How To Make Paper Flowers With Cricut

Use my large paper flower template and learn how to make paper flowers with Cricut. This is one of the most fun craft projects to create with your cutting machine, and once you get the hang of it, it’s also very easy (I promise!). 

Big Paper flowers are just beautiful and so creative, plus they can last indefinitely if they are properly looked after! This means you can make and use them for multiple occassions, in multiple variations throughout the year. Also see my DIY paper Sunflower SVG tutorial.

cricut paper flowers svg

In this tutorial, we are going to make a large paper flower based on a Rose. The large Rose is a more involved project than a small flower, like an Anemone, because of the many petals involved.


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There are a number of ways you can make these paper flowers, which I will cover in the next paragraph, but for the purposes of this article, I am going to show you how to do this using a Cricut cutting machine.

Specifically a Cricut Maker, my favorite cutting machine ever, which I use on an almost daily basis!

Three Ways To Make Paper Flowers

As I talked about above, you can use your Cricut cutting machine, or any cutting machine that accepts SVG files, to make paper flowers.

This makes for a very accurate and precisely cut flower. This tutorial can be completed with most cutting machines, so if you have any Cricut machine, like the Explore series or a Cricut Joy, you can make these.

SIDE NOTE: The Cricut Joy is a much smaller machine, so you may struggle to make larger flowers with the Joy unless you resize and cut the petals individually. 

If you are a Silhouette girl, this will work beautifully with your Silhouette Cameo or Portrait.

There is a DXF file included with the free files, so if you have Silhouette Basic Edition, (which doesn’t accept SVG files) you can use the DXF file for cutting the flowers.

The same goes for Brother Scan n Cut, and if you have the older version, you can simply convert the SVG file to a .fcm file by following these easy instructions. 

Finally, if you don’t have a cutting machine, you can quite easily make these paper flowers by hand.

There are printable PDF’s included with the free files if you prefer to cut by hand. All you need is a home printer, some nice card and a pair of sharp craft scissors.

paper flowers

What Kind Of Paper Do You Use For Cricut Flowers

For this tutorial, I recommend using 65lb (176gsm) card. Pastel colors look absolutely stunning for subtle color schemes like weddings or baby showers, as does pearlescent shimmer card.

Bright colored and glitter card works very well for more festive, party style occassions. And of course, deep red card and shades thereof, are perfect for Valentines Day or romantically themed occasions.

Using glitter card or glitter spray for the flower centers gives your paper flowers an eye catching finish. If you are using a glitter spray, make sure you spray the centers away from the flower and before you glue the center to the flower.

What Do You Need To Make Flowers With Cricut

Bone folder or dowel (for rolling the flower edges – I use a Bone folder)
Glue gun
Glitter cardstock (for flower centers)
65lb cardstock (pearlescent shimmer is lovely)
– Paper flower template (access the free files using the link at the end of the tutorial)
– Cardboard round for backing – OPTIONAL (8 inch round template included)
Wire, twine or picture hooks for hanging

How To Make A Large Paper Flower

Cutting Your Petals

Start by cutting your petals. I recommend cutting 8 of each at least, in case you need a few spares. If you don’t size them bigger than the size I provide them in, you will need a minimum of 16 A4/US letter sized sheets of card.

If you are using Cricut card 12 x 12 inch sheets, then you can fit more petals on each sheet, so you don’t waste any card.

For Cricut (and other cutting machines), upload the SVG file, then make sure to delete the text showing the sizes and my website address first.

If you have Silhouette Studio Basic Edition, please use the DXF file included. If you are cutting by hand, print the pdf outlines onto card. 

downloadable free cricut paper flower template

Rolling The Petals

Using either a dowel, or a bone folder as I am using for this tutorial, take a few of same sized petals at a time and roll the edges as shown below.

I like to roll them outwards, but you can also do a mixture of both rolled outwards and rolled inwards. 

Rolling the edges of the petals gives them a softer, and more realistic shape.

cricut paper flowers

Once you have rolled the edges of  the all the petals, pick up all the small petals, and with your right hand put your index finger on top and all your other fingers below. 

