guest blogger - Sasha from The Guilded Bee:

Hello this is Sasha of The Gilded Bee :), I love to discover ways of taking everyday and often overlooked items and creating something special. Today I'm honored to be able to share these with you:

HOW TO MAKE PAPER CARNATIONS:

Supplies to make these flowers:
• paper cupcake/muffin liners
• cloth or paper covered florist wire
• wire cutters
• scissors
• hot glue gun and glue

1. to make this flower, I used 3 regular cupcake liners
2. make a cut down one side of the liner, then cut out the center (you only want the crinkled part of the paper)
3. along the outer edge, make little snips, space them about ½ inch apart, be sure not to cut any more than halfway through the paper.
4. repeat steps 2, and 3 with your other liners

5. with a dot of hot glue, tack one end of one snipped liner with the snipped edge at the top.
6. roll, keeping the paper even, tack with a little dot of glue every few inches to keep the paper from unravelling
7. repeat steps 5 and 6 with your other papers
8. with your fingertips, gently peel the petals back to form your flower

Project Carnations Variations:

You can make these with any size of liner, you could use patterned liners, and you can add extra layers to create a fuller bloom (the white carnation pictured is made with 6 reg. size liners, the multi one has 9, and the yellow has 12).

Now, here is something lovely you could create with your newly made flowers,

The Carnation Brooch:

To make this piece you’ll need these additional materials:

• 6 inches, 28 gauge jewelry wire

• 12 inches, ½ inch wide rayon seam binding or ribbon

• 12 inches, 1 to 1 ¾ inch wide crepe paper

• One, 2 inch long flat pin back

{For this piece I used one 9-regular liner carnation on a 4.5 inch long stem, one 3-regular liner and one 3-mini liner: both attached to opposite ends of another 4.5 inch long stem}

Step 1: Bend the double ended flower stem in half.

Glue end of bent stem to the center of the stem of the largest flower.

2. Tack end of crepe paper to the end of the longest stem, wrap around stems, working toward flowers, tack other end of crepe with a dot of glue to keep it in place.

3. Toward the top of the stem, attach the base of the pinback by twisting and wrapping the wire around it.

4. Tack the end of the ribbon to the end of the stem.

5. Wrap around stem/weaving under and around pinback.

Tuck end of ribbon under (about 1/4” to prevent fraying) tack at the top with a little dot of glue.

More Project Carnations Variations:

These could be customized to make very original boutonnières, you could use them in the place of a bow on top of a gift, loop the stem to form a napkin ring or gather a bunch of flowers together to form a lovely bouquet.