Wonder Wednesday 139: Spring Flower Chain
Super Sweet Paper Chains
When you were young, were those chains of super sweet paper gingerbread men a total alluring mystery to you like they were me? I loved them and when I was small I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to make them, but once I did, I have been even more smitten ever since!
And then when I learned to make an accordion book in 3rd grade art class my world was blown! We could combine paper chains and books?!
I'm in! Fast forward to today, and this Wonder Wednesday 139, we're taking the fun of bright spring blooms and celebrating them with two of the sweetest little art projects around - accordion books and paper chains! And I hope you take the idea and make even more novelty shaped accordion books!
Flower Tips:
If you have a lot of time for advance planning (about 2 weeks to a month), you can pick, and then properly dry and press, flowers for this project.
You can learn more about the process of pressing flowers in my book Pressed: An Herbarium Inspired Art Journal. Click the "Books" menu tab to check it out!
Quick Tips:
If this is more of a spontaneous project - no worries! Just dab any moisture off and glue the flowers in. They will dry naturally.
They won't be as flat or perfect or hold their color as well, but there's something to be said for just enjoying the process in the moments of spring. This doesn't necessarily have to be a handmade book/ paper chain art project that lasts forever. It can simply be enjoyed in spring and then composted come summer.
Wonder Wednesday 139: Spring Flower Chain
Materials
Flowers
Glue stick
Scissors
Paper, various sizes and colors depending on your own creativity
Color pencils
Optional - Pens, a flower press
Preparation
Go out and pick some spring flowers. Pick from your garden or in places where flowers are allowed to be picked. Bring them in and dab off any moisture with a towel.
Be mindful of protections when collecting wildflowers.
Mid morning is an ideal time to pick flowers for pressing or drying, but anytime is fine. I actually picked mine in the rain, because it was raining when I wanted to make this project. Sometimes the process is more important than longevity or perfection. Like spring blooms, the things we make can be ephemeral too.
Procedure
First we'll prepare the inside flower chain for the book. Fold the paper long ways like an accordion
Now, fold the folded paper short ways like an accordion
Cut on the short ways folds to make strips, so when you open the folded strips they are the longer length of the paper.
Glue however many lengths together to make the length of the book you want. I glued 2 strips together.
*Remember that you have to cut through these so don't make it too thick to cut - or else plan to cut first and glue after if you want it longer than you can cut through.
If you do this, you may want to make a template of your flower shape to trace so your book pages are all the same.
Next, fold it back up, making sure the folds are on the left and right sides.
On the top draw a flower shape you like.
Make sure that the left and right sides of the image extend past the edges and then cut.
Be sure you do not cut off these folds. If you do, you won't have a chain.
Unfold and make sure that you have a chain.
Now, let's make the front and back covers.
Draw a similar flower shape, but larger on another piece of paper and cut it out.
Repeat for the back cover.
Center the paper chain and then glue the front and back covers on.
Decorate your covers.
*If you are going to paint on the covers or get really detailed, you may want to reverse this and the previous step.
It's time to glue your flowers in! Yay!
You can do this however you like. Whatever looks nice to your eye goes!
I chose to only glue in a few petals from each flower and to skip a page in between for labeling, but the sky is the limit for how you want to do this. (More of the flower = a thicker book.)
Add in any labels or decorations as you like.
I used pens for this, but you could use color pencils or whatever medium you want.
If you like, add some decoration to cover the backside of the front cover where the book was glued onto the cover if you want to dress it up.
And there you go! You have a super sweet spring flower chain book!
Seeds to Sprout
Pressed Flower Accordion Book
If this project really captured your spring bloom wonder and you want more pressed flower accordion fun, try more formal classic pressed flower accordion book making in this Wonder Wednesday 57 project!
Accordion Pocket Journal
In this Wonder Wednesday 55 project, we stick with the accordion style, but this time we make a pocket journal where we add note cards and drawings or pressed plants - or whatever you like!
Playing with Pressed Flowers
If your wonder is now really sparked for pressing flowers - check out 5 more project ideas you can make with pressed flowers!