How to Make Paper Sunflowers

Make one or more of these bright, yellow flowers and help bring a cheerful touch of spring and summer into your home year-round!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Glue Sticks
• Green Floral Tape
• Heavy Cardboard
• Thin Wooden Dowels
• Scissors
• Scissors
• Drafting Compasses
• Pencils Or Pens
• Transparent Adhesive Tape
• Green Crepe Paper
• 16- Or 18-gauge Florist Wires
• Wire Cutters
• Wire Cutters
• Wire cutters
• brown, yellow and green card stock
• brown, yellow and green construction paper

1. 

   Use a compass to draw two circles on a piece of dark brown card stock or construction paper. Make your circles 2 to 3 inches in diameter for a small flower and 5 to 6 inches in diameter for a larger flower.

2. Use a pen or pencil to draw a petal shape onto a heavy piece of cardboard. The petal should resemble a football with one rounded end and one pointed end.

3. 

   Draw a leaf shape onto a piece of heavy cardboard. Make sure that the size of the leaf is in proportion to the rest of the flower ' approximately 2 inches in length for a small flower and 3 inches for the larger version. Draw a small stem at the bottom of the leaf.

4. Use scissors to cut out the circles, petal and leaf.

5. 

   Place the petal onto a piece of bright yellow card stock or construction paper. Trace around the petal with a pencil. Make 12 to 14 tracings and use scissors to cut out each one (just inside the pencil lines).

6. Place the leaf onto a piece of green card stock or construction paper. Trace the leaf four or five times and cut out the tracings.

7. 

   Use a glue stick to apply a small amount of glue to the rounded end of one petal. Keep the glue as close to the petal's edge as possible. Affix the petal to the edge of one of the brown circles.

8. Repeat step 7 until all the petals have been glued along the edge of the circle. Overlap the petals slightly.

9. Use transparent tape to glue your leaves onto a piece of florist wire or a thin wooden dowel. Space the leaves along the stem as desired.

10. 

    Wrap green floral tape or green crepe paper around the length of the wire or dowel. Make sure to cover the taped portions of the leaves as you wrap. Secure crepe paper at both ends of the wire or dowel with transparent tape or a bit of glue.

11. 

    Affix the stem to the back of the flower with a bit of tape or glue. Apply glue along the edges of the second brown circle and affix it to the back of the flower as well. Allow the glue to dry thoroughly.

Tips & Warnings

• Make the length of your petal about 1/4-inch shorter than the diameter of your circle. The width of the petal at its widest point should be approximately 1 inch for a small flower and 2 to 2 1/2 inches for a large flower.
• Draw each petal and leaf individually to give your sunflower a less uniform look.
• Use a wire or dowel that is at least 8 inches long for the stem. Large flowers will require a longer stem.
• Use 16- or 18-gauge floral wire for the stem.