Dahlias are my very favorite flower. I love their colors and the shape of their petals – they just always look so happy! When I saw this awesome dahlia wreath, I immediately fell in love and knew I needed one for my own door.
**UPDATE** It is now almost August, and this wreath has been on my door 24/7 for more than three months. That includes several huge thunderstorms, but even with our tiny front porch the wreath looks exactly as it did in these photos. It’s held up fantastically!
I’m just posting a few step-by-step photos because Talitha at Love, Pomegranate House has a great tutorial for this simple flower here. If you haven’t visited her blog, you should! She has gorgeous pictures and lots of fun projects 🙂
I actually found I got better results if I used different sized pieces of paper for different sized petals – I used 1/4 sheet 8.5″x11″ paper (4.25″x5.5″) for each of the darkest petals, 1/6 sheet 12″x12″ paper ( 4″x6″) paper for the outer row of medium petals, 1/9 sheet 12″x12″ paper (4″x4″) for the inner row of medium petals, and 4″x4″ squares for the inner petals.
I kept even my outer ring of petals as close together as I could, and tried to line up each row such that the points of that row lined up with the middle of the previous row’s petal opening. To hang, I used a loop of ribbon on the back and a 3M hook on my front door.
And here’s our front door. We also just redid the areas on both sides of our walkway. Before we had just grass on the side next to the house and some plants on other side, so I’m really excited for it to be a bit more balanced out. We’re still planning to plant some flowers in between the bushes and the walkway, but we haven’t decided what to put there yet.
Wow, that wreath is beautiful! Loving the colors you chose. Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful…………I Love It !!!!
Really beautiful! Nicely done!
This is so beautiful, and the colours are perfect! Pinned!
Love this! Blue and teals are my fave colors of all time 🙂
I would love it if you would link up at Martha Mondays, open now through Wednesday night!
http://www.watchoutmartha.net/2013/04/martha-mondays-link-up-party-features_21.html
~Amanda
http://www.watchoutmartha.net
Wow! This is sooo cute! I love it! The colors you chose are great! Pinning! Would love it if you would link this up to Give Me The Goods Monday: 1 Party, 5 Blogs! http://www.rainonatinroof.com/2013/04/give-me-goods-monday-link-party-5.html
Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof
Beautifully done, thanks for sharing with us
I think this is sooo gorgeous…great job!
That is adorable! I love the colors! What a great look
I found your home on the web via Sugarbee’s link up. Love this wreath!!!
That is adorable!!!
visiting from sugar bee!
Shelly- minettesmaze.blogspot.com
Super cute against the dark red door! Pinning!
I love how it turned out! I will have to make one for my living room in yellow to match! Pinned! Julia @ http://www.juliakendrick.com
Just beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing it. Sharon
Wow – how stunning!!
So simply gorgeous! Definitely trying this myself!
This is so beautiful. I love the color of the wreath as contrasted with the color of the door. Absolutely stunning.
SO pretty! I love the colors you used!
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing at Give Me the Goods Monday!
Loved this project! It will be featured tomorrow on my blog: http://rainonatinroof.com
Be sure to check it out!
Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof
This is beautiful and those colors are stunning! Would LOVE to have you share this at my link party!!
http://www.madetobeamomma.com/2013/04/homemade-by-you-48.html
Wow! Love this! Thank you for sharing!
Dahlia is my granddaughter’s name, wouldn’t this be great to greet her when she comes to visit?
Thanks!
One of my best friends named her baby Dahliana. It would be so cute to make her a paper Dahlia! I love the colors you chose–this turned out so beautifully. 🙂
What a cool idea! I love the colors you used, too!
Selene @ Restoration Beauty
This is stunning. I love the colors you chose – absolutely beautiful! Thank you for linking up to Shine on Fridays!
So pretty!! Thanks so much for stopping by Do Something Crafty Friday!
I just love this wreath, but need more detail… like do u just twist the bottom, do u glue? what length is each row? are they all glued down in the center?? could u help me please….. it is so beautiful but i don’t have enough instruction to work with… thanks..
