Thursday, April 14, 2011

Paper Carnation Corsages



I made these cute carnation corsages for my mom's party, Queen Bea's Birthday Jubilee.  All the guests wore yellow ones and I made matching white ones for the hostesses to complement their yellow blouses.  These are perfect for an afternoon tea party or bridal shower.  Wouldn't they look so cute in shades of pink or blue for a baby shower?  Or for all the moms at church on Mother's Day?

They are a bit time consuming, especially if you have to make a whole bushel of them, but they aren't difficult to make and the result is well worth it!  They are so much nicer than regular ol' grocery store carnations.  So, without further ado, on to the how-to!  hee hee


Set it up!


To make the corsages, you'll need cardstock, tissue paper, scissors, glue, two kinds of ribbon no more than 1" wide-- with one slightly wider than the other, twist ties and bumble bee stickers. Start by cutting two 3" circles out of cardstock.  You can use a small cup to trace the circle or use a circle cutter.


Back it up!


To create the backing, take your ribbons and cut two lengths of each about 3" long.  Trim the ends diagonally to form the tails.  Glue the ribbons onto one cardstock circle layering the narrow ribbon on top of the wider one.  Glue the other circle on top lining it up with the circle underneath.  Easy peasy.


Fold it up!


On to the flower...  Cut six sheets of tissue paper into 5"x7" rectangles and make a neat little stack.  Starting at the short end, fold the paper back and forth in an accordion fold about 3/4" wide. 



Next, take your scissors and cut little triangles in the middle of each folded side.  Wrap the twist tie snugly around the notches keeping the ends of the twist tie to one side.  Trim each end into a scallop or v-shape.


Fluff it up!


Unfold each half of the flower like a fan.  Holding the twist tie, lift the top tissue away from the others and pull it towards the center of the flower.  To make room for each layer, gently un-tuck the petals all the way down to the base using your thumb and forefinger.  If you accidentally tear one, don't worry-- the other layers will hide it.

Continue separating each layer in one direction so the flower has a flat bottom.  Leave the last couple layers of tissue together so you have a sturdier base to glue to the backing.


Finish it up!



Next, fold the twist tie flat against the flower and glue the flower onto the cardstock backing.  Add a little bumble bee sticker and you're done!  Use corsage pins to wear the carnations.  Soooo cute!

For an extra-special touch, you can personalize each corsage by putting an initial letter sticker on one of the tails like a homecoming mum!  In fact, how cute would these be with little football stickers for booster moms at homecoming?! Oooo-- with stickers for the player's jersey number!


Featured on:
mothers day

Linked up with:
Tip Junkie's Tip Me Tuesday
Running With Glitter
Don't Waste Your Homemaking

8 comments:

  1. What a wonderful Idea and great project! Love it :)
    ~Sonja~

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  2. Really cute.....love the bee sticker!

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  3. How do you use the corsage pin?

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  4. You can pin it through the cardstock circle. If you pre-pin the corsages, it will be easier when they are pinned onto a lapel. I'll add a photo.

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  5. So...with six full-sized sheets of tissue paper, you made *one* carnation? I followed the instructions scrupulously, and that just did *not* work out for me! (That, and my tissue paper was wrinkly and I couldn't cut straight...)

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  6. Aw, man! Was yours too big or too small? And, you cut the tissue paper to 5"x7"? I promise it works!

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  7. I couldn't even fold it, and even when I took out at least 75% of the paper, I had a hard time cutting out the notches! I admit, I don't have a lot of finesse in paper crafts (or any crafts!)...it still turned out cute for my little girl's Daddy Daughter Dance corsage, though!

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  8. Hi!! I need to make 60 of these flowers, how many sheets of paper you think I will need?

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