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To make ranunculus flowers, start by choosing your papers. I used two colors, one for the petals, and one for the centers. For the petals, I used a shimmery white text weight metallic paper, and then printed a pink watercolor wash over the paper to create some pretty texture, which you can download below. For the centers, I used a light green (see Shop this Project below). You can then choose to use the same color of green for the leaves, or use a slight variation of the green. Next, download the template for the flowers. Use the PDF file to cut flowers by hand or use the SVG to upload right into a cutting machine. Once you have your petals and pieces cut, follow the step-by-step photo tutorial below to guide you through putting the flowers together! There are a couple of special tricks to making these paper flowers resemble real ranunculus. As it shows in the tutorial, start by using a foam ball or creating a small paper ball to help form the center. You will keep this ball in the center until the very end! After all of your petals are glued, then you can begin to gently open the center and remove the ball.

Ranunculus flowers are uniquely beautiful because they have a very dense arrangement of petals, making each flower its own burst of color. To make the bloom appear more tightly arranged, you should twist the petals together as you add each layer of paper. Because the petals will be so so close together, make sure that the individual petals in each cut-out are stacked on top of each other. In other words, every petal should be placed on top of the petal to its right (or left) as you move in a circle around the bloom. It does not matter if the petals are stacked on the petal to its left or to its right, just as long as it is consistent throughout the entire bloom. After you add each layer of petals, you should also smash the petals a bit. Yes, smash! But gently:-)

If you are interested in making other colors of ranunculus flowers, take a look at this post with a pretty yellow watercolor wash! Or, make some ranunculus flowers out of crepe paper for a cute mixed media project. Browse all of our paper flowers and make sure to share your photos with me! I absolutely love seeing your creations, so tag me in your Instagram photos, use the hashtag #DIYDreamingWithLia, or email them in to me. I can’t wait to see what you come up with! ~ Lia

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