This cute monogram R was dressed up with some fun paper flowers made with the Cricut Explore Air 2 and some foliage embossed and cut out with the Cricut Cuttlebug. Read on for the full tutorial. This post contains affiliate links. This means, if you make a purchase through my links, I’ll receive a small portion of your purchase at no extra cost to you.

This cute letter R sits in my little girl’s bedroom. I wanted to add some colors that coordinate with her other decor and I thought some paper flowers and foliage would look cute. I knew I could use my Cricut to cut out some fun flowers (see THIS post for other flowers I’ve made using my Cricut). But I wanted to add some leaves this time for some added dimension. That’s where the Cricut Cuttlebug comes in.

I recently received a Cricut Cuttlebug and I was excited to try out embossing my paper leaves with it. The Cricut Cuttlebug is a manually operated die cutting and embossing unit. You put your paper between plates and turn the handle to either emboss or cut. There are lots of different folders you can buy that will do different embossing textures on your paper, or different die cuts to cut out different shapes. I love the texture it adds to paper and how simple it is to use. Plus, for some reason it’s oddly relaxing for me to roll the “sandwich” of plates through the machine. The machine was perfect to add some texture to my leaves.

Paper Flowers & Foliage

Materials Needed:
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Cricut Explore Air 2
Light Grip Cutting Mat
Cricut Paper
Cricut Cuttlebug
Seasonal Foliage Cut & Emboss Die Set
Cricut Paper Crafting Set
Hot Glue Gun/Glue Sticks
1 craft stick about 6 inches long (I just used a small branch I found)

Cricut Instructions:

Open Cricut Design Space and search “Spring” in the the Make it Now Projects. Select the Spring Flower Bouquet project.

Rose

1. Cut out all of your petal pieces on desired paper color and remove from mat. You will have two center pieces and then 15 petal pieces with slits.
2. Hot glue each slit in the petal.
3. Roll center pieces and attach with tabs. Place smaller spiral inside and glue together. Starting with the smallest petals, hot glue them to the center spiral.
4. Carefully bend the petals back a little to create the rose look.

Rolled Paper Flower

1. In Cricut Design Space select Insert Image, and then search “3D Flower”. The one I used looks like a big spiral with little rounded petals on it.
2. Cut out the flower.
3. Using your quilling tool carefully put the end of the paper in the middle of the tool.
4. Roll the paper tightly around the tool, spinning the tool to get a tight roll.
5. Glue the end together and your flower is finished!

Cuttlebug Instructions:

Die Cut

1. Center the leaf die above the rubber mat. Stack the plates in this order:
   • B Plate (Top)
   • Cardstock
   • Leaf Die
   • B Plate
   • Rubber embossing mat
   • A plate (Bottom)
2. Insert the stack plates into the Cricut Cuttlebug and slowly but steadily turn the handle to roll the plates though the machine.
3. Carefully remove the excess paper. Now you are ready to emboss!

Emboss

1. After cutting, restack the plates in this order:
   • B Plate (Top)
   • Rubber embossing mat
   • Leaf Die with material still in it
   • B Plate
   • A Plate (Bottom)
2. Insert the stacked plates into the Cricut Cuttlebug and slowly but steadily turn the handle to roll the plates though the machine.
3. Take out your finished embossed leaf

Repeat the above steps to cut out your desired amount of leaves.

Assembly:

Hot glue the flowers and leaves to the stick. Attach to your monogram and you are finished! Enjoy your new pretty decoration.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.