Making Paper Flowers with Cricut

It must be the time of year, but it seems like everyone on our Facebook groups are wanting to try their hand at making flowers with their Cricut.  There are several different types of flowers that can be created with your Cricut.  Today I’m going to go over how to make the small quilled flowers like these:

Quilling–sometimes also called paper filigree–is a very old folk art that involves taking thin strips of paper and rolling them, usually with the help of a quilling tool, into shapes, which are then shaped into decorative designs.  Our Cricut quilled flowers is the most basic form of quilling.

To make our Cricut quilled flowers you will need a quilling tool or craft tweezers, card stock, glue, your trusty Cricut and at least one basic shape from Cricut’s cartridge called Flower Shoppe.  For Cricut Access subscribers, the Flower Shoppe cartridge is free.  (If you are not an Access subscriber, but are interested in becoming one, please use my link to subscribe: Information about Cricut Access )

Step 1:  Log into Design Space and choose “Create A New Project” and then choose “Insert Images”.  Once in the Insert Images page, choose Cartridges for your search option and either search for the cartridge by name in the search box or scroll down and select it.

Grab one (or more) of the spiral images and bring it to your mat.  You’ll notice that the size of the spirals is about 2.5″ which is a relatively good size to start with.  You can experiment with size later, of course.  In the following image, you can see I was able to cut 16 spirals from a 12″ x 12″ piece of card-stock.

Once you’ve cut out your spirals, you can remove the excess card-stock and your mat should look like mine.

You then want to carefully remove your spirals from the mat trying not to tear them (it takes practice).

Until you get the hang of rolling the spirals, I would suggest that you not use your “super special” paper,  but still use good heavy cardstock.  Using thinner paper proves difficult. It helps to remember that if you are using paper without a solid core, the edges are going to be white.

Once you’ve removed your spirals, get your quilling tool and glue.  The tool is specially designed with a slit in the tip, which is where you put the end of your paper.  In the case of these cut outs, you will put the outside edge of the spirals.  Once secured in the slit, start to slowly turn the tool with one hand while using the other hand to guide the paper and hold the tension.  My images don’t show my other hand, because you wouldn’t be able to see what I am doing although you can see I am holding the paper with my finger in the middle image.  Continue rolling the spiral, keeping your tension the same throughout. When you get to the end–which is the middle of the spiral–guide the flower off the tool holding securely and glue the bottom to the spiral.  I use regular white glue, but you could also use a glue gun for faster adhering (I avoid glue guns when I can!).  If using the white glue, you will have to hold the flower for a minute or so until it is secured.

Once you’ve mastered the rolling and gluing, you can experiment with different sizes, images or colors.  The tension is up to you…some people like them a bit loose and others like them tight.  But, really, that is all there is to it.  Be prepared to make a LOT of them if you have a specific project in mind.  The flowers don’t take up much room on a wreath.

Seriously…that’s it!  I hope you will try making these little quilled flowers.  They are lots of fun and can be used in so many projects.

As always, I’d love to hear what you think or see what you’ve made, so be sure to leave a comment.  You are welcome to share all or part of my post with other Cricut crafters as long as you credit me.  Also, please note that any links to Cricut may result in a commission through the Cricut affiliate program.