Has anyone done a Giant card stock flower photo backdrop?

I think I will be trying. I actually had a previous post with some ideas from other brides. very helpful! At first I wanted to do white drapery for the backdrop but stumbled upon a gorg paper wall backdrop but they're like $6-800 so I think I'm going to do half and half. Drapery with paper flowers at the top. I will keep you updated!! I have heard making the flowers isn't that bad, just best to start early and make sure you have room.

I have recently finished making 120 paper flowers that we will be using during our ceremony from cardstock and vellum. Depending on the size of your flowers, and the flower type you will be creating will really determine how much time it will take you. I created five different styles of flowers (using a combination of my SIlhouette Cameo templates and a hand paper punch) in our wedding colors just to give you a run down of the amount of time:

Blue Dahlia: 50 minutes each flower

Blue Hydrangea: one hour and 20 minutes each (as I have to hand punch and pin each petal)

Brown mums: 40 minutes each

White cardstock rose: 20 minutes each

Vellum roses: 10 minutes each

overall I have spent 40 hours creating 120 flowers, which only cost me about $25 to make. So if you have the time, I think it adds a great personal touch. Keep in mind you will still need extra hours in order to pin then up on your backdrop! I included just a snapshot of what my flowers look like, but I won't be finishing the final product until closer to the weeding to keep the integrity of the flowers intact.

OMG those are beautiful! Congratulations...you have now convinced me to give it a go! So next question - where did you get your templates for the flowers from? I have had a hard time trying to do a good rose. I have made a dahlia but mine was the cones right to the center - I like the centre on yours (how did you do that?) Would love to make all these flowers - templates please?

Your wedding is going to rock!

That looks fabulous @Melissa!

I am glad I helped you make a decision ! Do you happen to own a craft cutter like Silhouette or Cricut? I went out and purchased one specifically for this project. It cost me about $240 (on sale) for the Silhouette Cameo cutting machine (but it is something that I will be using a lot). I am sure they will be having sales throughout this week as well as part of black friday and such. I can give you the name of each template that I bought for the flowers. The machine came with a $10.00 download card for templates.

If you do not plan on buying a cutting machine, you will have to cut out all the petal pieces by hand, but I can get you copies of the templates I used for the "regular size" you would just have to minimize/maximize the template to determine your flower size.

Are you only looking to make the roses? or would you like the information about the dahlias, mums, and hydrangeas as well?

Try making your own with tissue paper flowers. It is WAY more economical. If you get the big sheets you can still make the giant flowers.

OMG!!!! @Melissa this is awesome!! I had a post about a week ago talking about this!! You have pretty much convinced me to do a paper flower backdrop wall!! I want to do all roses! I won't get a cricut machine. I would also love information on it as well!

Dahlia template from Lia Griffith:

http://liagriffith.com/make-a-paper-dahlia-for-fall/

This has a tutorial how to make the flower as well as include templates for either use on a cutting machine or by hand. Keep in mind all my times are estimated by using a craft cutting machine, otherwise I would say double the time if you will be cutting by hand.

Idea for hydrangea from pinterest:

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/40/87/a5/4087a5d3a1006eb1283a92b70c8c1f15.jpg

I purchased the Martha Stweart Hydrangea punch that had two sizes to dimension:

http://www.michaels.com/martha-stewart-crafts-hydrangea-punch/10471231.html?cm_mmc=Sq1_Search-_-GooglePLA-_-Martha%20Stewart%20Crafts-_-Martha%20Stewart%20Crafts%20Hydrangea%20Punch&utm_source=GooglePLA&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Martha%20Stewart%20Crafts&utm_term=Martha%20Stewart%20Crafts%20Hydrangea%20Punch&utm_content=10471231&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=41-6220635-2

For these, I also had to by styrofoam balls, and I cut them in half. I also purchased dressmaker pins from my local Joanne fabrics to keep in place

Yeah, I think trying crepe paper or tissue paper or even felt would be easier/more economical if you're not getting a cutter. Good luck!

Last of the flower templates (jpeg images). If you have a Silhouette, then the templates you will want are "3d chicago peace tea rose", "3d mum flower v.3", and "3d tiffany tea rose". The images attached would assume a 12" x 12" paper is used. Your best bet would be to manipulate these in either Adobe, Paint, or any other editing software you might have if you will be hand cutting. Again, hand cutting will take a LOT more time than my estimates.

Side not, for the mums, I opted to not use the centers of the leaves, and only used the petals. The template includes all pieces to the flowers.

Good luck to you all!

HI Melissa, thanks for sharing - very kind indeed!

How did you assemble the above flower pieces and what size did your flowers end up being?

Thanks again

If you were to cut these out sized to fit a 12" x 12" sheet, the flowers "regular size" would be between 3" - 4" in diameter. Whatever size you want your overall flower to be, I would make the largest petal that size, making sure to scale all petals with the same amount of percent adjustment. Then you can rearrange the petal shapes to maximize your paper space.

Once all the petals are cut out, I used a chopstick to help curl the edges to make the petals look more realistic. Then I just hot glued the petals on top of each other...making sure to stagger the petal directions for a more realistic/fuller look

This might seem obvious, but the larger the flower the more paper you will need. For example, the tiffany rose, you can fit 2 "regular" size flowers per one 12x12 sheet. However my 9" tiffany rose required three sheets of 12x12.

Hi I was thinking about making a paper flower wall and wondering what kind of paper you used and was wondering how the silhouette camo cutter works?? Does it hook up to a computer or how do you down load flower images??

Melissa, those are adorable!

Thanks Melissa, I have no idea how I will get those templates larger - but it will be a mission!

I am trying to attach photo's but its not working why?

Carmela: I used the standard card stock as well as vellum from Michael's crafts. The silhouette cameo connects to your computer by a usb cord, and there is software that comes with the cutter that you would need to download onto the computer. Silhouette has their own website and online store. So unlike cricut machines where you buy a cartridge for the cutter, silhouette you buy an individual template (most are .99 cents). The templates then save into the softwares library...think of it as basically the same as iTunes. Once you by the template you can use it as many times you want. The cutter also has settings for you to change the blade based on the type of paper being used

Shannon: I don't know how to get the images to save directly to a file from this site...but one workaround could been to either use the "print screen" feature on your keyboard to capture the screen, or if you happen to have windows 7, you can use the "snipping tool" which is in the start menu administrative tools for a screen capture. Beyond that, I am at a loss!

Also, thank you all for the compliments on the flowers

Thank you Melissa I will look into ordering a machine today!!

Will try to attach the flowers I have made again. Don't know why it isn't working.

Melissa, I went to michaels sale last night and picked up the Martha stewart punch and 5 hollowed out 1/2 circle Styrofoam ball. Went to fabricland for the pins - they were cheaper there. I am planning on using Velcro to attach the flowers to the muslin backdrop. If that doesn't work then I guess we will get the foam boards and glue the flowers to the board and wire the boards to the backdrop frame.

Nope pictures wouldn't send again. Anyone know why?

HI Melissa:

Which flowers did you use velum for?

Well Melissa got a friend picking me up a Silhouette Camo!! Yes I was wondering also about which paper for which flowers. And you used a punch for one flower. what kind of punch and what did it make on the flower? Thanks for your help!! I can only hope my flowers turn out half as pretty!!