Easy Paper Flower Tutorial

Handmade flower tutorial 

Dear friends Thank you so much for the warm support on my tooth model.Its been a while since I shared a paper flower making tutorial .This is a simple tutorial with some nifty tips to make easy handmade flowers like the big yellow paper flower on this recycled CD case.

Recycled CD Case

The CD case is a notebook holder similar to the teachers day gifts I had shared earlier[See link How to recycle CD cases].The silver bow is handmade with silver ribbon and a pink glitter paper strip.The purple roses are quilled roses and the tiny yellow daisies are punchcraft flowers.The big yellow flower is relatively easy to put together and is made of just 6 flowers.

Materials Required

1. Paper-Some handmade flowers [like the roses in this altered project ]are better made with thick card stock while some like the roses in this Punchcraft Rose tutorial require thin punch craft paper.This paper flower tutorial  will work well with all kinds of paper! So use easily available chart paper like I did  or  thick card stock or  thin punchcraft paper.
2. Adhesives- White PVA glue [Fevicol MR].Optional :Glue gun, Double sided foam tape
3. To Cut flowers : Paper Punch ,Die or plain Scissors.[if you want to cut free hand check this link : No tools paper flower tutorial ]

Paper flower tutorial 

• Punch, Die cut or cut freehand  6 paper flowers .
• Use your fingers to crease the petals of the flower as shown .Using your fingers rather than an embossing tool tremendously cuts down the time taken to make your flower!

Paper flower tutorial 

• Layer 3 flowers atop each other staggering the petals.Using double sided foam tape makes this a super quick step and lifts up the layers of the flower for a beautiful dimensional effect ! Though many crafters vouch for silicon glue for dimensional flower making it is not my favourite glue as I feel it eats up more time!

Flower tutorial 

• Cut a slit between 2 petals ,apply glue on one petal and stick the adjoining petal atop to make a 5 petal flower.You can optionally chop off the pointy base of your flower later to make gluing it easier while making your 3 D paper flower

Flower tutorial 

• Chop off one petal and stick adjacent petals together to make a 4 petal flower.

Flower tutorial 

• Cut up a single flower into 3 , 2 and one petal as shown above.
• Make the central flower bud by sticking  the single petal inside the double petal and wrapping the 3 petal part around it.Use white glue or the glue gun

Flower tutorial 

• Stick all parts atop with white PVA glue or the glue gun and your quick and easy paper flower is done!

CD case recycling

You can further jazz up your flower by inking the petal edges and even adding a bit of glitter.

I know its a very simple tutorial but I hope some of the tips come in handy to make your own paper flowers. Do tell me how it is.

Here are links to more handmade flower tutorials .

Handmade Foam flowers and Published !!

Handmade Foam flowers

Handmade Foam flowers

Dear friends ,I am so thankful for the amazingly supportive comments on my earlier CD case recycling project. I had felt the posts were getting rather monotonous and so many of you dropped in to reassure me!! You are the best blogger pals!!

So here is one more in the series of altered CD case notebooks- this time with some easy to make beaded flowers, quilled leaves and handmade foam flowers

Handmade foam flowers

I somehow love working with foam..it is so cool to work with- cuts like butter with the scissors,doesn't crumple like paper and you can even wipe dirt off it!! So here I layered some foam flowers I cut using a Sizzix die and added some glitter balls to make a handmade foam flower.

Handmade foam flowers

Here is the link on how to make the easy Beaded Flowers : Beaded flower tutorial

And sharing a happy news.My foam flower crafts got published in a Telugu newspaper.I cant understand a word of Telugu but a freelance writer Ms Jyothi Valaboju contacted me some time back and asked permission to rewrite some of my tutorials .I gave her free reign to choose whatever she fancied!And her newspaper published my series of handmade foam flower tutorials!

Foam crafts

I am sure though the picture is grainy my dear readers can recognize the foam rose tutorial and foam cala lily tutorial

Actually as an ENT Surgeon I have had my ENT articles and interviews aired on radio and published in national newspapers but I must admit this crafty publication gave me a bigger thrill !! My hubby thinks I am crazy!!

Recycling Crafts -CD case notebooks again!

CD case Notebooks

Dear friends I am sure you are by now bored of my CD case recycled notebooks.My God I am bored of this series myself!! I wonder how professional crafters manage to churn up multiple orders for their clients!!

CD case recycling

Well the cover of this CD case has foam flowers and fabric flowers- both from the local market and not very expensive but being a crafter I dont relish ready made embellishments...I have to spend hours trying to see if I can make it!! [Do you do that??]

For new visitors ..I did manage to make my own foam flowers and you can make your own too :

Foam Rose tutorial 1

Foam rose tutorial 2
Foam Cala Lily Tutorial

I still have to figure out how to make the fabric flower though....fabric and me dont get along much!!!

Handmade Paper Flowers

Handmade Paper flowers

Dear friends Thank you so much for the heartwarming comments on my compilation of Card Making Tutorials...it is your comments which makes blogging so worthwhile!! 

Sharing yet another CD case recycling craft in our series of Teachers Day gifts..this time with handmade paper flowers.

Handmade gift

I made the flower using the same die I used to make foam roses--it is so funny how many different types of flowers we can make with the same shape! I do urge shopaholics [myself included Ha Ha]to experiment with the punches and dies you already own [Craft supply sellers do forgive me!!]to make different types of handmade paper flowers .

Handmade Flowers

For some reason I didnt quite feel the flower was glamorous enough so glittered it up a bit! I now think I liked the un-glittered flower..what is your opinion friends?

Paper Flower

Here is the recycled CD case opened up to show the notepad we inserted inside to make the Teachers day gift.

