DIY Paper Plant: Calathea Medallion

A few years we made a gorgeous Begonia Rex plant from paper that we still admire in the PLG craft room. It’s colors and leaves are still just as vivid as day one, and it makes such a fun statement.

Making flowers and plants from paper is a super fun, low-stakes way to be creative and bring the outside in without the added responsibility that comes with a live plant.

Plus, the Silhouette Design Store has tons of fun designs (we want to make them all) that are so easy to whip up and create something gorgeous.

How do you make a paper plant?

Our only experience with making 3-D paper plants has been coupled with using the Silhouette Design store plus one of our Silhouette cutting machines. It’s likely that any cutting machine brand of your choice has something similar, but this is the only machine we’ve tried this kind of project with so that is our point of reference.

The Silhouette Design store has endless 3-D projects to choose from. After you choose one and purchase it, it shows up in the Silhouette Studio software ready to use. Then, all you have to do is choose your paper color scheme and start cutting.

Supplies needed to make a Calathea Medallion DIY Paper Plant

• Cardstock in mint, light pink, emerald green, and maroon
• Silhouette Cutting Machine (we use a Portrait or a CAMEO)
• Calathea Medallion cut file
• Hot glue gun + sticks
• Wired wood picks
• Scissors
• Floral foam
• Vase

How to make a Calathea Medallion Paper Houseplant

Step 1. Load your design into your Silhouette Studio software and assign your design to cut by fill color. If you aren’t familiar with how to do this, visit our tutorial here. (You can also cut your pieces by moving what you are cutting in and out of your cut tab, but we think cutting by fill color is pretty slick!) Adjust your settings to cut cardstock.

Step 2. Load your first color of paper into your machine and send to cut. Repeat until all of the pieces in the various colors have been cut.

Step 3. Remove your leaf pieces from the cutting mat.

Step 4. Assemble the leaves by layering them on top of one another and securing each layer with hot glue. The white leaf pieces are on the bottom followed by the green, then the salmon, then the plum.

Step 5. Cut a 1-inch strip of white paper for each leaf. These will be used to secure the wired wood picks to the back of the leaves. To do this, flip over the leaves so the white side is facing up. Apply some hot glue to the paper piece you cut. Lay the wired part of the wood pick against the leaf and press the glued piece over the wire to secure it. If you would like your leaves to be more upright in your vase, apply the glued paper as close to the top of the pick as you can. If you would like them to bend/droop, apply the glued paper further own the wire.

Step 6. Cut your floral foam to fit in your vase using scissors and place it in the vase.

Step 7. Stick wood picks with the leaves on top into the foam and enjoy!

DIY Paper Plant: Calathea Medallion

Print

If your thumb is more black than green, make your plants from paper! This gorgeous Calathea Medallion is the perfect DIY paper plant you’ll never have to water. Keep reading for the tutorial!

Materials

• Cardstock in mint, light pink, emerald green, and maroon
• Silhouette Cutting Machine (we use a Portrait or a CAMEO)
• Calathea Medallion cut file
• Hot glue gun + sticks
• Wired wood picks
• Scissors
• Floral foam
• Vase

Instructions

1. Load your design into your Silhouette Studio software and assign your design to cut by fill color. If you aren’t familiar with how to do this, visit our tutorial here. (You can also cut your pieces by moving what you are cutting in and out of your cut tab, but we think cutting by fill color is pretty slick!) Adjust your settings to cut cardstock.
2. Load your first color of paper into your machine and send to cut. Repeat until all of the pieces in the various colors have been cut.
3. Remove your leaf pieces from the cutting mat.
4. Assemble the leaves by layering them on top of one another and securing each layer with hot glue. The white leaf pieces are on the bottom followed by the green, then the salmon, then the plum.
5. Cut a 1-inch strip of white paper for each leaf. These will be used to secure the wired wood picks to the back of the leaves. To do this, flip over the leaves so the white side is facing up. Apply some hot glue to the paper piece you cut. Lay the wired part of the wood pick against the leaf and press the glued piece over the wire to secure it. If you would like your leaves to be more upright in your vase, apply the glued paper as close to the top of the pick as you can. If you would like them to bend/droop, apply the glued paper further own the wire.
6. Cut your floral foam to fit in your vase using scissors and place it in the vase.
7. Stick wood picks with the leaves on top into the foam and enjoy!

