It has been quite a few years since I delved into quilling, and thought I'd give it a try with my students to make some lovely paper bouquets for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Shavuot. I decided to combine paper flowers with quilling for the best results, as quilling requires a level of acuracy that many 11 year olds don't quite have. That said, with this piece as an example, the boys have actually created lovely bouquets, with quite a bit of help (sigh).
The main thing, I've realized, is that they feel proud of what they've made and have learned something in the progress. If they feel unable to arrange the flowers, okay, so be it, I'm there to make sure it goes right and that the end result will be a success. There are so many important areas of growth for kids who engage in crafts, and it isn't always just about them doing it all themselves, especially for those lacking confidence. Of course anything requiring drawing must be done with their hand, otherwise it looks like I did it, and with each project there is a give and take. Children who aren't happy with the end result, and don't receive good honest feedback at home might be inclined to quit, so forcing the idea of "do it all yourself" might not always be the best route. Proceed gently and when you do things for the child get them to at least try themselves first, or help make any design decisions.
Okay, back to the specifics of this project! I introduced the boys to the idea of quilling with the purple stalk flowers and various leaves and the rest of the flowers were made with simple paper flower techniques that can be done in felt as well. Okay, lets do it!
You'll Need:
- A piece of cardboard, anything you have on hand, or a piece of cardstock mounted to a piece of cardboard. Mine is a lid for an aluminum baking pan, of course I save those, since i don't use them and they sometimes come together with a package of 10 pans.
- colored paper, mine is printer paper weight
- quilling paper in green (though you can cut the strips yourself)
- white glue
- my rolled roses tutorial, yes, I used felt, also a great idea! The circle that remains in the middle is the base of the flower.
- NOTE: The flowers with shaped petals are also cut on a spiral, just instead of a straight line, cut petal shapes as you go around.
- another paper rosebud tutorial, in which the flower is rolled starting in the middle, also an option, and simple for younger kids.
How To:
- Make roses in various sizes and colors. An odd number of each color is recommended.
- Compose your bouquet and affix flowers with glue.
- Make stem flowers by rolling a strip of paper tightly, releasing it, affixing the end with glue and then pinching one side to make a tear drop shape.
- Add stems with 1cm high strips of paper affixed on their edge.
- Use more 1cm high (approx) quilling strips to make curlyques, open leaf shapes and tiny buds
- Get creative with this!
