One of the best things about our charming beach town is the plethora of activities available all summer. From the Junior Lifeguard program, library book clubs, drop in tennis clinics, sand castle contests, movies on the beach, and regular fireworks to the crafting workshops sponsored by the local Historical Society, there is always something for the kids to do on any given day at any given time. On Monday, the girls and I participated in a wonderful paper flowers class, run by teacher and artist Laura McHugh on the lawn at Centennial Cottage in town. It was a glorious day – mid 80s and dry.
We learned how to make a number of kinds of paper flowers, including my favorites, made from vintage book pages, scrap booking paper and any other interesting ephemera – such as maps – that we had available. Both luck and my subconscious steered me towards making flowers in the soft colors of my downstairs rooms, and I am dying to figure out a way to use or display the big group above. Ideas anyone?
The basic technique was easy. A square paper was folded in a triangle, then folded again into a smaller triangle, and then the corners were folded back on each side to make yet a smaller triangle. A petal shape was cut into the top open edge of the triangles and voila, a flower upon opening. See the quick video tutorial below for details. We also used some flower punches and press rollers, all available at local craft stores, for some of our flower shapes, but I prefer being creative with the hand cut ones.
We also made classic Mexican tissue paper flowers, which I hadn’t done since I was a kid. Talk about easy and big bang satisfying! Hours of rainy day fun but we have even been continuing on sunny days! Check out the video tutorial below.
Hey, Felt So Cute, she’s hot on your trail to make the best headband ever!
Laura has written a great post on the class – featuring lots of photos of my kids and their handiwork – which also gives a sense of the charm of the town. Take a look at her blog Vintage2Glam. We can’t wait for her July 25th class on macrame!
Last summer we did a paper cutting workshop with Mindy Shapiro that is being offered again this summer on July 27. Some friends were visiting and we all had a blast. I think she has a new project for her class this year, so we may just have to do it again.
The full calendar of events is attached here. It includes everything from this workshop to crazy quilting classes.
I think turning those adorable paper flowers into a banner would be nice and it could hang over a doorway or over a window…..thanks for being excellent students…It was a lovely day.
xoxo
laura
The thanks goes to you! Looking forward to your next class!
YEH!!! We love crafting! Flowers all look awesome.. Shadow box being the most obvious way to display using a plain fabric behind the flowers to give a contrast to the paper and print, something plain and light possibly slubbed linen? or a pretty flower color.. Lilac immediately springs to mind! You could varnish the flowers to keep them from discoloring or varnish every other one so there is a difference in the way they hold the light within the box. A layered decoupage perhaps would also be cool! Or how about a garland for a headboard of door frame ( use simple fairy lights and attach flowers beside each light. Add lengths of wire and pop in a piece of vintage glass as a cool alternative to fabric flowers… You could also use a little water color over the flowers or paper precutting to tie in with your decor try using old toothbrushes to get a scattered paint effect or simply wash in a tint color over the paper before cutting. Though with the later, you’d have to iron the paper flat again to get good square folds. Looks like lots of fun! Wish I was there! They’d make perfect name tags and badges for parties and play dates. Sky’s the limit really!
We are thinking fairy lights or shadow box – and so funny, because so many of the teacher’s additional techniques are exactly the ones you mention. When it comes to paper art – there is no one who has a jump on you!
LOVE it, and I can’t think of better competition to have! 🙂
What about attaching all your blooms around a distressed frame?
Love that idea too!
Oh my gosh- these vintage book flowers are PERFECT !! My daughter is in charge of the “Proma” this year, prom for the drama guild, and the theme is Phantom of the Opera. We made these flowers out of old sheet music, attached them to floral wire and placed a red jewel in the middle. They are perfect added to the red roses we collected from our last play, which we will add to a bouquet. It’s so low budget, but looks awesome and nails out theme! 100 bouquet down- 49 to go!