Simple folded paper dahlias using printables

05/01/2012 by UKMA 37 Comments

OK, this is likely to be pretty image heavy – be warned.

Download the PDFs. The PDFs consist of little circle motifs with a bit of text curved around them.  They are sized to be punched with a 1 inch circle punch.

The coloured version is here.

The Black text version is here

the Brown text version is here

Get a piece of printer paper – and the PDFs should work with both A4 and US letter sized paper. If you are using the coloured version, pick out papers to match the printed motifs.  Cut 2 inch wide strips at least the width of your printer paper.  I used scraps, and some were 12 inches wide, some 8.5 inches wide.

Turn the scraps over and attach the patterned side to the printer paper with a rub-off repositionable adhesive, like Hermafix.  Stick the first strip flush with the top edge, and each next strip right up against the previous one.

If you’ve used longer strips, just trim off the excess – make sure you use enough adhesive to secure the strips to the printer paper.  You really don’t want them coming loose inside your printer.  Put the paper with strips attached thru your printer to print the PDF on the strips. When you get done you will have a set of five “petals” on each strip, printed on the back of a patterned paper that coordinates.

Now peel off one strip and punch out the five petals. Position the punch so the top curve is just above the text arc.

To create the petals you just fold over one side (and I placed a bar at the bottom centre – if you fold the first side in along a line just past the letter to about the midline of the bar, then fold the other side over you should get 5 petals that fit nicely together when you stick them.  But there is likely to be a bit of difference between them as the text bits are different lengths.  So you may need to scootch your fold a smidge one way or the other.

Get another circle – and as you will see this can be a scrap and quite small or bigger and coordinating, as you prefer. Start sticking the petals to the circle and with luck and good folds they will meet up perfectly.

Top them with whatever you like – a button here, but yesterday a lovely big Prima.  And I made a lot of them in different ways.

With the plain black and brown versions, you can  print them on plain paper and then attach that to the back of any paper or card you like (and I did that with the brown one) then punch.   You can print them on a wider range of papers then add any extra  colour by adding a punched circle to the empty circle on the print-out. And they look good printed on cream card as well as white. See?

And you can also print the brown and black on light coloured card or paper – the coloured ones I think you would have to try to see if you like them.   And a smaller circle works too if you don’t have a punch the exact size of the circle.

You can see on this one my folds were a little too tight and there is a bigger gap between the petals than I would like.  I would re-fold that one to open it out a smidge.

I’ll be adding this to the printables page in the top menu and there is a YouTube video/slideshow as well, but the only thing you will see different there is maybe a few more close-ups of some of the flowers. I’ll probably add that tomorrow but I have to do this first so I can link to the printables and this post is already monstrous!

I’m also hoping to get the spacing right with a pretty font that is readable in the very small size to do a set of more scripty ones.  If so, I think I would possibly dispense with the coloured versions (although the coloured text does look cute, it’s so hard to get something that works with papers people have.  Brown and Black are pretty sure to work with most things!

Any suggestions as to words? I have: hey baby (boy and girl colours and in the black/brown sets one is replaced with handsome), adorable, sweetie and love you

I thought be mine might work and maybe valentine as that will be upon us before we know it.