Paper Flower Backdrop - Part 2

You know when you take on a Pinterest inspired project and you think to yourself, this can go one of two ways - it's either going to be amazing or you're going to go down in the #pinterestfail hall of fame. I'm happy to say that the Paper Flower Backdrop I started in my last post turned out to be success!

In my first post I shared how I was starting to create the paper flowers using the template from @thecraftysagitarius.  I continued by making a bunch more flowers in varying sizes.... so... many... flowers. 

I used Basis 80lb White Card Stock as well as Curious Metallic 89lb Cryogen White Card Stock. The Cryogen White looks a little ivory compared to the Basis White, but the contrast made the layout look more natural. 

I planned on using this for my best friends' bridal shower and wedding, but we've only had the shower so far so I'll share how I set it up for the indoor venue (as well as my plans for the outdoor reception.)

I got these really great faux boxwood panels off of amazon - they were great because they have a grid on the back that made it really easy to attach the flowers and hang the panels.  Each panel was 40"x40" and I got 4 of them to make an 80"x80" backdrop. 

The template that I used for the flowers included a backing that I opted not to use so that I could use the open pieces of the back of the flower to tie them to the boxwood.  I used clear mono cord that I found in the jewelry making section to attach the flowers.

 

Here's a shot of the back of the completed flowers  - I looped a strand of mono cord around two petals on opposite sides, tied a knot, then used the excess strands to tie the flowers to the boxwood grid. 

Here's a quick drawing that shows how I tied the mono cord on - it was hard to photograph with the clear cord on the white paper. 


I made sure not to tie the mono cord too tight or it would bite into the paper.  When I attached the cord to the boxwood I placed the tethers far apart and tied them tight so the flowers didn't bounce around or droop.

For the indoor venue I decided to just hang the boxwood panels up on the wall using command hooks. For the outdoor wedding reception I plan to use a staple gun to attach the boxwood to two 40"x80" plywood panels and create some braces to stand them up straight.

Overall the backdrop turned out great for it's debut at the bridal shower - the panels weren't perfectly even but I'm hoping to fix that when I mount them to plywood. We took lots of photos in front of it and they all turned out really great.

I'll have photo's from the back drop at the wedding up on my instagram account - @eastmaindesigns so be sure to follow me to see how it turned out!

-Drew