PAPER ROSE BOUQUET

You will need: 24 prints of the paper rose template, scissors and hot glue, florist wire and florist tape, ribbons for handle and bow.
1a) Print 24 rose templates onto a letter weight paper. The PDF has 3 pages (large, medium and small) so you can print 8 of each page. I used common copy paper for my roses, which works beautifully. If you would like a different color, you can print this template onto a colored paper of your choice, though I would suggest it be letter weight rather than cardstock.
1b) Trim all 24 roses. I will be honest, this is the most time consuming part of the project. To make it easier, I trimmed my roses over several nights in front of my favorite TV show. I also cut one size at at time and kept each size in a large zip lock bag to keep the pieces from mixing.
2) Sort your petals into like stacks to make your process simple and organized. At this point, I finish one rose at a time. Curl the two sides of each petal using the edge of your scissors and fold your leaves (see diagram below).
3) Make a 12 inch stem with a folded piece of florist wire.
4) Wrap and hot glue the first three petals around the wire stem and glue petals 4-7 using the tabs to create a cup.
5) Slide petal in order onto your wire stem. If it is easier you can snip a tiny hole at the point of your petal cups, creating a space for the wire to slide through. You can arrange your petals and secure then with a dab of hot glue.
6) Wrap the wire stem completely covering with florist tape.
7) Repeat steps 2-6 for all 24 roses.
8) Holding stems in one hand, arrange your 24 roses to create a bouquet. Mix the 3 sizes to fill the spaces and to create a compact bouquet look. Once arranged, secure bundle of stems with florist tape at base of bouquet. Fold ends of wire up to create an even handle then completely cover stem handle with florist tape.
9) Using a soft ribbon, cover florist tape to finish the stem handle. Tie off at base of bouquet or use pearl pins to secure.
10) Finish your bouquet with a coordinating ribbon.

DIY 3D “I love U” Card for your Valentine’s Day

Who cares those expensive love cards from stores? I made this for you by my hands, from my heart.

Cut solid lines & fold dashed lines= perfect gift for your sweet heart

LOLLIPOP FLOWER VALENTINES

LOLLIPOP FLOWER VALENTINES

Here is a super easy Valentine we came up with the other day. All you need is some crepe paper and lollipops and you’re set. We added some “You’re my best bud” labels but these are sweet on their own too.

Materials Needed: Crepe Paper, Glue, Scissors, Tape, Lollipops

Step 1: Take a fold of crepe paper and cut out a stack of petal shapes with the paper grain going from top to bottom. Leaving a long piece at the stem.
Step 2: Stretch out the petals with your thumb to form a round petal shape.
Step 3: Take the sucker and add petals pinching them at the base of the candy.
Step 4: Continue adding layers of petals and add a piece of tape to secure them in place.
Step 5: Cut off excess paper beyond the tape.
Step 6: Cut off a strip of crepe paper for the stem and dap some glue on the end of it.
Step 7: Starting at the base wrap the strip around the stem and secure with a dab of glue at the end.

DIY POP UP CARDS

I’ve been seeing a lot of pop-up cards around the web lately, all using very intricate, sometimes complicated folding and glueing techniques. Since I’m really more of the simple-diy-lover, I’ve put together a quick and versatile pop-up card tutorial. The idea is that you can use one basic technique for an endless amount of different pop-up cards.

Start with a simple card and fold it in half. Then cut parallel lines (in pairs of the same length) into the middle fold as shown in the picture. The cuts should be max half the length of the card (otherwise they’ll stand out when you close it). Push the flaps forward until your card looks like in the bottom picture.

Now start crafting the bits and pieces to display in your card. I made some balloons and a Good Luck sign for this one. Stick these with paper glue onto the front (not top) part of the folded out flaps. Now when you close your card, it’ll look like in the bottom left picture. Just take a 2nd card and glue it on to cover the outside.

Stick some more balloons, or whatever it is you’re crafting, onto the flaps and voilà – you’re done. You could still add a background to the top and bottom halves. Stick on some clouds in the top part, some grass in the lower one for example.

In the same way you can also create text cards (Happy Birthday), fields of flowers or rows of trees. These would be great for birthday’s, graduation, Father’s Day or really just about anything.

All photos by Michaela for Oh Happy Day.