Supplies:
- Felt you could also make these designs out of cardstock (I have not personally used the felt linked below)
- Hot glue gun and glue
- Floral wire I used 18 gauge. I recommend one that is green/wrapped in green
- Wire cutters to cut the floral wire. (I have not personally used these wire cutters linked below. I could not find a link to the exact ones I use, but these should get the job done.)
- A way to cut your felt. You can print the design out and then cut it by hand with scissors or use a Cricut machine or other similar machine and have it cut it out for you.
- Some scissors to help cut any loose threads of felt and small slits in the felt.
- Optional: A vase to put the flowers in.
- My design which you can find here:
You will need to start off by making sure my design is the right size for what you want and that the measurements did not get changed during the uploading and downloading. For the pink flower I made my smaller flower petals were about 0.75 inches wide and about 1 inch tall. My larger petals were about 1 inch wide and 1.274 inches tall. You can size these up or down depending on how big you want your flower to be. I would not recommend sizing the petals down to much more than this though. You can also add more or less flower petals to make your flower larger or smaller. For the individual leave I made 3 different sizes. You could choose which sizes you would like to use. In my example I used all three sizes. Feel free to duplicate some if you need more. My smallest leaf was 0.233 inches wide and 0.377 inches tall. I do not recommend sizing this leaf down any more. It was already pretty small. The middle size leaf was about 0.52 inches wide and 0.87 inches tall. My largest leaf was about 0.7 inches wide and 1.143 inches tall. I placed these leaves on a floral stem, but you could also use them individually and place them around flowers. I used two of the larger leaves for my pink flower stem. For my Daisy I used the smallest/thinnest strip for my center. If you would like the cut rolled center (see purple flower in picture below) then you will want to cut the thicker stip. You can also cut this piece by hand. For the leaves I cut my smaller patterns, which are about 1 x 1 inch. I put a lot of detail and cuts into this leaf. So, it will take awhile to cut if you choose to use it. My two daisy templates are about 2 x 2 inches.
I used my Cricut Maker to cut my felt. I like to use the rotary blade to cut felt, but the fine point tip (the blade that comes with the Cricut machine) would also work. The Cricut explorer air series can also cut felt. In fact, if you select the felt setting the Cricut Maker will not let you switch to the rotary blade. So, I selected the wool felt setting in order to change my blade to the rotary blade. I also used the pink mat and selected more pressure. Do not forget to place contact paper or transfer tape sticky side up on your pink fabric cutting mat. This will help keep your pink mat clean. The felt can leave a lot of fibers behind on your mat, which are difficult to remove. So, with this trick after you finish your cuts you can just pull off the contact paper or transfer tape and you have a nice clean mat.
With all the pieces cut out, it is time to assemble. I like to use a thin tip hot glue gun to help me be more precise with my glue and to not have glue showing everywhere. First, let’s make the greenery stem. I started out by applying a dot of glue to the end of my leaf, then pinching it together with my fingers. I did this to all of my leaves. You can choose which end you want to be the top and which to be the bottom. It just helps to give them a little more dimension. The two small leaves where too small to do this to, so I just bent them around the tip of my floral wire at the very top. I then started adding the middle size leaves around my floral stem. You can pair them up and apply two leaves together down your stem or space them out and apply them to different sides of the floral wire, like I did/show. Just keep doing this until your piece is the desired length. Do not forget to add a few larger leaves at the very end if you choose too. With the floral wire you can also bend this piece how you would like.
For the pink flower I started with the inside and worked my way out. For the very center I took two of my smaller petals and folded them in half, then glued the edges together. This is easier to see in the video. I then applied some glue to the bottom and glued my center directly on to my floral wire. For the rest of my petals, I applied a dot of hot glue at the bottom of my petal, then pinched it together with my fingers. This adds some more depth to my petals. I then glued 4 small petals around the center. I applied glue only to the bottom of the petals. This allows the top of the petals to move freely. I then glued the next layer of small petals behind the first layer of petals, but made sure to place the second layer between the gaps of the previous layer. For my third layer I used my larger petals. I glued them behind my second layer, but made sure they were offset from the previous layer. Continue glue flowers like this until you are happy with your flower and its size. I used all the petals in my design, but feel free to duplicate petals and make more if you would like your flower to be larger. The tips of the petals can be moved a bit with your fingers if needed. I then cut a small hole or slit in the center of my larger greenery base. Next, I slid my floral wire through this hole/slit and applied some hot glue to hold the backing in place. This helps finish the flower and connect it to the stem. It also hides the base and extra glue. The last step is to add a few of the larger leaves to the stem. I also applied some glue and pinched the ends of my leaves before gluing them to the stem to give them more dimension.
For the daisy I made the design easier to assemble by having all the petals together, instead of having to glue each one individually. You will first need to roll you center strip. In my example I chose the smaller strip and simply rolled it up around my floral stem and glued it. You could also chose the larger center strip, and with scissors cut little slits about half way down the strip, then roll and glue it to your floral stem. Next, I cut a small hole/slit in the center of one of my daisy templates. Then I put my floral wire through this hole and slid it up against my center. I applied some glue to hold it against the center piece. I did the same thing with my second design template. Make sure the petals do not line up with each other or they will hide each other. I like to make the petals off set from each other. I then took the small green backing and made a hole in the center of it with my scissors and slid it through my floral wire and glue it. Next, I bent and glued some of the white petals to the yellow center to help blend the transition between the center and the petals. You could skip this step if you want to keep your white flower petals straighter. Lastly, I glued my leaves to my floral stem. I did not bend these leaves since they already had a lot of detail to them, but you could if you wanted too.
The last step is to trim the extra floral wire from all of my pieces. I found this pretty little vase at Hobby Lobby. I lined up a flower stem next to my vase and bent my wire at the desired height. I then used wire cutters to cut my floral wire at the bend and placed my stem in my vase. I did this to all three of my pieces. If you have a larger vase, then you will probably want to make more flowers and greenery. You could also make different colors of flowers. I also liked to bend my floral wire a little to make it look more natural and not as straight in my vase.
This would make a great decoration or be pretty in a tier tray. It could even make for a beautiful Mother’s Day gift or gift for many other occasions. I will actually be gifting this piece to my mom, although it is tempting to keep it for myself. Maybe I will make another one for myself. My mom’s favorite flower is a daisy. That is why I specifically made the daisy. I love how simple, but elegant this piece is. It looks like this piece took a lot of time to make, but it actually is pretty easy to assemble and relaxing to make. It just take a little bit of time and love.
