Poinsettia Tutorial

I have had many requests for a step by step tutorial on how I make my poinsettias.  They are not complicated at all but there are several simple steps to make them appear lifelike.  No flower or leaf in nature is flat or without texture and dimension.  With my technique I work to recreate the veins in the petals and the leaves.  I used the largest to the smallest dies to create a large flower to better view the steps.  I hope this tutorial will help you create your own beautiful poinsettias for your holiday cards and gifts. Just so you know these flowers will not fit well into an envelope so you may want to create small gift boxes to enclose them in.

Supplies: Spellbinder Poinsettia dies,  stylus, mouse pad or piercing mat, adhesive (I think a liquid adhesive is best), paper piercer, sponges, ink, cardstock, Martha Stewart Pine Branch Punch, 

1.  Carefully remove your flower from the die using a piercer or other sharp object.  Pay close attention to pushing at the center so you don’t tear off your petal.  Don’t worry if you do…you can glue it back on but it shortens the leaf a little bit.

2. Lay your flower face down on the mat and scrunch the leaves down into the mat using your stylus.  Stay clear of the delicate flower center when pushing so you don’t tear off your leaves. I use a larger stylus for the larger leaves and a smaller one for smaller leaves.

When you are finished your flower should look like this. You can choose not to distress it as much as I do so your flower will lay a little flatter.

3.  Lay your flower top side up on the mat and push lightly down in the center to create the little natural well in the center and to raise your leaves up.

Notice I am using the smaller stylus on the smaller flowers.

4.  Hold the flower in the center and lightly sponge ink on each flower petal to highlight the texture created with the stylus. This step provides depth of color on the ridges and allows the flower petal to maintain some of the original color of the cardstock.  I hope that made sense!!  LOL!!!

This photo shows the difference between petals that have been sponged and ones that have not. You can see how much more lifelike the petals looks with the addition of ink. This photo makes the ink look much darker than it really is but I edited it that way so you could see the contrast.

5.  I heat dry all the petals to make sure the ink is dry.  The adhesive doesn’t like to stick very well to damp ink.

6.  As you can see I use the largest flower petal for not only the colorful flower but for the foliage as well. Apply adhesive to the center of your largest flower and attach your next smallest flower.  Push down on the center with the paper piercer to hold it in place. Maneuver the top flower petals to be offset from the base to create the natural appearance of the flower.  You do not want your petals to be stacked right on top of each other. 

Repeat the steps until you have added all the layers.

I added one more layer of green foliage to create a fuller base.  I lightly  manipulated the different layers of leaves to make sure they were offset and natural looking.  I added three little white pearls for the flower center.

6.  I am going to show the additional steps that I take to create a card front that will definitely put the flower on center stage.

I created a frame using a square Fleur De Lis die and a regular square Nestabilities die. Check out my matted frame tutorial if you would like to see how I make my frames.

7.  I attached thin cut strips of mounting tape to the back of the frame and attach the frame to the card base.

8.  Apply plenty of liquid adhesive to the back of the flower and attach in the center of the frame. Push the flower down with your paper piercer in several spots to secure it to the base.

9.  I like to add a bit of punched foliage under the leaves all around the flower to add a soft and natural touch.

Apply a drop of adhesive to the lowest point of the pine. Lift up the leaf with your paper piercer and scoot the pine under.  Push down on the pine with your paper piercer to attach.  This step will also make the top of the pine pop up a little so it doesn’t lay flat and will look more natural. Add as much or as little as you like.

I hope this has been a help to you. I have sure become addicted to making paper flowers so be careful….it may happen to you as well.