Send letters with flowers

When PAPER
breathes
FLOWERS

Photography and tutorial by Sarah Hussain of Breath of Henna. 

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SU
PP
LI
ES
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Scissors
Hot glue gun and sticks
Italian Crepe Paper (180 lb or 30 lb) 
Seran wrap cylinder
X-acto blade
Masking tape
Ruler
Card stock
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Writing hasn't always been my strength, which may be a surprise to some of you. Throughout the course of last year, my work has been published in wedding, fashion and art magazines. Starting the year fresh again, I wanted to create poetically and so I masked my words into the crevices of paper with paper flowers. When there is an event, I always want to pursue it individually; challenging myself with time. Punctuality always came late to me but that never allowed a dent into my creativity. As promised, here is my written tutorial on hand made paper flowers.

For the Must Be Kismet Wedding Show, I wanted to create paper flowers. Not your average paper flowers that every decorator creates (frames, arches and flushed walls). I wanted to give life to my booth as being a Henna vendor many associate mehndi colours with deeply saturated moroccan stones and South Asia's vast variety of coloured spices.

I always want my Brides to feel breath taking and beautiful. These flowers had to speak by their weight and size. So I found my way researching paper stores the first week of January and found an intimate space, decorated in all its charm, The Paper Place.

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The nectar - twirl & pull

• Firstly you want to make sure you have a 180 lb crepe paper (colour is up to you)
• Measure out 1 meter of crepe paper and cut.
• Fold the paper in half vertically 3 xs and cut it in thirds.
• Cut 3/4 along each side so that you have 1/4 of the paper still intact (this will create your repeat)
• Open the repeat and scrunch together pulling inwards from both ends till you get to the centre with a bunch. Twist this bunch from the top and bottom ends, do this tight. Unravel gently. Individually pull each petal 1/4 " outwards. 
• Pinch together all ends until in palm of hand (it will look like a bundle) and glue (hot glue gun) around plastic wrap roll. Using mask tape after will help seal it. Repeat tissue bundle 5 xs to achieve large nectar.

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Once you've collected all the bundles together, now you can glue them using your hot glue gun. Placing them equally around the rod (plastic wrap roll). Your nectar should now look like the above image on your right. This tutorial took me three days to perfect and I'm still in awe of how I'm losing site of the cuts I needed to make for their leaves. With January being mental health awareness month, it's vital that we all take a breather and slow down. When creating something so heartfelt, we should value the time that it takes us to create. If it makes you feel good, there should not be a doubt in your feeling. Allow your hands to communicate through your creations. You'd be surprised how many individuals I had smiling
through
 life size
paper
peonies. 

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The BLOOM - cut, twirl & pull

• Measure out 1 meter of crepe paper and cut.
• Fold the paper in half vertically 2 xs and cut it in half (repeat this step for next set of bloom).
• Take 1/2 and cut folded ends 3/4" vertically while leaving 1/4" joined.
• Cut petal shape with 3 bumps
• Open and scrunch together from end to end till you have a bundle.
• Twist this bundle from top and bottom ends tightly. Unravel each petal individually.
• Pull centre of petal to create curve on each petal. Repeat these steps for next 2 sets of halves (change petal shape while cutting).
• Using card stock, cut out 2 18" wide circles. Create cross in centre using xacto knife.

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​For additional petals and bloom, cut paper in 1 m length and fold 2 xs vertically. You can either separate the petals in pairs (image 2 above) or pinch strip of petals in a circular motion around the 18" circle. For the first and second round of petals, don't forget to push them upwards and stretch each petal to create its fullest volume. To maintain it's shape, you can add some hot glue on the petal under and pinch with your fingers until dry. Do you remember the 18" card stock disk? Take a round of petals and pinch them while gluing them around the exterior circle. Glue this round under the large flower to create fullness. You should have 4 rounds of petals with a heavy nectar now.  As the flower grows you are then ready for more individual petals and leaves.
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Petals after being cut are twisted from top and bottom ends in a clockwise motion. Green is added for leaves, marigolds for the nectar and shades of magenta for petals. It's up to you!

I hope you all enjoyed this short and sweet written tutorial of my beautiful paper peonies! Here are some photos of what these beauties looked like at the Must Be Kismet Wedding Show! I now rent these out and am taking orders from decorators for your special day! Don't be shy and send your inquiries to my email: breathofhenna@gmail.com.
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