With your left hand, do the same finger placement. Now gently bend the petal stack by pushing the edges of the petals up using your thumbs and other fingers, and pushing the center of the petals down using your index fingers. (That was a mouthful!)

This will give your petals a realistic and three dimensional affect. Here is a picture of what I mean…

flowers cricut

Create The Center Bud

Start with the small petals. Place two opposite each other with the square ends slightly overlapping. Glue them together where they overlap.

Then do the same with the next two and then place these two joined pairs in a cross on top of each other, as shown below.

printable cricut flower template

This is the petal placement I used for the bud:
SMALL PETALS

  • 4 small petals tightly curled for inner bud
  • 4 small petals placed loosley and evenly behind inner bud petals

Lift and curl the first two petals, quite tightly around each other and then glue the edges, one on top of the other. Then repeat with the two other petals, as shown in the picture below.

how to make paper flowers

Next take the remaining 4 small petals and repeat the above instruction, but glue them wider apart, with only a slight overlap, edge to edge, as shown below.

This creates a slightly looser round of petals giving the flower bud depth. 

cricut paper flowers

Outer Petal Instructions

For the next layer of petals we will use the medium sized petals. Before we start gluing them to the bud, we need glue the square cut base of each petal to overlap. 

This will give the petals upright height when we glue them to the base of the bud, and builds the flower in a realistic way.

free giant flower template for cricut

As you can see in the below picture, this give the petals upright height when we glue them to the base of the bud, and builds the flower in a realistic way.

printable cricut flower template

Gluing The Medium Flower Petals

MEDIUM PETAL PLACEMENT

  • 4 medium petals placed evenly around small petals (filling gaps behind second set of small petals)

For the next round of petals in this flower, I only used 4 medium petals, positioned behind where the smaller petals meet, so this fills any spaces behind the smaller petals. This makes the flower look like a fuller bloom.

Take 4 medium petals, turn the flower bud upside down and glue the medium flower petals to the base, making sure they are in the correct position as mentioned above.

Once the petals are securely glued in place, proceed to glue the edges of each medium petal to the edge of the next medium petal as shown below. This keeps the petals together in a more upright position, making the flower look more realistic.

rose cricut flower template

Attaching The Large Flower Petals

LARGE PETAL PLACEMENT

  • 6 large petals placed evenly behind medium petals (tightly filling gaps behind medium petals)

Repeat the gluing and placement process as you did for the medium petals, but you will be using 6 large petals in this round. This is to give an even fuller bloom as we get to the last round of x large petals.

paper flower templates

Final Petal Step: X- Large Petals

X-LARGE PETAL PLACEMENT

  • 6 x-large petals placed evenly behind large petals (tightly filling gaps behind large petals)

The final petal step is upon us! Excellent work so far! This step is exactly the same as for the large petals, so get the x-large petals positioned and glued because the finish line is in sight.

You can get a good idea of the placement from the picture above. Once you have glued the X-Large petals to the large petals, your base should look something like this…

cricut flower template

Tips For Placement And Hanging

Your flower is now almost complete. But there are a few more things to consider with regards to how you are going to use your flower(s). If the flower is going to be sitting flat, it should be fine to just place it on the flat surface of your choosing. 

However, sometimes the bases are a little bumpy. To remedy this, I recommend measuring the base of the flower, and then cutting out a cardboard round to fit the base of your flower. Glue the round to the bottom of the flower and it will provide a nice flat base.

downloadable free cricut paper flower template

If you are hanging the flower on the wall or a display board or similar, then you can attach wire or twine or glue a picture hook to the cardboard base, so you can easily hang the flower on the chosen vertical.

For larger, heavier flowers I recommend using twine or wire, as shown below, and gluing it securely to the cardboard.

cricut flower template

The Finished Large Paper Flower

And you’re done! You can use this to make multiple flowers in multiple colors and sizes. The more you practice and experiment with the number and sizes of the petals, the more beautiful the paper flowers you create will become. 

cricut flowers

Download Your Paper Flower Templates

Simply click here to get your Large paper Flower Templates plus get access to all my Craft library and all my free files!

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