I don’t know if you have figured this out about me, but I love flowers. I have several flower beds at my home and I try to add to them every year. The tried-and-true flowers, the heirlooms, the ones grandmas grow are my favorites. For example, I love Black-eyed Susan flowers.
Its bright, saturated yellow petals and brownish-red centers liven up any flower bed. And it is a perennial, so I can plant once and enjoy for years. That’s my kinda flower!
Not only do I love growing flowers, but I also love to craft all different kinds of paper flowers. We’ve already made simple, layered flowers. And we’ve made rolled flowers. I promised that I would also teach you how to make GIANT flowers, too. That’s what we are doing in this tutorial.
Today, I am going to show you how to make a giant Black-eyed Susan flower using cardstock and hot glue! The flower will have 3 major parts – center, petals, and sepals! I used actual petals from one of my Black-eyed Susans to create the patterns for this project.
Watch how I put it together in the video below:
How To Use Giant Paper Flowers
The first place you can use your wonderful creation is in your home or office. These giant paper flowers are a great way to liven up any decor. They provide a great conversation starter, too, especially if you’ve made several for a nice display.
I have several giant paper flowers hanging in the Payne & Simple studio already, and I will be adding this giant Black-eyed Susan, too!
Another example I can share is when I used them in my office. Last year, I also took several giant flowers into my office and created a bulletin board for our hallway!
In the same way, if you are a teacher, you can add these giant paper flowers to your classroom decorations. As an educator, I know lots of teachers who spend a lot of money buying decorations and bulletin board kits for their classrooms. These giant flowers would be a great option and children love them!
Another great way to use giant paper flowers is for Party decorations. These work great for birthday parties and for wedding or baby showers. While we are making our Black-eyed Susan flowers in traditional colors, you could make them in the bride’s colors or the nursery colors. After the shower or party, gift them to the honoree!
Ready to get started?
For your convenience, I included affiliate links which means I may make a commission, but it won’t cost you any more. Read my entire disclosure here.
Materials and Supplies
- Cardstock in yellow, brown, and green (or whatever colors you want!)
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Craft glue (optional)
- Tweezers
- Paper curling tool
- Modeling tools or bone folder/scorer
- Cricut cutting machine and cutting mats
- Pattern Item # 13 Giant Black-eyed Susan SVG and PDF in my Maker Library
Step By Step Instructions for Giant Paper Flowers – Black-eyed Susan-style
Step 1. Access the Patterns
First, you will need to download the Black-eyed Susan pattern (SVG and PDF) from my Maker Library. If you’ve already joined, just put in the password, locate item #13, and download. If you haven’t joined my Maker Library, it’s free, so join and I will email you the password!
Step 2. Cut Out The Giant Paper Flower Pattern
Cutting Machine Method
Now, if you have a cutting machine, like a Cricut Maker, you will need to start Design Space (or other cutting software if you are using a different cutting machine). Start a new project and click Upload. Upload the Giant Black-eyed Susan SVG that you downloaded from my Maker Library.
First, ungroup the designs. Then click ‘Make it.’ Next, change the paper size to match the size of cardstock you are using. Most all of my cardstock is 8.5 x 11. Change the number of copies to cut the correct number of items.
| Item | Number of Copies |
| Strips (brown) for the center | 10 |
| Flower petals (yellow), 2 designs | 24 total (12 of each) |
| Sepals (green) | 4 |
| Circles (brown and green) | 2 brown, 2 green |
Note:
While Cricut Design Space usually places items on the mats in a way to maximize the cardstock, sometimes I want to make adjustments. With this project Design Space only put 2 petals on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of cardstock, but it is obvious that a third petal can fit. You can move items from one mat to another.
To do this, you click on the item you want to move. You will see 3 dots at the top left. Click on the dots and you will see two choices – Move or Hide. Choose Move, then click the mat you want to put it on, then click Confirm at the bottom of the screen. Design Space will automatically move the item, but you will need to drag it to the exact spot you want it on the cutting mat. I show you how to do this in the video. (If you choose to Hide instead of Move, the item you hide will not cut).
