February's flower is the Violet - let's craft a 3D paper flower!
I am so excited to continue my flowers-by-month series with the flower of February, the violet. You can use these to create amazing design elements on cake toppers, greeting cards, and wood signs! African Violets come in so many variations in terms of colors and I am so excited to walk you through how to make them on your cutting machines.
Mobile users turn your phone or watch the YouTube video here.
Materials and Tools Needed
- Cutting machine - I cut my violets out with my Silhouette Cameo because I have been non-stop using it! I truly love that machine. You can also use your Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore, or Joy - these paper flowers are a great Cricut Joy project since they are smaller!
- Hot glue and gun - I prefer to use hot glue for these projects because it dries quicker but I leave that up to you if you prefer craft glue.
- Floral wire - I am using an 18 gauge wire for this
- Cardstock paper - I am using a 65 lb card stock, not textured in purple - you can also use white and color in with purple but as I always say, I leave designing and colors up to you. I also used green for the leaves, and yellow and blue for the centers.
- Optional: Bone tool - I used this for the details on my leaves
- Optional: Floral Foam - I used this to keep my cluster together but this is going to depend solely on what you are using these for.
Grab the Free Download
I try to make my digital download library as easy as possible for you with instant download capabilty and new digital files added every week. You can find instructions on how to download for Chrome browser here (desktop) and Safari/iPhone/iPad here. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter below to receive the password for the SVG designs in my community vault. The community vault is also where you will find the free download for the violet. If are looking for PDF files of any of my free paper flower templates then please send me an email at the bottom of this page and I will get that over to you!
Looking for even more free 3-D realistic flower SVG files? Check out my flowers blog page here where I add new flowers all the time!
Setting Up the Free Violet SVG File
Cricut Design Space Set Up
Once you have everything downloaded, you can upload it into Design Space where you will see all the different layers of of the violet. This particular SVG file has only 3 parts, the petals, the center (which is optional), and the leaf. I kept my size of the petals at 2.56 inches across and the leaf slightly bigger than the flower itself. After sizing, you can go ahead and send it to your machine to cut. I multiplied mine once they were sorted on the mat. African Violets are cluster flowers so I suggest making more than one at a time together.
Silhouette Studio Set Up
To use the free SVG format file you are going to need at least the Silhouette Designer Edition of Studio. If you need any other file types, don't hesitate to email me. Once it is uploaded, size as you see fit, and again you can multiply as needed and arrange on your mat to cut. I cut about 24 flowers (each with 5 petals) and about 20 leaves. I only ended up making about 10 to start but cut as many as you'd like!
Violet Assembly
Step 1: Details
You can paint, ink, use eyeshadow, or do whatever you see fit to detail your violets. I went with acrylic paint and made four different color variations for my African violets. Remember, these are your flowers so if you want pink flowers then so be it! Create away!
Step 2: Give a Curve
For these paper petals, I opted to use my fingers for shaping. Sometimes I like to use a bone tool but these are rather simple in terms of paper flowers so I curved slightly using my fingers. The curve should face into the center of the petals.
Step 3: Hot Glue Around
I started by gluing one petal on top of my floral wire so that it was semi-hidden. You can also put it in the center and have the floral wire show (if you are using the optional centers provided this will be covered so it doesn't matter.)
Then work your way around in a circle gluing on the petals one by one. You want to have the petals overlap, on the last petal you'll place it under the first petal but over the last one so it looks "never-ending".
Step 4: The Center
If you are opting to add in the center of the flower, this is the time. Grab the smaller center and fold in on the spokes. Then add a little bit of hot glue and place it in the middle.
Step 5: The Leaves
You can detail these as well with paint or ink etc, or you can use your bone tool to draw on veins. You can also do both or none! Once you have detailing down, I glued my floral wire to the back of the leaf and added it to my cluster of violets.
Continue this pattern over and over again to create your violet cluster!
I think that these violets will make beautiful additions onto your projects and you can modify them to fit any theme! Don't forget to check back every month to make a new paper flower in 2024. I am so excited for this paper flower series and hope it will bring you a lot of joy in your crafting adventures. I can't wait to make even more of the African Violets and create a beautiful floral frame or maybe a wreath for spring!!!
Missed the January flower? Check out the free paper carnation tutorial.
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