Tutorial: Upcycled Magazine Flowers

This past weekend was my Mum's Birthday! I said to myself, "Self, this is the perfect time to make something beautiful + crafty with the little folk that they can give to Mimi!" And so with that, we made a big bouquet of these flowers from the pages of magazines. Upcycled items seem to be everywhere these days; there are coasters + vases made from old magazines, bracelets made from soda can tops, even purses made from gum wrappers. I happen to think these flowers are just as nice as these other recycled/ upcycled items, and since we were having so much fun making them, we decided to make a bouquet of flowers for our kitchen table as well. Here's how we did it: Begin by choosing + tearing our some pages of magazines. I used pages from old Martha Stewart magazines that I just cannot bring myself to part with. The colors of the photographs are beautiful for this kind of project + I really like the larger sized page. Step ONE: Fold your page in half vertically {if you have a preference for the image/color on one side of your page, fold so that the favorite is on the inside, like my silver here.}

Step TWO: Then repeat, folding your page in half yet again. Step THREE: At this point, trim the torn edge of your page, then fold it in half horizontally.

Step FOUR: Now you want to cut small slits along the side of your folded page that has the open edges {be sure not to cut the side that is completely folded shut...and don't cut all the way through or the flower will fall apart!} Step FIVE: Now open up your folded + cut magazine page...it should look like this... Step SIX: Lay the page flat, smooth it a bit, then flip over + gently make the same folds you had make in the begining, just in the opposite direction. {Just "pooch" the little loops so the fold lines are more rounded} ...Your not making any new fold lines, just use what was there already and you should get something that looks like this...

Step SEVEN: Now wrap your little loopy, serpintine looking magazine page around your pointer finger.

Step EIGHT: When you get to the end, just use some clear tape to hold the flower in place.

Step NINE: Use a green pipe cleaner to make a stem by wrapping the pipe cleaner around the area you had just taped off. When we made these to give as a gift, I decided to take it up a notch by then covering the pipe cleaner with green floral tape to give it a more "professional look"...but when working with little folk, the pipe cleaners alone are just great!

And voila! A beautiful gift anyone would be thrilled to receive...Mimi certainly was! And imagine how pretty these would look if we skipped adding the stems and instead placed these flowers around a wreath, or strung them as a garland? Any of these would make a lovely spring project, Mama's Day gift, or Earth Day craft...Good times indeed!

Happy Flower Making!

xo.