Make an Eco-Chic Paper Flower Bouquet from Recycled Invitations
Waste not want not – growing up I heard this saying a lot, and it stuck with me. This philosophy is especially important when it comes to greening your wedding and making your budget really stretch. With a little bit of personal style and imagination, you can turn a little bit of excess into something truly unique and cost effective, serving up a wow factor and bringing your big day to life.
In this tutorial, you will learn to make an eco-friendly, statement-making paper bouquet out of your DIY invitation overstock and trial-run mistakes. This project is a great way to extend the life of your invitation order, and is also a great way to tie in theme and color. Make bouquets for yourself, your bridal party, even for your decor. What may have cost you hundreds in florals that quickly wilt away suddenly becomes a cost-effective DIY project that delivers elegance, quirkiness, and a great wedding-keepsake.
Here’s What You’ll Need
- A good pair of scissors
- A bouquet form
- 2 types of floral picks for flower stamens and bouquet filler
- Invitation card stock (Overstock cards as well as those pesky first run cards loaded with printing errors)
- Decorative Japanese paper or other specialty paper in a color and pattern that reflect your wedding theme.
1. Cut Your Flowers from Papers
Before cutting, fold your invitation card stock and specialty paper so that you get a mirror image of the petals and a soft crease in the bloom. Where you fold the paper is dependent on the pattern you want to see in your bloom, and how big you want your bloom to be.
Cut 3 petals along your fold line being careful not to cut all the way through on any petal, just as if you were making paper snowflakes or paper valentines. The result is a 4 petal bloom that can now be used in your bouquet.
Note: You may wish to trace the flower shape onto your paper before cutting, but remember that free styling will deliver an unplanned elegance, and will more correctly reflect the uniqueness of real flowers. After a few trial runs, you’ll get the hang of it!
2. Snip a Center Hole in Each Flower
Using the tip of the scissors, snip a small hole into the center of each folded flower. You will use this hole to feed through the floral pick.
Note: Remember to make the hole small enough to snugly hold the floral pick’s wire. If the center hole is too large, the floral pick won’t hold up the bloom in your bouquet.
3. Create Flower Stamens
One of the flower pick designs you have selected should be suitable to act as both a stamen for your bloom, as well as a bit of glitz and glamour for your bouquet.
The wire end of the flower pick should be sturdy yet flexible enough to secure the bloom directly to the foam in your bouquet form and be bent to properly fill out the structure of the bouquet.
Slide the flower pick through the center hole of the bloom, and carry it straight through fitting snugly at the base.
4. Secure Flowers to the Bouquet Form & Arrange
Start fitting and placing your blooms to the form by piercing the wire of the floral pick into the foam on the bouquet form. Work with each bloom until it looks good to you.
Remember to mix up the location of your specialty paper & invitation card blooms. Make the bouquet as full as you like, and take advantage of the fact that the floral picks are wire. Bend them to where you want them to fit, and spin the paper blooms around so that you get the most optimal coverage and a full looking bouquet.
Fill the Gaps
No matter how good your blooms are and how consistent their shapes and sizes are, there will inevitably be a few gaps that need filling. Using your second floral pick design, fill the gaps, and rearrange your blooms as necessary to ensure the most full looking bouquet you could imagine.
Some Other Fun Uses for Paper Flowers
- Make extra paper flowers and use them for button holes for your groom and his groomsmen
- Adhere paper flowers to corsage pins for parents & grandparents of the bride and groom
- Adhere to hair combs to use as a hair fascinator or a birdcage veil
- Scatter throughout wedding decor
