Giant Paper Sunflower Template

This is a tutorial for both a standing tissue paper sunflower and a cardstock giant sunflower.

This life-size paper sunflowers are really fun and easy to make and are perfect for parties and photo backdrops.

I saw a bunch of tutorials online on how to make giant flowers but it all seemed really complicated. I have zero patience to make complicated crafts so I decided to figure out a way to make one that required much less effort.

I made two types of giant sunflowers because while the cardstock giant sunflower is more impressive, it is a little heavy as a standing life-size flower so I made a second one with lighter weight tissue flower.

The first challenge was structural integrity. The thing has to stand on its own. I ended up with using tissue paper because it is light weight, super affordable and doesn’t require a heavy duty stand to prop it up.

Materials for Standing Sunflower

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Tissue Paper – I like this assorted pack from Amazon. You will need it in yellow, black or brown and green.

Floral Wire – Since the tissue paper is a little flimsy, you need something lightweight to prop up the petals

Tape – any type of clear tape works. Glue works too but you will have to wait for it to dry.

Stapler – this is useful to make things go faster

Wrapping paper core – After a lot of trial and error, I decided this was the easiest stem for the flower. Its also something everyone has.

Wine bottle – empty or full, your choice. An empty bottle corked with water is probably the best.

Template – I optimized my template for spacing.

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Tutorial for Giant Standing Flower

Step 1: Cut out the petals

You will need 3 strips of 6 petals.

Step 2: Make the inner ring by stapling the end

I used a stiff piece of cardstock for my ring but many other things work too. Maybe 2 strips of cereal box or a paper grocery bag. If you have nothing else, you can always fold a piece of paper in half to make a stiffer strip.

Step 3: Prepare each petal by making a small pleat at the base of each petal.

Secure the pleat with tape at the base of the petal. This makes the petals more stiff.

Step 4: Start taping the base of the petal strip to the inside of the ring. When you get to the second layer, be sure to offset the petals

Step 5: Create a ring with the floral wire and tape it to the underside of the petals

Step 6: Cut out a center circle in brown or black tissue and tape to the center of the flower.

I technically used construction paper because I had it around.

Step 7: Tape the back of the flower to the wrapping paper core

Step 8: Wrap the wrapping paper core with green tissue

Step 9: Use the wine bottle as a base and prop the stem on the bottle

Step 10: Make a little green tissue paper skirt for the bottle

Materials for Cardstock Giant Sunflower

Cardstock – I like to use medium weight cardstock with colored cores for my cutting machine. The centerpiece for the sunflower is relatively intricate and doesn’t cut well with textured or thinner paper. Here are some of my favorite brands:

Recollection Assorted Starter Pack – Basic assorted colors, great starter pack, perfect weight for most papercraft projects
Metallic Shimmer Assorted Set from Amazon – This set is a little lighter in weight but the colors are beautiful in 3D
Cardstock Warehouse Brand on Amazon – I love the quality of all the matte colored cardstock with Cardstock Warehouse. It is my go-to brand for individual matte colors that I might need
Stardream Metallics Line – For paper crafts, the Stardream line is the go to for a metallic shimmer finish. It is the perfect sheen to make any project pop. The core is also colored is which hard to find for metallic paper.
Assorted Pink Set from Paper Paper – This is a must-have for paper flower makers. The variety is perfect to create a bouquet.
Assorted Purple Set from Paper Paper – This is another must-have for paper flower makers. I love the variety of finishes in this pack.
Metallic Variety Set from Paper Paper – I don’t know any avid paper crafter that doesn’t use Stardream metallics line of shimmer paper. It is the only metallic cardstock line that I know of that has such variety and has colored cores.

Glue – Either a polymer based glue or a glue gun works here