it sit more nicely on the present.

 

 

 

 

 

///////////////////////////////////////////////

 

[step six] attaching it to the present

 

lay the flower of the top of the present and tie the length of string around the underside of the present and bring across the top and tie back underneath for a crisp and clean finish. attaching a handmade gift tag also add a neat little component [i've cut a small amount of kraft paper; used my type writer to write a greeting and stamped a pine cone stamp on the bottom]

 

et voila! you have your paper flower present topper! i'd love to know how you went and if there's anything you need me to explain more - just send me an email.

 

happy crafting! xx

 

 

 

 

///////////////////////////////////////////////

 

 

here's another idea for the same paper flower... use as a neat little table decoration! simply place on a piece of kraft paper on a plate and tie some string in a bow around some cutlery!

 

 

 

 

 

///////////////////////////////////////////////