Hammers and High Heels DIY Friday: Framed Paper Florals

This week's DIY is all about my inspiration from earlier this week-  paper!  Yes, pretty floral paper creations!  I know it sounds kind of strange, but I'm Head Over Heels for these Framed Paper Floral creations!

All you need to make them is a frame (or two), paper, fabric, scissors, tape, glue (Elmers is fine), and small pins.

To make my framed paper floral creation, I started by making the individual flowers.  I used the floral shapes from my inspiration post and focused on making four types of flowers in various sizes.  I nicknamed the types of flowers petal, accordion, circles, and 4-fold. 

First up is the petal- Cut 4 drop shaped petals, pinch the narrow end and glue, then glue the dry petal ends together.  You will have to sort of hold the four petals together until the glue dries a bit.

Now to the accordion- Fold up a square piece of paper accordion style, staple through the center, with scissors cut the front side at an angle on each end, then open and glue ends together.

For the circle style flower- start by cutting circles in varying sizes (they don't have to be perfect), cut 3-5 to make a nice flower shape, Fold part of the circle inward to make the circle turn into a cone shape (you can fold in as little or as much as you want depending on how you want the flower to look), glue the folds in place, once you've made the circles into cones layer from largest to small and glue in place.

Last is the 4-fold- Fold a square piece of paper in half and fold that in half again, on folded sides cut two half petal shapes, unfold.  You can repeat and layer on an additional 4-fold or leave on it's own.

After I finished making a good-lookin' gang of paper florals, I prepped the frames by removing the glass fronts.  Then I took some faux linen fabric and wrapped it on the frame backing with tape (yes it looks icky but I didn't want to use anything permanent). 

Once the fabric was set on the frames it was time to add the flowers! 

I laid them on the frames to plan out an arrangement, then all I did to attach them was pin them onto the fabric.  In an effort to not smash the paper, I carefully pinned through the flower first so all I had to do was push the pin into the fabric. 

That attachment technique seemed to work nicely (progress image above).

To bring some spring into our Living Room, I decided to add the two finished Paper Floral Frames to our mantel.  Since it's technically still winter, I left the birch branches but I added a bit of green moss in for an early fresh spring feel.

I think the Framed Paper Florals turned out to be a good winter/spring transition look for our mantel decor- certainly a unique decor addition as well! 

What do you think of this little DIY project?  Are you Head Over Heels?

What other creations would you make with paper flowers?

I have to say, making all those little flowers was kind of fun but a little annoying at first.  Took a bit to get the hang of it but thankfully no papercuts here :)  I might try making a wreath next in some bolder colors! 

Alex and I are cooking up ideas for our next home project, hope to share some of that news next!  Have a great weekend!