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Fiskars 12-94518697WJ The Original Orange Handled Scissors
• 
  Cowee Wired Wood Picks 4'' Package of 50 =.20 oz Professional Floral Stem Supports Dk Green (50, 4 INCH)
• 
  SHJADE Hot Glue Gun with 30 Glue Sticks, Fast Preheating Hot Melt Gun, Mini Glue Gun Kit for Kids DIY School Craft Projects and Quick Home Repairs, 20W White
• 
  Silhouette Portrait 3 Electronic Cutting Tool,White
• 
  Astrodesigns Crafting Cardstock, 12" x 12", 65 lb./176 gsm, 8-Color Breezy Boho Assortment, 80 Sheets (91823)

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DIY Astronaut Costume for Halloween

September is here, the kids are back to their routines at school, and if you ask us, it’s basically spooky season, since, as DIYers, we are fully in the pre-Halloween preparatory season. Brainstorms are being held! Fabrics are being sourced! Bedazzlers are being retrieved from storage! If this behavior matches your current vibe, you may be inspired by the spacey costume we are sharing today–a DIY astronaut costume! (And don’t forget to peruse our DIY costume archives while you’re at it!) 

There are two central parts to making a DIY astronaut costume: the helmet, and the suit. When trying to source the helmet, we scoured the internet for a plain helmet that we could embellish, but never found one that fit the bill. So, we decided to take matters into our own hands and create one with a method similar to papier mache using Mod Podge and paper. We had never made anything like the helmet before and were nervous about the process but it was shockingly easy and fun so don’t be intimidated! 

For the suit, we picked up a solid white jumpsuit from Amazon and added embelishments using paint and our craft cutter. To do this, we scoured the internet for inspiration of the details and patches that are typically on an astronaut costume and recreated our faves. If you don’t have a craft cutter, you could also do this with fabric markers, iron-on decails from craft stores, or order patches online! 

Materials needed for a DIY Astronaut Costume

For the Helmet:
Adhesive Vinyl in a Desired Colors (We used red and blue) 
White Spray Paint
Light-weight Paper (like newspaper, wrapping paper, etc.) 
Multi-Surface Craft Paint in Black and Grey
Large Paint Brush for Mod Podge
12 Inch Balloon 
Mod Podge
Craft Cutter (we used a Silhouette Cameo) 

For the Suit:
White Jumpsuit
Craft Cutter 
Heat Transfer Vinyl in a Desired Colors (We used black, red, blue, and silver) 
Iron or Heat Press 
Multi-Surface Craft Paint in Black 
Small Paint Brushes for Painting Details 

How do you make a homemade space suit?

Make the Helmet

Step 1: Prep your supplies for use by pouring the Mod Podge into a disposable bowl and tearing your chosen paper into pieces (the shape and size of the ripped pieces will vary depending on your preference. There is a lot of bandwidth for experimentation here so don’t stress too much about the size.)  Blow up your balloon and place it tied-side down in a bowl (this will hold the balloon upright throughout the process). 

Step 2: Using a large paint brush or foam brush, apply a moderate amount of Mod Podge to one section of the balloon and place one of your paper scraps on top of it, pressing with your fingers to smooth. Then, cover the strip with another brush of Mod Podge. Using this process, work your way around the balloon, covering it in strips and Mod Podge, covering the top 3/4 of the balloon. Apply two layers of Mod Podge and paper and let dry completely, overnight. 

Step 3: Once the first two layers are dry, continue applying layers of paper and Mod Podge to the balloon until your desired thickness is achieved (be sure to let the helmet dry after each couple of applications so that you can get a sense of how solid the helmet actually is.) Once the helmet is completely dry and you have achieved the desired thickness, remove from the bowl and pop the balloon. 

Step 4: Using sharp scissors or an x-acto knife, carefully cut a square from the center of the helmet so your astronaut can see, and cut the base of the helmet so it is straight and can fit over your astronaut’s head. 

Step 5: Apply white spray paint to the interior and exterior of the helmet until covered. Let dry completely. 

Step 6: Paint desired details on the helmet and apply vinyl decals. (We cut ours using adhesive vinyl and a craft cutter.) 

Make the Suit

Step 1: Using your desired craft cutter and software, cut your desired designs from adhesive vinyl. (We did buttons, stripes, Nasa logos, American Flags, etc.) 

Step 2: Using Multi-Surface or Fabric paint, paint desired details on the jumpsuit. We used paint to make the collar, waistband, and other details black. 

Step 3: Apply heat transfer vinyl decals using a heat press or iron. (If you are getting started with using a Silhouette Machine and are looking for where to start, visit our Silhouette tutorial archives here.) 

That’s it! Now all your astronaut has to do is suit-up and attack their mission! (Candy. Their mission is candy.)

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Happy making!
-Sam

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