The Beautiful Floret (A Tutorial)

A sneak-peek of my pretty Garden Journal Banner embellished with Florets

Everyone loves to embellish their projects, and sometimes we use dies to make them...

This is ReNae from FotoBella's Design Team, and one of our favorites is the beautiful FLORET.  Now, there are lots of dies in the market to make florets...they are available from various manufacturers, and come in several sizes. But did you know that you can easily make your own florets WITHOUT a die?  And, you can make them in any size you wish!  

In this short tutorial, I will show you how quick and easy it is to create your own florets by using your own scoring board and a bone folder! 

YOU WILL NEED:
Scoring board
Paper or thin card stock
Bone folder
Edge punch
Scor-Tape or paper glue (I like Scor-Tape as I find it easier to use and it's quicker)
Button or cardboard sticker (for center dot)
OR
Round punch (for center dot)
Hot Glue Gun or Large Glue Dot

The paper you use for your floret will greatly impact the appearance of the floret.  If you select a repeated pattern, such as lined paper, it will give your floret more notice.  It will appear to POP on the page. I like to use these for focal points.  The direction of the stripes plays a part as well. (see photo in step 1) If you select a more muted color, it will blend into the project and act in more of a supporting role to your composition. In our tutorial I will show you both styles for comparison.

The floret will basically double in size when you assemble it, so if you want a 5 inch floret, for example, you would cut your paper at 2 1/2 inches.  If you want a 2 inch floret,  you would cut your paper at 1 inch, and so on. (Remember that a tiny bit of paper gets cut off when you are punching in the edge design, so take that into consideration)

Step 1.  CUT THE PAPER
Cut a piece of card stock measuring 12 inches by whatever width you want your floret to be, divided in half.  (Remember it doubles in size, so for the example in our tutorial we will make a 1 1/2 inch floret. So in this case, our paper strip would measure 12 inches by 3/4 inches.)  
NOTE: If you are making a floret that is larger than about 2 inches in diameter, you will need to cut an additional strip of paper. Due to the circumference the floret needs the extra paper to make the complete circle.  One strip is enough however if you are making a fan. (see last photo)

Cutting the lined paper horizontally at 3/4"

Cutting the lined paper vertically at 3/4"

Because of the size of this floret, it would require 2 strips of paper to complete the circle.  Just use Scor-Tape again to adhere the two strips together.  

Step 2.  SCORE
Place your strip of paper on to your score board and score every 1/4 inch.  Go across the entire strip.

Step 3.  PUNCH A DESIGN INTO THE FLORET.
Using any edge punch, cut a repetitive design into one side of the strip of paper, as shown.

Any straight edge punch will work for this

Step 4.  FOLD and BURNISH
Fold your scored paper strip back and forth the entire length of the paper.  Fold forward then backward, forward and backward until the entire strip is folded.  Using your bone folder, burnish the fold lines so that they are crisp and sharp.

Here you can see the two different paper strips, one cut vertically and one horizontally. It will greatly change the look of the finished floret even though they are made the same way.

Step 5.  ADHERE EDGES
Using Scor-Tape, adhere the two edges of the folded paper strip together.  Place a strip of score-tape to one end of the folded floret, and adhere it to the other end. Burnish, making sure the continuity of the folds are uninterrupted.  It should be one continuous circle.

Run the Scor-Tape along the edge and peel off backing.  Adhere to other end. If you are making a large floret, now is when you adhere the two strips together, creating a circle like the one below.

Step 6.  CREATE THE FLORET
This is the trickiest part.  You will want to press down in the center of the floret, and either add hot glue to the center, or place a glue dot to the center of the floret.  If you are using hot glue, hold down the floret long enough for the glue to dry ( several seconds)  A glue dot is a good alternative, as it is easier to handle and won't burn your fingers!  However, it may come off if not adhered down properly.

Step 7.  ADD THE CENTER DOT
Florets look unfinished unless they have a center dot.  This can be a button, a punched out piece of paper, or any other round disc-shaped object.  You can use another glue dot or hot glue.  Either works great!

Vertically cut floret

Horizontally cut floret

These little gems are quick and easy and will always match your project! You can make them any size and you don't need a die to make them!  I hope you'll try making florets on your next project!

In a subsequent post, you will see that I have placed them on my Bo Bunny Garden Journal Banner.  I just loved the way it turned out!  Please check back and check it out!  Here is another sneak-peek!

Happy Creating!
ReNae