Paper Flower Wreath: Simple Cardstock Blooms on a Ring

For a paper flower wreath you do not need a bought base or special tools. The ring is cut from a cardboard box, and the flowers are five cardstock petals glued around a small circle. Curling each petal over a pencil is what lifts the flowers off the ring and makes them cast small shadows instead of lying flat.

The flowers come in three sizes and three colors, with folded paper leaves tucked between them. Everything is cut with scissors and fixed with ordinary craft glue, so it is a good project for a table shared with older children.

What You Need

• A flat piece of corrugated cardboard at least 12 in (30 cm) square
• Cardstock in three flower colors, one center color and one green
• Scissors, a pencil and a ruler
• A dinner plate and a smaller plate or bowl to trace, or a length of string
• Thick craft glue or a glue stick with a strong hold
• Ribbon or twine for the hanging loop

Medium-weight cardstock holds a curl and still cuts easily. Thin printer paper goes limp, and very heavy card cracks when curled.

Cutting the Cardboard Ring

The base is a flat ring about 12 in (30 cm) across the outside and 8 in (20 cm) across the inside, which leaves a band 2 in (5 cm) wide to glue onto.

1. Draw the outer circle. Trace around a plate of the right size, or tie a pencil to a string, hold the other end at the center of the cardboard and swing the pencil around.
2. Draw the inner circle. Use the same center point with a smaller plate or a shorter string. Check with the ruler that the band is the same width all the way around.
3. Cut the outside, then the inside. Cut the outer line with scissors. For the inner circle, push the scissor point through the middle of the waste area and cut outward to the line.

The edges do not need to be perfect because the flowers overhang them. What matters is that the ring is flat. If the cardboard has a fold line running through it, cut the ring from a different part of the box, since a creased ring bends when it hangs.

Flower Sizes

Three sizes keep the ring from looking like a row of identical stamps. Cut a teardrop-shaped petal template for each size from scrap card, rounded at one end and narrow at the other.

As a starting point, make about five large flowers, seven medium and nine small, spread across the three colors. The exact number depends on how much you overlap them, so cut more as needed until the ring is covered.

How to Make One Flower

1. Cut five petals. Trace the template five times on one color and cut the petals out. Stack two or three sheets to speed this up, as long as the scissors still cut cleanly.
2. Curl each petal. Lay the rounded end of a petal over a pencil and roll it back around the pencil with your thumb. Curl only the outer half and leave the narrow end flat for gluing. Curl every petal the same way.
3. Glue the petals around the center. Cut a small circle in the center color. Put glue on the flat, narrow end of each petal and press it onto the circle near its edge, spacing the five petals evenly so the sides just overlap and the middle of the circle stays visible.

Hold each petal until the glue grips before adding the next. If the petals slide, there is too much glue or the paper is too glossy for it.

Folded Paper Leaves

Cut pointed oval leaves about 2.5 in (6.5 cm) long from the green cardstock. Fold each one in half lengthwise, press the crease and open it again so the two sides lift. That single fold is enough to make a flat shape read as a leaf. About a dozen is a reasonable start.

Covering the Ring

1. Place the large flowers. Space them evenly around the ring without glue first, then glue each by its center circle. Let the petals hang over the inner and outer edges.
2. Add the medium flowers. Set them between the large ones, overlapping petals so no cardboard shows. Alternate colors as you go.
3. Fill with small flowers. Use them wherever a gap remains, tilting some toward the inside edge and some toward the outside.
4. Tuck in the leaves. Slide the base of each leaf under a flower with a dot of glue, so the tips point outward in different directions.

Glue only at the center of each flower. Petals that are stuck down flat lose their curl, and overlapping loose petals hide the ring better than glued ones.

Common Problems

• Cardboard shows through. Add a small flower or a leaf. Painting the ring a matching color before you start also disguises small gaps.
• Petals crack when curled. The card is too heavy, or the curl is against the grain. Use a thicker pencil or marker for a gentler curve.
• Flowers fall off. A glue stick is often too weak on corrugated card. Switch to thick craft glue and hold each flower until it grips.

Hanging, Display and Storage

Glue or tape a loop of ribbon to the back of the ring at the top. The finished wreath is about 14 in (36 cm) across, a little wider than its base. It weighs very little, but check the weight rating and surface instructions of whatever hook you use.

Paper crushes easily, so follow the advice on storing wreaths flat in a box when it comes down. For a greener version of the same idea, make the paper leaf wreath, or try the rolled paper cone wreath for a bolder starburst shape.