{"id":2345,"date":"2014-10-16T13:24:28","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T17:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2345"},"modified":"2014-10-16T15:35:59","modified_gmt":"2014-10-16T19:35:59","slug":"paper-flower-wedding-flowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2345","title":{"rendered":"Paper Wedding Flowers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently our wedding was featured on NJ Bride Magazine’s website\u00a0<\/a>which was really cool I have to admit. \u00a0Our photographer Jenifer Rutherford\u00a0<\/a>(who I seriously cannot recommend enough) took amazing photos that she submitted to the magazine. \u00a0It was a pretty awesome surprise to see TB and I, and our drunk friends, on a magazines website.<\/p>\n

It also gave me a chance to look at those photos again and remember what fun it was and how much work! \u00a0I made a lot for the wedding for two reasons: 1) it was cheaper and 2) it was the only way to get the eco-friendly choices I was looking for. \u00a0A wedding can create an enormous amount of waste which really bothered us.<\/p>\n

One of the big things I struggled with were the flowers. \u00a0My favorite flowers are all spring flowers so if I wanted them in October I would have to ship them from Europe. \u00a0Yes my flowers would have been more well traveled than I am! \u00a0\u00a0For a bit, I considered making fresh flower bouquets myself from local flowers but that would have been too much stress the morning of. \u00a0And then there was the cost of a lot flowers that will last a day. \u00a0Don’t get me wrong, I love flowers. I just couldn’t rationalize spending thousands of dollars on something that lasts a day. \u00a0 We decided to put that money toward wine instead. \u00a0True, wine only lasts a short time too but it tastes better than flowers. \u00a0These are also reusable and I still use them to dress up my craft fair booth.<\/p>\n

So I started Googling paper flowers. \u00a0At first it was one of those projects that gets me the “ridiculous” name and I wasn’t really sure I could pull it off. I started out by trying to make a bunch of different kinds of flowers. \u00a0Some were beautiful but took A LOT of work and since I had to make so many, they were cut out. \u00a0I narrowed it down to a few kinds that were simple enough and then just went to work. \u00a0I started months before and would make a few here and there while watching TV. \u00a0I didn’t really have a plan for the final look, I just kept making them until I had a lot. \u00a0 Then I started putting them together for bouquets and centerpieces.<\/p>\n

My bouquet is on the right, one of the bridesmaid’s bouquets is on the left.<\/p>\n

\"1039\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is a close up of mine.<\/p>\n

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If you are interested in giving these a try look no further! \u00a0Lets start with the rose swirly ones.<\/p>\n

1. I used white (recycled!) card stock but you can go to the craft store and get whatever color you want. \u00a0Cut out a circle out of card stock but don’t make it too perfect. \u00a0Nature isn’t perfect and you shouldn’t be either. Then cut a swirl through to the center leaving a small circle in the middle. \u00a0The thicker you cut the swirl the taller the flower, the thinner and it will be shorter and fatter.<\/p>\n

\"Paper<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Start with the outside and roll it up. \u00a0Put a big glob of hot glue on the small circle you left in the middle and make sure all the layers get stuck into it. I also hot glued some tiny pearls in the center of the ones in the bouquets to be a bit more fancy. \u00a0Please excuse my messy glue gun. \u00a0Somehow I melted the leg and it now has to lay on its side and things get stuck to it. \u00a0It’s well loved. \u00a0 You can stop here and have a nice flower, and we used tons of these laying on tables as decorations.<\/p>\n

\"Paper<\/a><\/p>\n

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3. \u00a0If you want to add them to bouquets, they will need a stem. \u00a0These are light so I just used a length of floral wire glued to the bottom. \u00a0On some of the heavier flowers I had to double up the wire I glued on or use cloth covered heavy floral wire.
\n\"Paper<\/a><\/p>\n

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4. To cover that mess, I cut leaves out of green card stock then just glued them on. \u00a0This is scrapbooking paper with some texture. \u00a0The big leaves in my bouquets are the same paper. \u00a0For those, I traced a hydrangea leaf from my garden, glued on some wire as a stem and used floral tape to bind all the flower stems together. \u00a0To cover the floral tape and avoid having sticky hands on my wedding day, I wrapped all the “stems” with pretty ribbon.<\/p>\n

\"Paper<\/a><\/p>\n

5. And here is the finished flower. \u00a0I left a bunch in this state and put them in vases or wrapped the wire around things to dress up vertical spaces. \u00a0To take it one step farther, you can cover the wire with floral tape so they look more like stems in a bouquet.<\/p>\n

\"Paper<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are some of the supplies I thought were handy: (from left) flower hole punch, floral tape, beads, cloth covered floral wire (great for the big flowers), and floral wire.<\/p>\n

