Romantic Paper Flowers

Well, today I've been working on some crafting for my upcoming nuptials. Yeah, i know, wedding crafts. But these flowers turned out pretty awesome, so I thought I would share.

First you find yourself a book you don't mind pulling apart. Mine, I got for 10 cents from Atlanta Books.
Next, tear out the pages you want to use

If you are using a newish book, tea dyeing the pages will make them look old. Here's how...
Get a pan or dish with some depth and black tea bags. I used a glass loaf pan.

Pour boiling water over the tea bag into the dish and steep the tea bag until it's very dark and strong.

Place the pages into the tea and let them soak until they are as dark as you would like them to look. When they have reached their desired levels, take out of the tea and let air dry on some paper towels. This is what they will look like when dry.

Once they are fully dry, cut off the corners and any roughly torn edges so you have a large oval shape.

Next, fold in half, then fold over another quarter to half inch or so. Secure under the fold with a bit of rubber cement or glue in the center.

Now, fold lengthwise then fold over another eighth to quarter inch and secure in the center with a bit of rubber cement or glue.

Open and flatten slightly. This is what it should look like...

Make a fan-like  fold in each corner. This should make the flower have an almost cup-like appearance.

Take a shanked button or large bead and a needle and thread and stitch your center in place with three or four small stitches and knot. Alternatively, you could also hot glue this into place or secure with jewelry wire.

Next, curl under the edges of the flower by rolling up the long sides first.

Flip over your flower and either rubber cement or hot glue a floral wire stem that is bent slightly into place. These are easily found in the floral department of craft stores.

After the glue is dry and/or cool. Use floral tape (also found in the floral department in craft stores, it usually comes in either green or white) to wrap the base of the flower and the top part of the stem to secure and give it a more aesthetically pleasing appearance.

Now, the only thing left to do is adjust the curl of your edges and make a ton of them! Another option is to singe the edges of the flowers to give it a worn in appearance. I haven't decided if I want to treat the flowers this way or not. If I do, I'll post the how-to and results later.