flowers from newpaper

Recycle old newspapers to create these fun & original flowers!

Each sheet of newspaper can make multiple flowers, which you can use as a unique and eco-friendly way to decorate cards, and embellish any plain gift bags or wrapped gifts!

Materials:

-Flower template {download template here}

-Old newspapers

-Toothpick

-Paint (watercolor or acrylic, depending on your desired look)

-Scissors

-Paintbrush

-Small decorative brads

-Pen or pencil

-Optional: Spray starch (to make more stiff)

Directions:

Download and print out the flower template. Cut out each flower from the template page and use a toothpick to punch a small hole in the center of each flower.

Choose the newspaper pages that will become your flowers – try to choose pages that have a lot of text and few pictures (and you’ll probably want to avoid the obituaries).

Painting Option 1 – Acrylic Paint

This method will result in more coverage; acrylic paint is thicker, so you won’t see as much newsprint through the paint.

Choose your desired color(s) of acrylic paint – the flowers I created for this tutorial used 3 colors of paint. Use as few or as many colors as you’d like, and experiment with different color combinations for different looks.

Using acrylic paint will yield the look in the picture below:

Painting Option 2 – Watercolor

Using watercolor paint gives a tint of color to the newspaper, and allows all of the newsprint to show through. I’ve found that when using watercolors for this project, it looks better to stick to just one color on a page.

Using watercolor on the newspaper will produce the look in the picture below:

Paint one side of the newspaper, using any painting technique you like – I randomly painted different areas with each color, and then did a little dry brushing on top. Allow paint to dry completely.

Turn the newspaper over (painted side down), and trace each of the flowers cut out from the template. Be sure to mark the center of each flower.

Cut out the flower shapes. Use a toothpick to gently poke a small hole through the marked center of each flower.

Gently “crumble” each flower.

Open each flower up, being careful not to tear the paper. Put the brad through the hole in the center, starting with the smallest flower, and working up to the largest flower.