From 2014-2016 I chronicled my crafty endeavors on the site Adventures-in-Making. I’ve selected a few of those DIY’s, Recipes, and other posts to share on the site.

When I saw what my new Shredding Scissors could do, I started brainstorming, and pulled out my handy dandy paper flower book. (Paper to Petal: 75 Whimsical Paper Flowers to Craft by Hand)

Most of their flowers use crepe paper, but I decided to try out a basic fringed flower with catalog pages that I had nearby to make multicolored, Nearly Free Fringe Flowers. (I usually use instruction books like this for inspiration and reference rather than following their tutorials.)

They were quick and easy, and I like the edgier look of the printed paper (compared to the bright soft dyed flowers I usually make.)

Supplies

• Fringe or Shredding Scissors – You could also fringe with regular scissors, but where’s the fun in that?
• Colorful Catalog pages from the recycling bin
• Regular Scissors
• Floral Wire
• Wire Cutters
• Floral Tape
OPTIONAL – Some sort of base. I used a baby food jar and a square of fabric or paper.

Droopy Flowers

I cut one catalog page into a 4″-5″ strip, then folded that strip in half. (I tried to choose pages that were heavy with one color on the front and back, so that the flower had a more consistent coloring.)

I used the fringing scissors to cut towards the fold, and left about 1/4 inch of the fold uncut.

I then cut a length of wire (about 24″) and folded it half gently to leave a little loop of wire at the top.

Starting at one end, I began to wrap my fringed strip of paper around the loop…

pulling it tight as I went.

Once I rolled the whole thing up, I secured the bottom of the paper with floral tape.

(A word on floral tape- if you haven’t worked with it before, it can be a little tricky. Most typed only become sticky when they are stretched, which means as you wrap it around the stem, you will want to pull it taut. If you’re having trouble, cut the tape and try holding it a different way. I typically hold the roll of tape in my left hand, and pull it firmly while spinning the flower stem in my right hand. Also, not all brands of floral tape are created alike. this one was a recommendation from a flower pro.)

I kept wrapping the stem all the way to the bottom, and voila…

a droopy paper flower! (Instructions for the base to follow.)

Puffball Flowers

To make the fluffier flowers, I started much the same way, with a 4″-5″ strip of paper. Again I fringed it, leaving a little uncut in the center.

I left the strip unfolded, and rolled it up.

Once it was completely rolled, I secured the center with a length of wire (Approx. 24″). I twisted the wire to tighten it around the paper roll.

Then I fluffed up the paper to make a poof, and wrapped the whole stem in floral tape.

I happened to have a few clean baby food jars around, so I used them as a base. I just cut a square of fabric (or wet paper) and pulled it firmly up around the jar and flower. Then I secured the top with wire.