How To Make Vintage Paper Flower Embellishments

Finding ways to use old papers is something I always enjoy doing. Playing around with different ideas until I find something that works is a wonderful way to while away a few hours, and hopefully find a new favourite make at the end!

That's how I first made these flower embellishments. I'd been cutting up old books to make greeting cards with but there were still some little details left in the scraps that were too nice to throw away. I took my circle punch and got to work saving the interesting details and then had a try at making something with them.

I've made lots (and lots) of these flowers. I've put double sided sticky on the back and sold them as stickers, I've added them to gift tags, put a few on a card to make a bunch of flowers, decorated notebooks with them, used them as decoration when wrapping presents.... there are so many uses for them!

Here I'll show you the basics of making them. You can of course make them in various papers and sizes to suit how you'd like to use them.

You will need:

 

• various papers (I use old book pages)
• a circle punch (or coin to draw round)
• glue (I prefer PVA)
• buttons or gems

Step 1

Use your circle punch to punch out interesting bits of paper (I've used a 1 inch punch but any size works). I always turn the punch upside down so I can tell I've positioned it in the right place. You'll need 6 circles for each flower.

Step 2

a. Spread a little glue just down one edge of one circle.

b. Position a second circle just overlapping where the glue is. Make sure it's a little further down so it's starting to form the circle flower shape. This is one advantage of using a wet glue like PVA as you can move the paper as you work.

c. Spread a little glue just down one edge of the second circle and repeat the steps until 6 circles have been used.  The final circle needs to tuck under the first one.

Step 3

Choose a button or gem to match your flower. Use glue or double sided tape to attach the button or gem to the centre of the flower.

And it's as simple as that! It's fun to try making them with different papers or making them extra special for someone by using an old copy of their favourite text.

As always, I only use books that are past their best, are outdated, are falling to pieces or are damaged in places.

Find this and other tutorials in my gallery at http://bebetsy.com/author/simply-author/Pink+Flamingo+Handcrafting/