Cut Out + Keep

Orchid Arrangement

Paper Folded Flowers

https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/orchid-arrangement • Posted by Search Press

Create these intricately folded flowers for use as a table centrepiece – they are sure to be admired. Paper flowers are a wonderful home decoration, and by making your own you can choose colours that will harmonise with your décor. These orchid-like flowers are inspired by kusudama, Japanese origami flowers. The number of petals can vary from flower to flower: for this project, the red flowers have three folded petals each and the orange blooms have five petals each.

You will need

Project Budget
Cheap

Time

1 h 00

Difficulty

Nice & Simple
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Description

Create these intricately folded flowers for use as a table centrepiece – they are sure to be admired. Paper flowers are a wonderful home decoration, and by making your own you can choose colours that will harmonise with your décor. These orchid-like flowers are inspired by kusudama, Japanese origami flowers. The number of petals can vary from flower to flower: for this project, the red flowers have three folded petals each and the orange blooms have five petals each.

Instructions

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    Cut out three squares of red paper 70mm (2¾in) each. Place these onto scrap paper. Using the floral rubber stamp and red ink, print and stamp all over the paper squares in
a random pattern.

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    Fold each square in half, point to point, with the stamped pattern outermost.

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    Run the ink pad along the open edges of the shape.

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    With the fold horizontal and the point at the top, fold both bottom corners upwards and in towards the top point.

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    Crease each fold.

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    Open out the two folds.

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    Keeping the long edge horizontal and facing you, fold the right-hand corner up to meet the crease you have just made on the right-hand side.

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    Do the same for the left-hand side. The two points will now extend over the outer edges of the shape.

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    Gently fold the overlapping corners over the edges of the shape.

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    Using a cocktail stick, apply glue to one of the uppermost triangle folds.

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    Bring the other side in to meet the fold, and form a cone. Hold the sides in place whilst the glue dries. Then push down the small inner folds to create a stamen.

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    Repeat steps 2 to 9 to create two more red petals.

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    Glue the petal shapes together by the short, flat areas.

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    Thread a length of floristry wire through the centre of the flower. Apply a dab of strong glue to the tip of the wire, then pull it back down inside the flower so that it attaches to the flower. Be careful not to get glue on your fingers.

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    This completes the first flower. Make as many as you would like, to form a bouquet. Tip Flowers with five petals can be made in much the same way following steps 2 to 9. At step 10, five petals are glued together to make
a larger flower.