I stumbled across these origami flowers when I was searching for an alternative for table centerpieces. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE flowers. But those pups are expensive! Even if carnations are now acceptable for occasions other than funerals, it costs a pretty penny to put together several in an attractive way. It started with this:
Carnation Pomander
LOVE! I mean, carnations never looked so good! Then I realized that to make those would cost me more than I wanted to spend. So, I started looking for alternatives. Yeah, there are the ones made out of tissue paper, but those look like, well, they look like they’re made out of tissue paper. I finally stumbled on these beauties and I became hell-bent on reproducing a variation of them.
Origami Flowers Tutorial
The difference was, I made a lot of them, glued them to bamboo skewers (which cost a couple bucks for 25+ from the grocery store) and inserted them into a styrofoam ball (like the pomander). I tried out different paper because I didn’t want to buy tons of origami paper. I settled on pages from books because they have the perfect storm of paper thickness, affordability and neutral color. I started with some old books I had lying around and later resorted to thrift store books. For a little accent color, I used scrapbook paper from a craft store.
Here’s where it gets a little crazy. To make them, it takes just about an entire book. That means that folding all those petals to make one entire centerpiece takes about 20+ hours. I was origami folding my little fingers to the bone. I was very happy with the result, though, and ended up using them at the next party I planned.
Oh, and as far as the vases, I used a thrift store decanter in the first picture and a clear glass one from the Dollar Store which I spray painted white for the picture above. Totes adorbz!
