We are having our First Blog Hop of the new season today and our theme is "Creating Handmade Spring Flowers" On each blog you will find lots of incredible projects and ways to create and use spring flowers that you can make yourself! In order to win our Grand Prize be sure and collect the kinds of flowers made on each blog and send the list to teresa@bestcreation.us. Also be sure and leave comments along your way on each of our DTs' blogs and especially on the Best Creation blog at the end of the hop. Be sure and check out www.bestcreationinc.blogspot.com for the list of prizes you are going to win.
I love handmade flowers of all kinds, but today I am sharing with you my very favourite one. These are called Kusudama flowers, and they are a form of Japanese origami. I must make it clear that this is not something that I invented. Japanese paper artists are far more clever than I am. I will however take you through the steps to creating this flower. Something to keep in mind is that this is a very bulky flower when finished. It's not really all that suitable for layouts, but is perfect for beyond the page projects and display items, as you can see on my finished frame.
For this flower I used Best Creation Basic Glitter Dot paper. Becasue the paper is so nice and thick, some of your folds will be a little bulky, but well worth it in the end. The key is precision. The better your folds, the neater your final flower will be.
Step 1:Begin with 5 squares. Mine are 3 inch/7cm.
Fold diagonally in half.
Step 2: Fold each of the bottom corners to join at the center point.
Step 3: Take one side and fold back in itself in half. Repeat on the other side. 
Step 4: Open out the flap you just made and flatten down., to create a kite shape. Do the same on the other side. 
Step 5: Fold over the top of the kit shape. Be sure to get a neat sharp edge here as this will be the part of the petal you see most. 
Step 6: Fold the side flap back onto itself towards the middle. It will start to become quite bulky now.
Step 7: Now gently bring the two inner sides to meet and glue. be sure not to crease the outer shell of your petal. I used Helmar 450 Quick Dry adhesive as it dries fast so I am not hanging around holding it in place. Do make sure it is completely dry before moving on.
Step 8: Now repeat the process until you have 5 matching petals. One at a time, glue together along the long edge of the petal. Continue until you have one whole flower. Keep the petals tight together while drying. Because the glitter paper is so thick, you are unlikely to get all the centers meeting up exactly and may have a hole through the center of your flower. You can leave the flower is, or as I have done, finish off with a smaller paper flower, or even a button.
All that is left now is to attach is to your project. 
A bunch of these flowers can be joined to make a ball decoration. They could also make a great garland.
I hope you enjoyed my little share with you and feel inspired to give it a try for yourself.
Next on our floral journey is Nicole Wise. You can find her lovely blog here.
Now to be in the running for great prizes, be sure to follow these steps:
* Leave a comment here (and I'd love to invite you to become a follower if you are not already)
* Leave a comment on each of the other DT blogs, including the Best Creation blog.
* Take note of each of the flowers you have seen today and email a list of them to Teresa at teresa@bestcreation.us
* be sure to check out our Facebook page for extra chances to win.
Thanks for playing along.
