Why Frida?
Yes, Frida Kahlo is very modern these days, good job Salma Hayek! But this woman is more amazing than the movie shows. In the years when “ethnic” was something not very cool, she used exactly that style to present herself as a creative personality.
I am really happy that the “ethnic” style in all its “avatars” is still modern, still interesting and tickling the fantasy to create and explore unusual materials.
The Paper flower “Frida” tiara is very easy to create. It can last as long as the fabric ones and the feeling of working exactly with paper to create flowers for me is very philosophically exciting. I can feel the magic in the old ethnic styles and materials, because everything is made on purpose, with symbols, keeping the deep secret formulas about the connection between people’s life and the wilderness of nature.
The importance of quality
To create this tiara you need in first place a high quality watercolour paper. I am always saying this. The good quality materials will help you to work easily and not lose time with almost ready elements breaking. Using good quality materials is a guaranty for long living creations and for people to happy in their celebrations and with their memories.
So, draw and cut some flowers from a white high quality watercolour paper.
After that, erase all the pencil lines you still have after cutting.
Of course, you can leave the flowers clean white, but I suggest you paint them in your favourite colours.
The Second step
Start painting the flowers with different colours using acrylic or watercolour paint. And of course, the quality of the paint is important too. Acrylic paint will dry faster than watercolour, but the watercolour will give you an opportunity to play with the texture in the time of painting. As you wish though. In this article I am giving you the most easy idea to create a paper flower tiara.
You can create very interesting effects just by using cotton buds. Do not forget that the colours of the flower’s leaves are never plain. They are full of shades and nuances.
So, play, play and play with the colours and in the end you will have very interesting paper flowers. Paint both sides in contrasting colours.
After the flowers dry, start making the shapes of their leaves by using a small round stick or one of your brushes. See, the contrasting colour on the back makes interesting effect.
There are many possibilities for shaping the leaves, like this one…
… or this one.
But my favourite is this one – one side straight, the other diagonal.
Using the same or a bigger brush you can make many, many shapes:
In the end just “close” the leaves by using your fingers and glue the flowers together.
The next steps
I like it when the stamens have contrasting colours, so my idea for these dark turquoise flowers is to make white stamens.
This is very easy with a small flower punch and the same small brush you used before.
First cut a flower and press with the brush’s end in the middle.
After that glue the small white flowers in a shape you like.
As you can see there are many ways to make different stamens and it will be better for all your flowers in the tiara to have different ones.
After that you just need to glue the flowers in an ordinary tiara shape. It is better to do this with hot silicone – to be sure that the glue will be strong and will last a long time.
So, finally you have your Frida Kahlo inspired paper flower crown.It is wonderful for garden party, family birthday, girl’s night and many many other happy moments!
Enjoy!
Craft information
Materials: white high quality watercolour paper, good acrylic or watercolour paint, scissors, strong paper glue, hot silicone glue, brushes;
Time: if I am not counting the time for drying – 6 hours.
If you want to see more paper crafts, check this article: A Light Exists in Spring or Flowers for Emily Dickinson
And if you want to see more of flower creations, please, visit my SHOP
