How to Make a Paper Flower Template

The best inspiration for paper flower designs comes from the real thing. I will show you how to easily make paper flower templates from your favorite real flowers.

Once in a while, I get a really nice bouquet of flowers from the local florist. Depending on the flower, it usually lasts about a week. There’s nothing like real flowers but I do wish they would last a little longer.

I decided the other day to make the most of my bouquet by making a paper flower template out of the petals.

It doesn’t have quite the same effect at the real thing but it’s still quite beautiful in its own way and will last way longer!

If you’re just interested in making this paper lisianthus, it is free and available both as an SVG and printable form in my resource library.

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How to Make Templates from Flower Petals

First, we’re going to start with the most basic photo of your flower petal as possible. Try and place the petal against a solid contrasting color background.

If the petal does not want to lie flat, you can put a clear plastic sheet cover it or sandwich it between a clear sleeve.

The photo can be taken with any device including your phone.

I like using Clipping Magic to automatically create an outline around the petal.

It is the only background removal service that not only fully automatic, it also lets you make editorial changes afterward and provides an SVG download.

I just upload the image, then it just automatically traces the image.

Then I download as an SVG. It’s super easy! You can copy and paste anything on the web and trace the image with Clipping Magic.

Materials for Paper Lisianthus

Cardstock: I like to use non-textured medium weight cardstock with ideally colored cores. Here are some of my favorites:

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 – I like tacky glue but a glue gun works too

Paper Clip – These aren’t necessary for every paper flower but I found it helpful for this project.

Cutting Machine – I use a Cricut. Check out my recommendations for Cricut machines and accessories for beginners for more info.

How to Make the Paper Lisianthus

Step 1: Cut out petals from the template

I altered the petal template slightly to make it easier to make the core. Depending on the actual flower, you may want to elongate the template slightly so you can create some curvature to the petal with the base tab.

Step 2: Curl the petals

I like to use a scraping device like credit card or something equivalent.

Step 3: Cut a little slit at the bottom of each petal and overlay the tabs and glue.

This may require a trial run to see how much you want the tabs to overlap. The more they overlap, the more angel your petal will be.

I like to use a paperclip to hold the tabs in place as the glue dries. This is extremely helpful for the core pieces where you are essentially just rolling the petals into a tight tube.

Step 4: I then glue 3 of the same size petals together to make a layer.

How wide you make each layer will require some trial and error.

I then assemble the layers together gluing as I go.

Depending on the curvature of your petals, the base of each layer may not touch. If that is the case, just apply some glue to the touch points between each layer.