Customer Reviews

The Art Of Making Paper Flowers

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I must admit that when this book came in the mail, I was initially disappointed. It is not an inexpensive book, and I feel for the charged price, the authors should have hired a designer to do a more professional job. There are typos, and style mistakes galore. Not to mention the few pictures are of poor resolution and too small.

That being said, I was determined to try to make a go of it... I spent the money and I wanted some pretty paper flowers!

Unlike the other reviewers, I found the step-by-step directions very confusing at times. I believe the authors use the wrong words for things in some instances... They call the template one thing, but then refer to it as something different with in the numbered directions. I do believe it's difficult to give easy to understand step-by-step directions to complete something like this, but they could definitely be clearer and more concise at times.

I am generally more of a visual learner... So pictures of the step-by-step process would have been incredibly helpful. Like I said previously, there is only one picture of each completed flower, which is small and not always easy to see correctly... It's chopped off at the bottom, so you can't see the entire stem. There are certain instructions that are very difficult to understand. I even had my fiance take a look, who is much better at following instructions then me, but even he was stumped.

I have thus far completed 4 different flowers. Like all crafty things I know this is something I will get faster at with practice... so far each individual flower has taken me at least 2 hours to complete!!! At this point I am just playing with the different forms and attempting to figure out which if any of the designs I'd like to use in my wedding. I know once I decide on certain flowers, it'd be easy to implement an assembly line type of thing, to make the whole process faster... but I really had no idea this would be quite as time consuming as it has been. If you're planning on using a lot of paper flowers for your wedding, I would give yourself ample time... (Perhaps quit your job, your fiance probably should too, as well as both your parents!) You'll need the help!! But seriously... it would be helpful to know an estimated time per flower, and a couple more time saving tips from the authors would be great!

I've only been doing this for a week, but so far here are a few helpful tips I've figured out:
Get a more condensed glue then craft glue or elmers glue. There is a lot of water in craft glue and elmers... it takes a long time to dry, and it weighs your petals down leaving them more suseptable to breaking and tearing. There are some steps you really can't continue with until parts are dried, so it really saves on time to have a better glue. I've been having much better luck with PVA glue for book binding. It's basically just elmers, but way more concentrated, it dries faster, and you can just dry brush it on the parts you need.

DO use the wire they recommend in the book. You might even want to go thicker for the stems.

I find the crepe paper is easier to cut when it's doubled even tripled up. Trace your template and then fold up the crepe paper behind your tracing. Save time by cutting 2-3 petals at a time.

Making the stamens yourself is really time consuming and tedious. If you don't hate how the artificial stamens look, pick a bunch up. They are used in many of the patterns, and will really save you time. If you prefer the home made stamens, try making a ton all at once, perhaps in front of the tv, like I did... Kind of mind numbing work...

The crepe paper that comes in rolls (that are streamer sized) really are not suitable for these projects... At least the standard rolls I've found. The petal and leaf templates do not fit on the roll going in the correct grain direction. You can use the rolls for wrapping the stems if you'd like... but really floral tape is much faster and neater for wrapping stems. Get the crepe paper that comes in packages and folds out into large sheets. Usually found in the party decorating area at craft stores. Or you can find large rolls online... But the streamers aren't going to be of much use!

I know I've said some negative things about the book on the whole... all that being said, I am pretty happy with the way my flowers are ending up. the petal and leaf templates do make realistic and nice looking flowers when you finally figure out how to correctly assemble them. I also found watching the video the authors posted on their website to be helpful. I wish they would post even more video tutorials!

Here is the link: [...]

If any other reviewers have any time saving tips for me, I'd love to hear them!

I was amazed at how lovely the flowers looked. The texture of crepe paper is very like flower petals.

The instructions are detailed and easy to follow step by step. All the materials are listed--no surprises!

I look forward to sharing the fun with my grandson this summer.

This book is one of the worst craft "how-to" books I've ever purchased. I found better instructions for free at a variety of online websites. The templates look like they were drawn by a child and the instructions are horrific. I typically don't spend the money to return an item to Amazon but this book (and the other book by the same authors) is worth the cost of the return. Martha Stewart's Encyclpedia of Crafts is a much better investment - color photos, templates and real step-by-step instructions.

This is an awesome book, I bought the download version of off their website and the Wedding Flowers one too my the same authors. The Wedding book has ideas for centerpieces and different flower versions than this one, so it's not just for wedding. I recommend both!