CD case recycling

This time I used a transparent CD case..it was in a way easier than my earlier CD case notebooks because I could use thin pattern paper to line both the inside and outside of the CD case and I didnt have to cut central protrusions as I had demonstrated in the How to recycle CD cases post.

I added lots of quilling to support my handmade paper flower

Handmade flowers

• On a happy note 3 of my tutorials got featured in Totally Tutorials .The How to recycle a CD case was featured yesterday and I was so stunned that my page views hit sky high with that post at 4,645 views on a single day!! 
• Edited : On 4th Sep the hits have climbed to 14,774 hits a day!!Yipee

Do tell me how you like this project.

Linking to Simonsays[anything]

Quilled Butterfly- Beaded Flowers

Quilled Butterfly

Hi friends sharing yet one more of our series on Teachers day gifts.This time I embellished the recycled CD cases with beaded flowers and quilled butterflies.

Quilled Butterfly

I used Pritesh beehive tutorial to make this quilled butterfly.[Click this link for another quilled butterfly project ]

Used this Beaded flower tutorial to make a bouquet of  beaded flowers

Beaded Flowers

Here is the complete set of Recycled CD case notebook holder,matching notebook and pen in this Teachers Day gift

Teachers Day gift

Here is how we made the matching pen with the matching pattern paper in this years Teachers Day gift

Teachers day gift

I got some cute finger length sized pens and took apart the pen to make the matching pen in this gift set for Teachers day

Teachers Day gift

My little one helped make the pens by rolling the paper on the inner refill.We then inserted the refill back in the pen and chopped off the excess paper.

I hope this post is useful as an idea for handmade gifts.

Do tell me how you like it.
Here are links to more Recycled CD cases

How to recycle CD cases

CD Case recycling

Here is the promised mini tutorial on how to recycle CD cases into notebook holders [this years Teachers Day gifts]. 

Since I am a big fan of recycling crafts I am always on the look out for recycling ideas..I'd seen DVD case notebooks and post it note holders but googling up instructions for how to recycle CD cases specifically yielded nothing much so sharing how we went about recycling CD cases.

CD Case notebook

To make note book holders like I have shared in this post on Teachers day gifts you need a CD case which has a bit of room inside it.I found  2 types of CD cases with enough depth to hold a notebook -

1.opaque black plastic type

2. transparent glass look type 

The  glass type does  not have very sturdy hinges and one broke while I was embellishing it so I would urge you to try out the hinges before you embark on recycling it.

Embellishing the glass type is a bit different and in this post I'll share on how to recycle the opaque plastic CD cases

CD case recycling

1.Test the hinges -discard those that look suspiciously likely to fall apart!!

2.Check the inside and use a craft knife /scissors to cut off protruding center of plastic from the inside as shown in the pic above .

CD Case recycling

3.No need to chop off all the protruding bits of plastic from the inside-just the center is enough![see pic above-I have left the rim in the 2nd half of the collage]

CD case recycling

4.If the inside has a bit of bumpy surface use card stock[thick paper] to line it otherwise thin paper will look unsightly and tear too!.Double sided tape [not foam tape] is the easiest adhesive I found for this .

Washi lovers can have a ball too as washi /fabric tape is great to deck up plastic surfaces [as shared in this post on Recycling with washi]Thank you Priya for sending me the yummy Washi.

5.Choose a notebook /Post it notepad which is not too bulky and will let your CD case close without much mishap!!

CD case recycling

6.In the collage above you can see my little crafter covering the notepad with pattern paper she had chosen and matching die cuts.

CD Case recycling

7.Once your notebook is ready adhere it to the inside of your CD case.We used double sided tape again [I love this adhesive-so quick, easy and mess free especially important factors while crafting with kids]

CD Case recycling

8.Embellish the front of your CD case and you are done! We used double sided tape to help stick pattern paper on the cover of our recycled CD case

CD Case recycling

Added stickers[a gift from Priya Sondhi--Thank you Priya],fabric flowers, punched flowers and some die cut foam and paper leaves on our recycled CD case.

CD Case recycling

In another variation , added chip board  embellishes ,pearls and rhinestones to make a simpler CD case notebook

CD Case recycling

Here is a closeup of the gorgeous shimmery glittery chipboard embellishes which are a gift from the awesome generous Shalini of Crafters corner

CD Case recycling

I hope I have you with me till now. So that's 3 down on my list of Teachers Day gifts!! 7 more to go..wish me luck!!!

My husband had suggested making minialbums with the CD cases but the thought of making 10 albums for Teachers Day was too scary for me.Need input from you guys about experience with mini album making--how much time would a basic one entail ?
This tutorial was featured on Totally Tutorials

Teachers Day Gifts

CD case recycling

Thank you so much dear friends for such loving comments on my Strawberry card! Sharing a recycling craft-  a CD case recycled into a Teachers Day gift

Teachers day gifts

I had been hoarding some empty Cd cases for some time now and finally put some to use!Prettied up a plastic CD case and inserted a note pad and matching pen inside to make this simple gift for my daughter's teachers on teachers day. 

Recycling Crafts

Here is the close up of the punchcraft flowers and die cut paper flowers.

Paper flowers

 I used thermocol balls on the center of the die cut paper flower.

Paper flowers

My daughter chose the pattern paper of this recycling project and we went to town adding matching handmade paper flowers.

Paper flowers

My kiddo has 10 favorite teachers this year and we have already made 6 CD Case notebooks so far...four more to go!!! Its a simple project but will share a mini tutorial with tips in my next post on this series of Teachers Day gifts

CD case recycling

Do share how this has turned out... its a first time attempt!!
Here are links to Teachers Day Cards
And here is the simple tutorial on How to Recycle CD cases