\"Paper<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I really wanted a bouquet of hydrangeas but once I realized how long they took I settled on only having a few with the easier roses filling everything out.<\/p>\n

For the hydrangea here are the basics:<\/p>\n

1. Use the flower punch and punch out approximately one million little flowers. \u00a0 Bend them up a little to give them some dimension. \u00a0Put a dab of hot glue in the middle and put a few tiny beads on it before the glue dries. \u00a0A pair of tweezers helps or you can use my method of a dipping the flower into a dish filled with the beads like its sprinkles on an ice cream cone. \u00a0It’s ok if they aren’t perfect, neither is nature. (For those perfectionists that realize that hydrangeas have 4 petals not 5, you are correct. \u00a0I only owned a 5 petal punch and wasn’t going to buy another one to be that accurate. \u00a0No one has mentioned to me that they have noticed although it’s possible they talk about it behind my back.)<\/p>\n

\"Paper<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Next you will take the one million flowers and glue them onto some ball like shape. \u00a0You can use a styrofoam ball but I didn’t have those on hand. \u00a0I balled up some paper and then wrapped it in tissue paper which looked a bit more natural and not perfectly round. \u00a0Keep in mind the tissue paper will show through the flowers . \u00a0 \u00a0I kind of made that part up but I think I grabbed the ends up like Santa’s toy bag and tied it off with a rubber band gently. Or glued the hell out of it. \u00a0Either way have something to tie the wire around to form the stem. \u00a0Try to glue the flower cut outs pretty close together so the petals have to stick up a little which will give it dimension.<\/p>\n

\"1031\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I also made some big tissue paper flowers that I used to decorate the balcony. \u00a0Since this post is already getting pretty long I will leave you to google this one (they are everywhere). \u00a0These are also pretty easy to do and if you make them large they can have quite an impact.<\/p>\n

Ask me any questions you have in the comments below or email me at kelly@ridiculousredhead.com!<\/p>\n

\"8039\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently our wedding was featured on NJ Bride Magazine’s website\u00a0which was really cool I have to admit. \u00a0Our photographer Jenifer Rutherford\u00a0(who I seriously cannot recommend enough) took amazing photos that she submitted to the magazine. \u00a0It was a pretty awesome…
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,20],"tags":[368,367,364,366,365],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/1039.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1J4KT-BP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2396,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2396","url_meta":{"origin":2345,"position":0},"title":"Paper Flower Tutorial is on New Jersey Bride","date":"February 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A little while ago I told you that my wedding was featured on New Jersey Bride and I posted a tutorial on how I made some of the paper flowers we used at our wedding. \u00a0Soon after, I was contacted by the editor of the magazine, telling me they wanted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/NJ-Bride-Paper-Flowers-article-Ridiculous-Redhead.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":578,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=578","url_meta":{"origin":2345,"position":1},"title":"Eco-friendly Wedding Favors?","date":"March 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"So as many of you know I am getting married this fall. \u00a0We are trying our best to keep everything as local, sustainable and eco-friendly as possible. \u00a0Our caterer grows the veggies and salad fixing in his own garden, while his restaurant has gray water systems and he composts. \u00a0Our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Green Ideas"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/RR-logo-square-300-pix.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2807,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2807","url_meta":{"origin":2345,"position":2},"title":"Getting more out of my small garden","date":"September 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been working on so many new things in the garden this year. \u00a0I am growing new things, in new ways. \u00a0I have also started the crazy train that is canning and preserving. \u00a0I have taken about a million photos while out in my garden to share with you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Garden"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Pickle-Peppers-Sept-2017.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2717,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2717","url_meta":{"origin":2345,"position":3},"title":"What we are planting this year – 2016","date":"March 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2016 growing season is here!!! I hope you read all about the Ridiculous Garden Club and the Facebook group that goes with it and have decided to join. \u00a0I hope everyone is asking questions and sharing info to make this year the best growing season yet. I am so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Garden"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Ridiculous-Redhead-seeds-herbs-2016.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2369,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2369","url_meta":{"origin":2345,"position":4},"title":"Late fall garden update","date":"November 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"We haven't checked in with the garden around here for awhile so I thought I would give you all an update. Today it was in the mid 60s and that seems to be the end of the nice weather. \u00a0Some gargantuan storm is coming in from Alaska and tomorrow starts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Garden"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/ridiculous-redhead-gardening-opie.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2706,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2706","url_meta":{"origin":2345,"position":5},"title":"The Ridiculous Garden Club","date":"March 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"As my dear readers know, I love being out in the garden. \u00a0I am self taught and started out killing ivy and cactus. \u00a0It's been a big learning curve but I have come a long way. \u00a0I love to share my journey of teaching myself how to garden here and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "About Us"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/RGC-invite.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2345"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2360,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345\/revisions\/2360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}