One of the things I love and adore about DIYing is the opportunity to create truly unique pieces. The best part is the projects don’t have to be expensive. Are you a bargain shopper? The large paper flower backdrop will forever be that one amazing piece of unique décor that will be memorable at any event. Whether you are celebrating a kids’ birthday party, young adult celebration, bridal shower, baby shower, and/or a wedding, you can never go wrong with investing the time into creating a paper flower backdrop for the occasion.
I have built numerous backdrops for small to large gatherings, and the guests “ooh” and “ahh” at every single one of them. How difficult is it to build one? Not difficult at all! Depending on the size and the scale of your backdrop it can take you a few days to a few weeks.
Are you ready to learn the magic behind creating amazing paper flower backdrops? This easy-to-follow tutorial is just what you need. Read on to learn about the materials, tools, and detailed steps, and you’ll be making amazing paper flowers in no time!
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templates:
- Flower Templates – consider getting a bundle of templates, unless you have your heart set on specific ones. For a fancy look try using Lace Paper Flower cutting files
Materials:
- Cardstock – my go-to is Recollections 65 lbs cardstock weight
- Gorilla sticks
Tools:
- Hot Glue Gun
- Bone Folder
- Scissors
- Cricut Machine
- Foam board or insulation board. Deciding how many pieces to get would depend on the size of your backdrop. If you plan to do a full wall, get two insulation boards, and it will give you a total size of 8 feet by 8 feet which is an excellent size for any large event
- Pipe & Drape System
- Zip ties
Steps:
- Determine the size of your entire backdrop. For most events, 8 feet by 8 feet is a good size. You can easily fit 6 to 8 people to take pictures against the backdrop.
- Determine how you want to display your flowers. This is your chance to get very creative. You can choose to have a full paper flower wall for the backdrop, you can choose to do the top only, or perhaps the corners. I have done different variations and they all came out beautiful in the end.
- Once you determine the size of the area you want to cover with flowers it is time to calculate how many flowers you’ll need. Typically I mix and match sizes. I use a large size paper flower, 20 to 25 inches total size, to cover most of the area, and I use medium size, 10 to 15 inches total size of the flower, to fill in the gaps. Unless you are working with a small space I don’t recommend making small flowers which would be time-consuming. Whether you build a large flower or a small flower the construction of it will take you roughly the same amount of time. But if you are planning to use small flowers it will take you that much longer to build all the flowers you need.
- This is how I calculate a rough number of flowers. Let’s say I am filling in an area of 8 feet by 3 feet. That’s 96 inches for length and 36 inches for height. Remember your flowers need to cover an area larger than this at least by 10 inches to cover your pipe and drape. Your real total is 106 inches by 46 inches. I assume an average size of 20 inches for the large flowers, and I divide 106 by 20, which gives me about 10.3. From that, I conclude that I’ll need at least 12 large flowers for the first row. In total, I’ll need about 24 to 28 of them. When you put flowers next to each other you’ll have in-between spaces to fill in as well which can be filled in by medium flower. If you put 24 large flowers in two perfect rows, you’ll have 3 gaps to fill – on the tops of flowers, in the middle, and on the bottom. Calculate the total of your gaps, and that will determine how many medium-size flowers you’ll need. Make sure to build a few extra flowers just in case.
- Now that you have determined the total number of flowers you need, it is time to build them. Here is a quick tutorial to learn how to make large paper flowers. When you finish building your flowers, arrange them on the floor to give you visual validation of your creative idea.
- You can choose to preassemble your paper flowers before the event, and/or assemble them at the event. Both methods have a plus and minus. For example, if you preassemble your wall before the event you potentially have to cut your foam in advance in pieces and will require more space for transportation. Your flowers won’t bend as much if you are stacking them on top of each other, but they will bend if you are stacking boards on top of each other. When setting everything up at the event give yourself enough time to assemble the backdrop and not feel pressured. Quick tip, if you are going to use insulation boards for your backing, and you decide to preassemble, consider cutting your board at Home Depot. Insulation boards crumble easily, cutting them at home can get very messy.
- Setup your pipe and drape system. I suggest putting it against the wall and adding extra weights to the bottoms to make them stable. You don’t want an excited guest to bring an entire installation down.
- Secure your backing to the pipe and drape with zip ties for extra support. Two ways how to secure your board to the top of your rod – Use zip ties or buy cheap hooks. Glue and zip tie the hooks behind the board, and there you go, stable and easy put on/put off.
- And now on to the fun part, adding the flowers! You have several choices of how to attach your flowers. If you are using a thick paper board, the easiest thing to do is to glue your paper flowers on it. The key here is to make sure you know where to go because you don’t want to have to re-do it. If you are installing at the event, make sure you arrange the flowers at home on the floor and take pictures. These pictures will become a visual guide and serve as a point of reference.
- Now add your finishing touches and you are done! Enjoy that beautiful setup! Take tons of pictures.
paper flowers for all occasions
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