Fake Flowers For Mom

I saw a picture of the cutest cupcake liner flowers floating around and thought it would be a nice thing to give my Mother. Mom doesn’t like real flowers—her classic line is, “They smell like funerals.” Fair enough. So I figured these cheerful little paper blooms would be perfect for her Mother’s Day card, which will be exploding with Lotto Scratch-Off tickets.

And as you know, I can never resist a project that uses what I already have lying around the house. Turns out, those leftover cupcake liners from 2 years ago when I made so, so many cupcakes were worth keeping!

Here’s how to turn a pile of them into the sweetest little bouquet, A Mother’s Day card, or a springtime string of garland. It’s a craft for all – the family, rainy day friends hang, or for you, when you feel weird and lonely at night and need to give your ruminating brain a distraction.

Cupcake Flowers

What you’ll need:

• Cupcake liners (any size or color,  mix and match)
• Glue (hot glue for a bouquet and garland, glue stick for cards)
• Pom-poms, or paper circles for the flower centers (get creative here)
• Green pipe cleaners, or sticks for stems, or ribbon
• Scissors
• Double-sided tape (optional)
• A jar or vase for display, or paper for a card or artwork

Instructions:

1. Flatten and layer the cupcake liners. Gently press each liner flat with your hand. If they’re crinkly or a little misshapen from sitting in the drawer for five years, that’s okay! It adds a bit of texture and makes the petals look more like real flowers. Stack two four-liners on top of one another. Try off-centering some so the edges peek out like layered petals. Cut a few smaller ones for an even more layered feel. Keep the flower monochromatic or mix and match colors.

2. Glue the layers together and shape. Dab a bit of glue in the center or use double-sided tape on each layer to keep them in place. For some flowers, cut around the edge to make different-shaped petals. Variety is everywhere in nature.

3. Add your flower center. Pom-pom, or cut a small paper circle and glue it to the center of the top liner. Repeat the process with different colors and shapes until you’ve got a full bouquet.

4. Creative Applications. For a bouquet, flip the whole flower over and glue your pipe cleaner (or a stick from outside) to the back. Repeat for all your flowers. For a card or artwork, arrange your flowers in an interesting way on the paper. For garland, hot glue the flowers, evenly spaced along a ribbon or rope. Loop the ends of the ribbon to hang and display!

Follow me for crafting and all the things on Instagram @theglorifiedtomato.