I didn’t include as many directions because I was using a great tutorial already posted here: http://www.lovepomegranatehouse.com/paper-dahlia-wreath/
I think it addresses many of your concerns. If you’ve looked at it and still have any questions, I’d be happy to help you out!
Julia
Stopping by from the Tickled Pink link up… this is so pretty! I love your shades of teal and they really pop against your front door. Nice job, thanks for sharing!!
Love this – beautiful!
Thank you so much for sharing your lovely project :). I featured it here:
http://www.jaqsstudio.com/2013/04/made-by-me-78-linky-party-and-features.html
Gorgeous! I love the colours. How is in the rain?
This looks AMAZING! Can’t wait to give it a try. Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful dahlia. Would love to make my own!!
This is just lovely would liven up my front door will check the tutorial out. I found you at lambaround linky party.
I love this but I want to make a little dahia. Thanks a lot. It is beautiful!
It is beautiful!
This etsy seller has stolen your photo (mine too) and is using it to sell. https://www.etsy.com/listing/160830718/wreath-in-dahlia-floral-design-handmade?ref=shop_home_feat_1
Wrote a blog article pointing her out.
Also in hopes of giving you the credit you deserve.
Share this if you wish.
http://lillyqueenvintage.blogspot.com/2014/03/i-guess-you-know-you-made-it-when.html
What a shame. Thanks so much for letting me know!
Julia, what kind of paper did you use – scrapbooking paper? It’s looks like it’s high quality. Thanks. 🙂 MSP
Miss Snarky Pants,
I used the cheapest cardstock I could find at the local craft store. If it’s just going to be inside, I think a lightweight paper like scrapbook paper, construction paper, or even newspaper or book pages would be great. I hung mine outside for several months through humidity, rain (a slightly covered porch, but I’m sure it got misted during hard rains), and the elements, so I went with cardstock and it held up beautifully – I need to put it back on the door now that its spring again!
Julia
Thank you. Actually, we have three doors that are partially-glass – and a lot of neighbors – so I was thinking of making three. All three doors are beneath a porches, two of them quite deep. I’m in Florida, so we’ve had crazy rain all winter and NOW we’re going into thunderstorm season, so these wreaths will definitely be well-misted. I also thought about re-interpreting this design using felt, since it would be sturdy – especially with a coat or two of poly. Anyway, I love your craft ideas and the manner in which you improve other people’s projects with your ingenuity. Also, love your blog’s look; you possess a real eye for color and design. I’ve been spreading the word about your blog and will be adding you to my blogroll! Thanks, again. MSP
My mother first made a Christmas wreath like this back in the 1960’s. It was made from some sort of data card that had machine punch-outs in it. She sprayed the wreath red and, with those punch-outs, it made a beautiful wreath for the front door. Brings back wonderful memories.
Hi, this is absolutely beautiful! I am so in love I MUST make one for my apartment sometime this week. Following the instructions you posted with those sizes of paper, how many of each color did you use to make your design? I would like to make the same type of design with the three colors but I am not sure how many pieces of card stock to buy of each! It seems that the outer darker layer would need less pieces than the inner…but I don’t want to get all the supplies and then not have enough of something! It is tooooo beautiful.
Aw, thanks so much! There are 21 petals of the darkest color, which are each 1/4 sheet, so you’d need 6 sheets (8.5×11) of the outside color. There are 24 petals of the middle color, which are each 1/6 sheet, so you’d need 4 sheets (12×12) of the middle color. There are 10 petals of the lightest color, plus 3 tiny petals, which should be about 2 pieces of paper (8.5×11) in the lightest color. So, 6 8.5×11 sheets of the darkest color (or roughly 4 sheets of 12×12), 4 12×12 sheets of middle color, and you 2 12×12 or 8.5×11 sheets of the lightest color. I’d get a bit of extra, though!
How do you wrap your paper dahlias to ship to someone in order to ensure it does not get smashed??
I’ve never tried shipping one, but I would suggest lots of air bubble padding. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
This looks amazing! I love the colors that you chose, and it looks perfect on your house. I took a crack at this today, please check out my version here http://www.babybugjournals.com/my-baby-journey.