How to make paper tulips

Tulips are some of the first happy harbingers of spring and a stunning flower species. Bulbs buried in the yard in autumn will reward gardeners in spring with bright blossoms in myriad shades, rivaling the beauty of a Dutch palace garden.
This easy to execute DIY tulip project allows crafters to enjoy tulips any time of year. Make sure to have a full pad of construction paper ready because as with real tulips, the color possibilities are endless. From gentle pastels to bold primary colors, these tulips will stave off the winter blues like nothing else. It might be a good idea to make an entire bouquet to beautify a nightstand, entry table or bookshelf.
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Materials
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Black Sharpie marker
- Hot glue gun
- Green pipe cleaner
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Instructions
1. Cut a strip from the construction paper with the scissors, width-wise. The strip should comprise about a third of the sheet.
2. Draw a rounded triangle (similar to the shape of a piece of candy corn but larger) with the Sharpie marker on the left third of the paper strip.
3. Make a one-third sheet fold at the right of the triangle so it is facing backward rather than forward; this creates two layers of paper.
4. Fold the remaining third of the strip to create a third layer behind the drawn triangle.
5. Use the petal-shaped drawing as a guide and cut that shape from every layer of the paper at once with scissors. The result is three petal-shaped pieces of paper.
6. In the center bottom portion of each petal, make a small cut with the scissors, stopping after about the bottom third is cut.
7. Fold the right half of the cut bottom petal portion so its outer side sits on top of the inner left side.
8. Apply hot glue to the inner left bottom portion of the petal and glue the outer right bottom section to it. This will form the bottom of the petal.
9. Gently and softly fold upper portions of each petal toward each other so they slightly turn inward.
10. Repeat Steps 8 and 9 with the other two petals.
11. Apply hot glue to the inner bottom portion of one of the petals and nestle another petal’s outer bottom portion on top of the glued portion. Place the third petal bottom on top of these two, making sure the petals’ interiors are facing each other, as with a real tulip.
12. Make gentle, soft folds on the upper portions of the petals so the top sides of each petal face each other.
13. Using three sheets of matching colored construction paper, draw a large petal on one sheet, about triple the size of the petals just made.
14. Place the other two sheets of construction paper underneath the one with the large petal shape drawn on it. Cut out the large petal shapes from the three pieces of paper at once.
15. Take the smaller tulip and glue it in the bottom center of one of the large petals. Glue the other two large petals to the outside of this assemblage, staggering the petals’ placement so they are not nestled against each other perfectly but so the upper petal portions are exposed all around the flower.
16. Cut a piece of green pipe cleaner to a 6- to 8-inch length.
17. Form a small circular flat coil at one end of the pipe cleaner so it resembles an electric oven burner element.
18. Apply hot glue to the top of the pipe cleaner’s coiled end and affix it to the bottom of the tulip.
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19. Let dry before displaying.
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