patty pan paper blooms

Blooming beautiful! And from patty pans, too. If you're after something super quick, easy, meditative and with a really stunning end result, dig out your cupcake patty pans now.

All you'll need is a circle of strong card or a circle of acetate, slightly smaller than the circumference of your patty pan when spread out flat.

Fold your patty pan in half, then half again. Dab a bead of hot glue to the triangle's tip and begin laying each triangle around the circle's perimeter, overlapping a little as you go. When you have competed one lap, begin another towards the centre of the circle.

Repeat until the flower is almost full. For the centre, fold two or three triangle petals and then fold the point up until it meets the pleated 'flare' of the triangle, just so the triangle is a little shorter. Add a dab of glue and press it into the centre with your thumb, waiting for the glue to dry so the petal will stand upright. Fluff everything out with your fingers.

Add a dab of glue and secure to ribbon - a gorgeous present topper.

Glue a loop of string and hang from the tree.

Add a loop of ribbon and hang on your wall or on a garland.

If you don't want to wrap a gift, add a ribbon and bloom instead.

Experiment with different patterns when laying your petals. The above bloom was made by folding the patty pans in half and laying them around the perimeter in several layers before filling in the centre. You could also make larger or smaller blooms.

Super easy, super gorgeous, and truly fun to make.