Hand cutting method
If you are NOT using a cutting machine, but are using scissors to cut the pattern by hand, you will need to use the PDF from the Maker Library.
First, open the PDF and print the patterns. You have a couple of options here. You can cut one copy of the PDF and use it as a template. If you do this, you will draw around the template on your cardstock.
On the other hand, you could print directly onto cardstock, matching the color to the flower part. Then cut each item. This way saves your having to trace from the template.
Cut the same number of each item from the chart above.
Note: You can use pinking shears to cut the slits into the brown paper strips. Or just use your scissors – the cuts do not have to be exact!
Step 3. Prep The Center
After cutting out all the pieces, the next step is to glue all the brown paper strips together, end to end. I used craft glue to do this. It goes faster and doesn’t create ‘bulk’ like hot glue can. After gluing all 10 of the strips into one really long strip, set it aside.
Step 4. Glue And Shape The Giant Paper Flower Petals
Each petal has a small slit cut in the bottom. Using the hot glue gun, put approximately ¼ inch line of hot glue along on side of the slit. Then place the other side on top of the glue. This will cause the petal to ‘cup.’
Next, using a modeling/fondant tool or bone folder, score the center of the petal. Start the score line about a half-inch from the tip and end about a half-inch from the slit. This does not have to be exact.
Next, use a curling tool to curl the petals. Curl the petal toward the back or away from the cup. If you do not have a curling tool, you can use anything with a hard edge such as scissors or even a plastic rewards card from your favorite store!
Step 5. Prep The Bases And The Center
Before gluing the petals, you will need to prep your bases by gluing the two brown circles together and the two green circles together. Set aside the green circles.
To form the center, grab the end of the long brown strip with tweezers. Begin rolling the strip so that it coils around itself. Use your non-tweezer hand to guide the coils. When you reach the end of the strip, maintain pressure on the coil and gently remove your tweezers.
Next, holding the coil so that it does not unroll, push the center of the coil out about 2. ¼ or 2 ½ inches. Use hot glue to glue the end of the strip to the coil. Then add lines of hot glue from the inside center to the base of the coil. Glue around the base as well.
Then, using the center as a guide, draw a circle in the middle of the brown circle base. Add another circle on the base between the edge and the center circle (petal edge). You will use the circles as guides when you add your petals.
Step 6. Add Petals To The Base
To begin, add a bit of hot glue to the back of a petal and place the petal at the 12 o’clock position on the brown base between the edge and the next penciled-in circle (petal edge from step 5 above). Next, follow the same process and add petals at the 6 o’clock, 3 o’clock, and 9 o’clock positions. Using eight more petals, fill in the other ‘hours’ on the clock.
Now, add the remaining twelve petals using the clock method, but place each petal on the base in the penciled-in area between the first layer of petals and the center circle.
Then, add hot glue to the base of the coiled flower center AND to the center of the giant paper flower. Press the coiled flower center to the middle of the flower.
Step 7. Shape And Glue The Sepals (Optional)
The last step is to add the sepals, but first, we need to shape them. Start by curling the arms. The arms should be curlier than the flower petals. Using the handle of the fondant tool or a pencil, squeeze the bottom of the sepal around the tool. Fold back approximately half an inch of the sepal base.
Next, begin hot gluing the sepals to the green base. Use the clock method, gluing a piece at the 12 o’clock, 6 o’clock, 3 o’clock, and 9 o’clock positions.
Finally, hot glue the back of the green base to the back of the giant paper flower.
Enjoy Your Giant Black-eyed Susan Paper Flower!
This project comes together fairly quickly once you have all your petals and other pieces cut. And if you are using a cutting machine, the cutting is fairly quick. In essence, this is a great project for those wanting to start making giant paper flowers.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and I hope you try to make a giant paper flower! Please share your creations with me on my Facebook page!
[…] in flower projects? Check out my giant Black-eyed Susan paper flowers or my rolled […]