Old Books Made into Flowers | 4 Easy Paper Flowers | Trash to Treasure

Today we’re going to be using trash to create treasure. And what a treasure these elegant and neutral flowers are.

This flower making tutorial is an easy and fun way to upcycle books that you’re planning on tossing or donating.

Watch the video below to see how to make these 4 easy paper flowers or keep scrolling for the step-by-step. Plus, I’ll show you a few ideas on how to use them in your home decor.

// find some old books

The first thing I did was search my library for some books that I haven’t touched in years. To Kill a Mockingbird was from a middle school book report, so yeah, this is an OLD book with nice yellowed pages. I also picked a newer classic from my collection that had whiter pages. I think having a little tonal variation will give the bouquets some dimension.

You could also use magazine pages or a book with photos in it, if you want more colorful flowers.

// Flower #1

The first of our 4 flowers little paper flowers ended up looking like poppies.

step 1

Cut out some pages in the book. Then draw a spiral and then cut along the lines you drew. Trim the ending edge, so the curve comes to a pointy end.

step 2

Wrap around a pen, starting with the pointy end.

step 3

When you get to the bottom, use a hot glue gun to seal everything together.

step 4

If you like, add a bamboo skewer as the “stem”. You will have to hold the skewer for about a minute until the glue hardens. I found these skewers at Dollar Tree, in a pack of 100.

You could add a little bead or button to the center, but I left mine without any extras on it.

// Flower #2

These next flowers kind of look like gladiolas or lavender. They even remind me of Texas bluebonnets.

step 1

Start by cutting strips of the book pages. This step is really similar to how I had created one of my denim flowers. Click here for that post.

step 2

Take one of those bamboo skewers from Dollar Tree and use it to curl each of those paper strips. 

step 3

The final step is to start at the top of a wooden skewer and attach with a little bit of hot glue. Then wrap the paper around the stick at an angle. Secure at the end with a dot of hot glue.

You could display these in a simple vase with some other paper flowers. Or glue them to a matte in an open frame or shadowbox to create a unique piece of wall art.

// flower #3

This third flower might be my favorite, but it is the most time consuming. This “book ball” ended up looking like a hydrangea.

You will need one of these hole punches and these plastic baseballs from Dollar Tree. And of course a trusty glue gun.

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step 1

I cut a bunch of these scallop edged circles with my hole puncher and then used a bamboo stick to fold them up.

step 2

I added a dollop of hot glue and found that using the skewer to push them onto the ball helped guide them into place.

step 3

Keep repeating this until the ball is filled. I think it took about an hour for each ball.

Look how much bigger it got after adding all the paper! I think these book balls kind of look like hydrangeas.

These hydrangea looking book balls are so substantial and look really good for extra decor on a bookshelf or in a bowl on table. I just love these so much!

// flower #4

This last flower is really easy, even though it ended up looking complex. There are many steps, so it may be easier to watch this one in my tutorial. Click here for the video on YouTube.

step 1

First, I measured the edge of my book pages. It was 5”, so I measured down the side 5” for a perfect square. I didn’t need to mark this because you can just note where the line of text is and use that as a guide for cutting.

step 2

Create a triangle by folding the page in half.

step 3

Then fold up each corner to make a diamond shape.

step 4

Flatten out those last 2 pieces we folded in. I used my nails to kind of smash the paper down and get a good crease.

step 5

Fold the pointy tips back and tuck them in on both sides.

step 6

Fold each of those shapes from outside in.

step 7

A line of hot glue to close this up and this will be one of 5 petals for this flower.

step 8

After you have all 5 petals, use a strip of glue to put them together.

You can leave it like this or add a button or bead to the middle, if you want to dress it up.

These look very elegant displayed in a bowl or you could also add these to bookshelf decor. You could even add a bamboo stem and put these in a vase for a pretty paper flower bouquet.

If you liked these paper flowers and upcycling, then you might like this video where I made fabric flowers with an old pair of jeans. I’m really active on my YouTube channel, so make sure to subscribe, so you’ll know when new videos go up.

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