Fall is in the air. The temps outside are still pretty warm.  It may feel like the middle of summer, but I know Fall is coming because the Fall Catalogues are arriving by the droves.  I don’t just toss them, I make Flowers from Catalogues and Junk Mail! 

I have been collecting my paper flowers for a long time.  Longggg time.  

This is a great project if you find yourself on a long car trip and you are not the one driving.  (note, don’t do the gluing and if you are with a questionable driver, probably not the cutting either while the car is in motion, even if you have a way to plug in your hot glue gun in the car.  Resist urge to glue and look out window at the lovely 100 miles of desert scenery…)

Start by taking apart the pages of any catalogue.  I like using the Fall Catalogues because they have such beautiful colors.  If you don’t get Pottery Barn, call them up and tell them to send you one.  You will be set for the next 5 years now.  You could also make flowers from colorful Junk Mail.

Draw a circle in a spiral shape. I did about four per page, but you can make them any size you desire.  (Don’t go too big, or they will be difficult to manage). This picture is courtesy Themed-Party-Ideas and the photo was far better than mine.  You are welcome for the clarity. 

If you are going to do the gluing right after the cutting.  Then it would be time to plug in that Glue gun so it is nice and burn your finger prints off hot.

Cut out the spiral and you will have a dangly strip that looks like this.  

Slowly wrap the flower up again, starting from the center (which would have been where you finished cutting, the center of the spiral).  Pinch the flower together as you wrap.  You can leave the flowers tight, or you can relax your grip a bit and the flowers will naturally fall open. 

Place a small drop of Hot Glue at the bottom of the flower and pinch the petals together. You may have to add a few more drops of hot glue to subsequent layers.  I recommend a Coffee Stirrer, Knitting Needle, or something narrow and pokey instead of your fingers at this point.  I had neither, so I sacrificed my fingers on my old lady looking worker hands.  

I glued my Flowers from Catalogues and Junk Mail in clusters around the corners of my Bulletin boards in my office.  I also should have taken a hair dryer to the flowers to get rid of the glue threads, but what can I say.  I am a lazy crafter 🙂 

My flowers made from Catalogues and Junk Mail make me so happy every time I look at them.  I think I might even branch out and make some Fall wreaths this year.  Maybe I need to plan a long car trip.

To see more of my junky handiwork and fabulous tastes in junk art work, check out more of my hand crafted junk and junk decor at my Office Made of Junk  post.