The subtitle of this book is 75 Whimsical Paper Flowers to Craft by Hand. I never would have thought that so many flower designs could be made using paper and other basic craft supplies. Flip through the first section of this book and you will be amazed at the variety of different designs you can achieve using many of the same or similar supplies. You can make everything from simple poppies and plum blossoms to more complicated peonies and lilies.
I enjoyed the unique lay out of this book. While it does start with the usual forward (which was written by Martha Stewart) and an introduction, the first ‘real’ section of this book is more like a photo gallery. You can flip through almost 100 pages of incredible, colorful pictures of each flower project in the book. You can really see all of the details of each flower and get a feel for what you can do with them. Each picture is clearly numbered so you can flip to the how-to section and find the directions that have the same number.
Once you page through all of the wonderful photos, you can move onto the next section of the book which introduces you to the materials you need to make the flowers. Of course, the main supplies needed to make the flowers is paper – mostly crepe paper (I never knew there were so many different kinds). Many of the other supplies you may already have lying around your house such as different kinds of tape and glue, paint and markers, and cotton balls and wire. Most of the tools you need are items you probably have in your craft cupboard including regular scissors, decorative scissors, wire cutters, and craft punches.
The next section in this book deals with the skills you will need to make flowers. It starts out by teaching you the anatomy of a paper flower. There is a simple step-by-step pictorial that shows how the main pieces of each flower goes together. This really makes you realize how easy it can be with a little bit of practice and attention to detail. This part of the book also explains different cutting techniques, how to form and prep the petals and leaves, and how to tape the stems. You will also learn different styling and coloring skills.
Finally, you get to the section full of how-tos where the authors, Rebecca Thuss and Patrick Farrell, take you step-by-step through the process of making each of the 75 different flowers. The flowers have each been marked with one of three different skill levels. Level 1 flowers incorporate the most basic flower making skills while level 3 flowers are larger in size and require more petal levels and coloring techniques. Each how-to includes a smaller picture of the finished flower along with picture of the various flower parts numbered in the order they go together.
I was truly stunned at the astonishing details many of the paper flowers have, and was pleasantly surprised at how relatively easy they seemed to be to make. I see a lot of paper flowers in my future to use not only as decorations and party favors, but also to give as gifts.
Buy this book… Paper to Petal: 75 Whimsical Paper Flowers to Craft by Hand
Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher. No further compensation was given and all opinions are my own. As noted above, this post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure policy for details.
