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When I first started making paper flowers, I couldn’t find an article explaining to me what paper I should use for my paper flowers.
What if I chose the wrong paper? I had to get it right! I needed the right paper.
It really annoyed me that I couldn’t find a straight answer! I’m normally so good at Googling but the gods of google failed me. I thought, “there has to be an answer to this question!”
So I starting making paper flowers with whatever paper I had. And I learned what the best paper for paper flowers is… (Drum roll please) whatever paper you have!
Some paper is better than others but almost any paper will work.
Here are some pros and cons for different paper types:
Left: Copy paper, Right: Cardstock, Top: Text-weight metallic paper.
Want this template? It can be found here.
Printer paper
Almost everyone has printer paper in their house. It is affordable and already on hand. It is great for starting out. It does work for making paper flowers but it’s not always the best.
Pros:
- Cheap
- Already on hand
- Takes ink and pastels well
Cons:
- Can make the flower look lower quality
- Tears easily and the flower isn’t as durable
You probably only have white printer paper so if you want a color other than white, I would recommend just going ahead and buying cardstock.
Cardstock
You probably only have white printer paper so if you want a color other than white, I would recommend just going ahead and buying cardstock.
Pros:
- Available everywhere
- The petals shape well
- You probably already have some
- Lots of color options
- Takes ink and pastels well
Cons:
- Flowers don’t look as realistic
- Hard to find packs of one color
My least favorite things about it is that if I
What Weight of Cardstock Should I Use?
Any lighter weight cardstock. So 160 gsm weight or 65lb cardstock. You probably don’t want anything heavy than that.
To give you a bit of a frame of reference, printer paper is about 20lbs or 80gsm.
Micheals and Hobby Lobby have good paper if you are starting out with paper flowers.
Get cardstock at Cards and Pockets.
Left: Cardstock, Right: Text-weight metallic paper with ink
Want this template? It can be found here.
Text-Weight Metallic Paper
Any lighter weight cardstock. So 160 gsm weight or 65lb cardstock. You probably don’t want anything heavy than that.
To give you a bit of a frame of reference, printer paper is about 20lbs or 80gsm.
Micheals and Hobby Lobby have good paper if you are starting out with paper flowers.
Get cardstock at Cards and Pockets.
Pros:
- A very beautiful finish
- Makes the flower look more realistic
- Best paper for leaves to look realistic
Cons
- Expensive
- Doesn’t shape as well as cardstock but still easy to shape
- Only available online
- Doesn’t take ink or pastel well
Get Text-weight metallic paper at Cards and Pockets.
Crepe Paper
I have not used crepe paper yet because Silhouettes can’t cut it yet. I am lazy and I don’t want to cut petals
They are coming out with the Silhouette Cameo 4 this year that will be able to cut crepe paper.
Here is a great article going more in-depth on what kind of crepe paper to use.
Pros-
- Can be shaped in ways that normal paper can’t
- Flowers can look very realistic
Cons-
- Need a rotary blade if you want to cut it with a cutting machine (Cricuts have this type of blade but Silhouettes currently don’t
So don’t worry to much about what paper you use. Experiment! Have fun. You aren’t going to ruin your flower because you used the wrong paper. Unless you try to use cardboard ;) Don’t do that.
Have fun and try different things. You might find a paper you love working with that wasn’t listed here.
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