Sunflower Tutorial

As promised, here is a simple tutorial for making an awesome paper sunflower. You can vary the size, but I find that if you get much smaller than this it becomes hard to fold.

To get started you will need paper cut into 2 inch thick strips. Four of them should be 4.5 inches tall, and four should be 5.5 inches tall.

You will need double sided tape (or glue dots work well too) and ink. Its also helpful to have a bone folder or a scoring tool.

Step One:

Cut your paper into 2 inch thick strips. Four of them 4.5 inches tall, four of them 5.5 inches tall.

Step Two:

Score, or fold each strip down the middle.

Step Three:

Using the middle fold as a guide, fold the corners in to the center.

Step Four:

Fold the side edges into the center, again using the middle fold as a guide.

Your folds should look like this:

Complete these steps with each strip:

Step Five: Take out your double sided tape and tape the folds down in the middle.

Step Six: Ink the edges of each strip.

Step Seven:

Separate the 4.5 inch strips and the 5.5 inch strips. Taking the 5.5 inch strips and using your double sided tape, create an X.

Step 8:

Take one of the remaining strips and tape down across your X shape.

Step Nine:

Repeat, but this time across your shape.

Step Ten:

Repeat with the 4 smaller strips.

Step Eleven:

Place a piece of double sided tape in center of larger flower. Lay smaller flower on top of it, slightly staggered.

Step Twelve:

Cup the flower in your hand. Press into the center with your thumb to create dimension.

Step Thirteen:

Cut a circle to put in the center.

Cut a 5.5 inch tall strip of green paper and complete the folds like the "petals".
Step Fourteen:

Again using the double sided tape, angle the green strip on bottom of flower to create leaves.

Viola! You have a beautiful paper sunflower! I put names on the center circle and used mine as place settings. It also makes a beautiful addition to your scrapbook pages or cards. Try it! You'll love it!