Accordion Paper Flowers
Fold a few paper squares like an accordion to turn them into easy paper flowers. Arrange them on a vase for a lovely table décor or use them to make wreaths, mobiles, and other craft projects.
Featured Crafts
Supplies Needed
- Paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Wooden dowels or sticks
- Buttons, plastic gems, brads, or other embellishments (optional)
STEPS
1Prepare 3 to 4 squares.
Prepare 3 to 4 paper squares of the same size. You can use square origami paper or follow these easy steps for making a square from any rectangular piece of paper. Gift wrap paper, magazine pages, and colorful brochures are some examples of interesting paper options. Avoid using cardstock or paper that is too thick or heavy to fold.
2Make the first fold.
To ensure that all the paper squares will have the same fold width, gather the sheets together, aligning them on all four sides. While keeping the squares stacked together, make a ½ to ¾-inch wide fold on one side. Separate the sheets.
3Make accordion folds on a square.
Take one square. Using the fold width created in the previous step, fold each paper square like an accordion (back-and-forth folding).
4Trim the paper after the last fold.
Trim the excess paper after the last fold.
5Fold in half.
Fold the paper accordion in half.
6Apply glue.
Apply glue on the inside of the folded paper accordion.
7Glue in place.
Bring the two halves towards each other and press firmly to glue them together.
8Fold all squares.
Do Steps 3 to 7 for all the squares. When unfolded, each paper accordion will look like a fan. These fan-like pieces will make up the sections of your paper flower and the folds will be the flower petals.
9Trim the top corner.
As an optional step, you can alter the shape of the flower petals by trimming the tops of each accordion-folded piece. Draw a curved line or a diagonal line near the top of the outermost fold. Cut along the line.
To make sure that all flower sections have the same petal shape, place the trimmed section over an untrimmed one, aligning them along the edges. Trace the shape of the tops of the trimmed section onto the section below it. Cut along the line.
10Glue two sections together.
Glue the first and second flower sections together, aligning them along the edges.
11Glue the remaining sections.
Glue the third section over the second one, again aligning along the edges. Glue the fourth section on top of the third one. Press on the entire pile to glue all the sections in place. Allow the glue to set for a few minutes before proceeding with the next step.
12Apply glue.
Apply glue on the pile's topmost fold and at the base of the flower sections.
13Open the flower.
Carefully bring the two outermost folds towards each other to open up the flower.
14Glue the outer folds together.
Press on these pair of folds to glue them together.
15Glue the bases in place.
Gently press the sections towards the center to glue them at the base.
16Add some accents.
Glue a wooden dowel or stick at the back of each paper flower to make a stem. Create colorful stems by painting the dowels or wrapping them with fabric ribbon or washi tape. Arrange the stemmed flowers on a vase to make a lovely table décor.
An accent can be added at the center of each flower by gluing a paper circle, a button, a plastic gem, or a craft brad. Without stems, these pretty flowers can be used to decorate wreaths, hats, flower crowns, and other craft projects. They can also be taped onto walls, bulletin boards, or window sills for a nature or spring-themed room.
More Ideas
Use two paper squares.
Instead of the recommended 3-4 paper squares, try using 2 squares to come up with a flower with less petals. The folds are more stretched open—emphasizing the individual petal shapes.
However, when using only two paper squares, you will need to secure the middle of each folded paper accordion to prevent the folds from unraveling in the final steps. After doing Step 5, tie a thin string or thread around the middle crease. Cut the length of excess string and proceed with the succeeding steps described in the above instructions.
Create different petal shapes.
Come up with interesting petal shapes by experimenting with the snip you make in Step 9. Try making curved, straight, steep, or irregular shaped cuts. The photo shows the snip done to achieve the petal shape of the yellow flower above.
Use edging scissors.
Use a pair of edging scissors in Step 9 to create wavy, scalloped, and other fancy edges on the petals.
