Make a Watercolor Flower Barrette

Make a watercolor flower barrette--a tutorial on how to make a little flower barrette out of watercolor paper. Includes a free template @littlegirldesigns.com.

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This watercolor flower barrette makes me so happy. I made it for my daughter after a few failed attempts at making paper flowers. I spent several nap times carefully folding and cutting tissue paper and folding and snipping regular paper only to find that my creations were not exactly centerpiece worthy.

I wondered if I made the flowers smaller and used a heavier paper like watercolor paper if the flowers would look better. And then I remembered the alligator clips I had used for the rosebud barrette tutorial I posted around Easter. That was it—a watercolor flower barrette!

No, they’re not something your munchkin can wear in the rain, but then again we have several hair accessories that are fairly fragile and wouldn’t survive in the rain either. I decided to try this idea, and I’m so glad I did.

Making a watercolor barrette isn’t very difficult. In the images below, I used a heavy card stock that is watercolor-friendly but isn’t a true watercolor paper. You can use something like that too.

How to Make a Watercolor Flower Barrette

You Will Need:

Template (see download below)
Pencil
Watercolor paper or heavy “watercolor-friendly” card stock
Watercolors, water, brush
Scissors
Small alligator clip
Colored “gem” sticker that has a flat back

First, print out the template and cut out the shapes. Trace the shapes onto your paper. You can also draw these shapes freehand if you’d like.

Make a watercolor flower barrette--a tutorial on how to make a little flower barrette out of watercolor paper. Includes a free template @dev.jenniemoraitis.com.
Paint the entire page. It doesn’t matter if some areas are darker than others. If you would like more detail, you can paint each flower individually and add darker color in the middle. (That’s what I did for the lighter pink flower on the right on the top image.) Let the paper dry completely.

Make a watercolor flower barrette--a tutorial on how to make a little flower barrette out of watercolor paper. Includes a free template @dev.jenniemoraitis.com.
Flip the paper over and paint the back. Detail doesn’t matter as much on this side because it is the bottom of the flower. Double-check the front of the paper to see if the paint goes to the edges of your templates. (You don’t want white spaces on the bottom of the flowers.) Let the paper dry completely.

Make a watercolor flower barrette--a tutorial on how to make a little flower barrette out of watercolor paper. Includes a free template @dev.jenniemoraitis.com.

Now, cut out the flower templates out. In the picture above, I drew more than I needed. For one barrette, you will need two large and two small pieces. You can also add an additional piece if you want a fuller flower.

Make a watercolor flower barrette--a tutorial on how to make a little flower barrette out of watercolor paper. Includes a free template @dev.jenniemoraitis.com.
One by one, fold the petals into themselves as shown. Stack two large petals on top of each other and two smaller petals on top of those, arranging the petals so they look like a flower. At this point, you might notice that some petals are longer than you’d like. Carefully cut them down to a size you prefer.

Make a watercolor flower barrette--a tutorial on how to make a little flower barrette out of watercolor paper. Includes a free template @dev.jenniemoraitis.com.
Taking pictures and using the hot glue gun is a little difficult, so I don’t have a picture for this step, but it is really easy. Once you have an idea of how you want the petals arranged, glue a dot of glue on the back of one of the larger petals and press the paper onto the clip. Continue doing this with the rest of the petals you are using, being careful to turn the petals just slightly so they look like a real flower. Once you are finished, press the gem sticker into the middle of the barrette.

Make a watercolor flower barrette--a tutorial on how to make a little flower barrette out of watercolor paper. Includes a free template @dev.jenniemoraitis.com.
Now isn’t that sweet? I made a couple of these and love how they look in my daughter’s hair.

Make a watercolor flower barrette--a tutorial on how to make a little flower barrette out of watercolor paper. Includes a free template @dev.jenniemoraitis.com.

Here’s the template for you to download:

[product id=”3084″]

 

Hope you have a lovely {and creative} day!

22 thoughts on “Make a Watercolor Flower Barrette

  1. Beautiful!!! Thanks for linking up to Natural Beach Living for A Little Bird Told Me Wednesday Linky Party- Featuring this week.

  2. Hi Jennie,
    this is so cute, my girls would love this!!! Will absolutely try it! Thanks for sharing @ AbfoL!
    Take care

    1. Thank you so much for your comment! I stopped by your site and wow, how magical to live in the South of Spain. 🙂 I especially liked your post about Gabriella–I would spend hours in a place like that! 🙂

    1. Thank you so much! (You could use this same technique to make other things like gift tags, etc.–they turn out so pretty!)

    1. Thanks so much, Samantha. I love your blog hop so I’ll definitely be there! 🙂 Hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day. 🙂

    1. Thanks so much, Angie! 🙂 I’ll check out your blog hop–sounds like fun!

    1. Thank you so much for your comment–I appreciate it! 🙂 Hope you have a lovely day!

    1. Oh, they will love them, Dianne! And I think you’ll have fun making them too. 🙂 Let me know how they turn out! 🙂

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