Paper Poinsettia with Free Templates

One of my favorite flowers for the holidays is the poinsettia. This is a tutorial for a simple 3D paper poinsettia with free patterns.

The best part of paper poinsettias is that they are not poisonous for cats, dogs, and small children!

This is one of those paper flowers that you can make that looks remarkably similar to the real thing. In fact, I actually find the real thing to look a little fake. I use these paper poinsettia for all sorts of different craft projects from just stand-alone paper flower arrangements to gift wrapping accouterments. They are super easy to make and work well in all sizes.

I make my paper poinsettias using my Cricut cutting machine but this particular design is simple enough to cut by hand.

You can make these paper poinsettias as a stand-alone plant or add them to any holiday-inspired craft. They are the perfect 3D project for any project. It’s not too deep to fit into an envelope for a card yet they pop enough to add just enough flair to a bouquet.

While the most common poinsettia comes in red, they do occur in nature in other colors from white to various shades of pink.

I love the vibrant red but a frosted white poinsettia can also add an elegant touch for any holiday-themed decor set or craft project.

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Materials for Paper Poinsettia

Cardstock – I like to use medium-weight cardstock with colored cores for paper flower making. Here are some of my favorite brands:

• Assorted Starter Pack – Basic assorted colors, great starter pack, perfect weight for most papercraft projects
• Cricut Joy Insert Card Packs – You don’t have to use these with the Cricut Joy, they are nice material kids for cardmaking.
• 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
• Poptone Assorted Variety Pack – This is the perfect peppy assortment of colors of heavy cardstock. It’s a heavy cardstock assortment with colors I actually use frequently for cardmaking.
• Seasonal Assorted Variety Pack – This is a slight variation on the Poptone assortment and has a quite few neutrals that complement almost any accent color.
• 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.

Glue – I have a couple of favorites for paper flower crafts:

• Art Glitter Glue – All-purpose non-toxic polymer glue with a fine tip, dries fast with minimal paper warping.
• Hot Glue Gun – My favorite cordless hot glue gun, an essential for fast petal to petal gluing

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

Templates – This paper poinsettia template for all sorts of craft projects is available for free in both SVG and PDF file formats in my resource library.

How to make a paper poinsettia

Step 1: Cut out the petals using the templates

If you look at the real poinsettia, it is not a symmetrical flower. It is actually just a gathering of leaves in random sizes. I tried to replicate this in my template.

I don’t have a set way to make each flower, I just cut out the different petals in various sizes and do something a little different with each flower to make the whole set look more realistic.

This design is simple enough to use a light grip blue mat if you are making this with a Cricut cutting machine.

Step 2: Curl the petals

You can use a scraping device or any straight edge like a credit card or ruler. I also like to vary up the direction I curl the petals from vertical to horizontal to angled.

There are many curling variations you can do from a complete vertical curl to a horizontal scrap. sometimes I just leave it mostly flat and just curl the tip.

Be sure to stack and position the petal layers first before you start curling so you have some idea as to what direction you want to curl.

Step 3: Glue the layers of the paper poinsettia leaves together

There is a center tab for each petal. Glue these tabs together. Again, be sure to position and layer the layers before gluing. Each layer is slightly different so you want to make sure you align it properly before gluing.

That’s it! Super easy to make a bunch for a bouquet or to add a single flower to any craft project.

Here are a couple more Paper Poinsettia craft and decor ideas:

Check out my small DIY hot chocolate gift ideas for more inspiration.

This winter poinsettia wreath is part of my Premium SVG Membership projects.

Interested in related project SVG designs? Check out my Premium SVG Membership:

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