Flowers are a beautiful addition to just about any space, interior or exterior. Whether you want to brighten up your kitchen or make a beautiful display in your back garden, flowers ensure that there will be peaceful, calming plants for everyone to enjoy. However, the main issue with flowers is that they don’t live forever. This is especially true if you want to display flowers in a vase inside your home. Eventually, cut flowers will die, usually within a matter of days or weeks. For this reason, many people prefer to make cardstock flowers that can become a permanent decoration for your home or workspace.
However, you probably have a lot of questions about making cardstock flowers. For example, are they complicated to create? Do the materials cost a lot? Finally, how long does it take to make high-quality cardstock flowers? In today’s guide, we will answer all of these questions and more, but first, let’s look at how to make both two and three-dimensional flowers out of cardstock.
How To Make Flowers Out Of Cardstock
The process for making DIY cardstock flowers varies based on the type of flowers you want to make. Two-dimensional (flat) cardstock paper flowers are a bit easier to make, assuming you have the right materials on hand. Alternatively, three-dimensional flowers can take a little more time and effort, but they often do not require as many different types of cardstock. In any case, let’s look at how to make flowers with cardstock using both design methods:
Two-Dimensional Flowers
Two-dimensional flowers offer a great decoration option because they can be glued to a larger paper or poster to create a beautiful display, turned into refrigerator magnets, put under glass, or even hung on strings for decorations that line the walls of your home. So, let’s see the step-by-step process for making two-dimensional cardstock flowers:
- Choose Your Colors – First, you need to decide the colors you want for your flowers. Red, pink, yellow, and purple are all popular options, but you can choose cardstock made of any color you like to make the petals and center disc of your flowers unique to you. The interior disc (the circle at the center of the flower bloom) is usually a darker color that coordinates well with the primary color of your flower (black, brown, and white are common options). Additionally, if you want a stem for your flowers, you will probably want to choose green to make it look more natural.
- Draw the Petals or Flower Outline – You can draw individual petals or you can draw an entire flower outline for each flower. The latter is much easier, but the former option can make your 2D flowers look more customized and interesting.
- Draw the Interior Disc and Stem (Optional) – 2D flowers do not require interior discs or stems, but they can make them look more realistic. So, if you want interior discs, you will need to draw circles in your cardstock. For stems, you will need to draw long, thin rectangles. Just make sure that the stems are not too long or too thin to support the weight of your flowers if you want them standing up.
- Cut Out All Flower Parts – Now that you have made all of your drawings on the correctly-colored pieces of cardstock, you will need to cut them out one by one. Make sure to cut along the lines as closely as possible. If you struggle to cut along the lines, consider investing in a cricut machine (more on that below).
- Glue Cardstock Pieces Together – Once all of the pieces have been cut out, it is time to glue them together properly. If you cut out individual petals, these will need to be glued together in a circular pattern. Regardless of the type of flower bloom you make, you can glue your interior disk to the front of the flower (at the center of the bloom) and the stem to the back of your flower.
- Display Your 2D Cardstock Flowers – Lastly, you just have to choose how you want to display your 2D flowers. You have a plethora of options, from putting them in a traditional vase to hanging them from your bedroom ceiling. It is completely up to you!
Three-Dimensional Flowers
As previously mentioned, 3D cardstock flowers are a little more complex, but they do not always require as many different parts. Here are the steps to make a standard three-dimensional flower with cardstock:
- Choose Your Colors – Just like 2D flowers, 3D flowers require the right combination of colors. Many 3D flowers simply use a one or two-colored bloom and a green stem. That said, you can always get creative and use your favorite colors for every part of the flower!
- Fold Your Cardstock – 3D flowers generally require thinner cardstock because the paper needs to be folded. Start with a square piece of cardstock and fold one corner to the opposite corner, forming a triangle. Then, fold the triangle in half two times. Next, with the longest side of the triangle resting vertically, fold the opposite corner so that it creates an even vertical line with the long side.
- Cut Your Cardstock – Now you should have a long point at the bottom and a short point at the top, with a flat edge closer to the top triangle. Cut off the top triangle. Then, draw a line that curves outward from the top-right corner down to the bottom point. Cut out the paper outside of the curve.
- Unfold Your Flower – Now, all you have to do is unfold your flower and you’re done! Naturally, you can also choose to add interior discs or stems with adhesive, in which case you can follow the same instructions you used for the 2D flower. Either way, the folds give this type of cardstock flower a more vivid, 3D appearance!
How To Make Cardstock Flowers With Cricut
If you want to give your cardstock flowers a more professional look, you cannot go wrong with a cricut machine. This electrical paper cutter allows you to make card paper flowers according to your own specifications. Many cricut cutters also have the ability to add lamination, engravings, and other special designs that would be much harder to do by hand. In any case, the exact process for making flowers from cardstock using a cricut machine varies from one cricut manufacturer to another. Regardless of the brand you purchase, you can make the entire process of creating cardstock flowers much faster and easier with a cricut machine.
The Best Cardstock For Flowers
The best cardstock for flowers will depend on the type of flowers you want to make. Thinner paper is better if you plan on doing any folding, while you can get better strength and longevity with thicker cardstock paper for flowers. Thus, there is no “best” type of cardstock for flowers. The same applies if you plan to use a cricut machine. The best cardstock for cricut flowers will depend on what type of flowers you want to make and how you plan to display them.
Ready to create your flowers using cardstock? If so, be sure to check out our high-quality cardstock products on Fine Card Stock today, and let us know how you put our cardstock to good use!