Well, it looks like it’s springtime! It’s been awhile since I’ve made a craft blog post, but I figured this would be the perfect craft idea to share. It’s also a perfect origami craft for kids, although learning the trick to making the flowers might take a bit of a learning curve–but once you get it down, it’s pretty easy! For this DIY cherry blossom craft, I used it inside a display window, but you can use it to decorate your home, room, or classroom! It’s also the perfect springtime decor idea, right in time for cherry blossom viewing season. Since it’s been pretty windy now that the spring weather is coming in, I was able to gather two large branches to use for this spring display. You can use whatever size branch you’d like. The idea for this is pretty simple: just make about 10 or so origami sakuras and glue them on different spots of the branches. The end result is super pretty and feels exactly like spring!

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Supplies:

  • Branches of your desired size
  • Trimmed and cut square pieces of paper (you can download some at the bottom of this tutorial)
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue

 

Sizes of the Flowers

The sizes of the cherry blossom flowers in the pattern vary in three different sizes. The smallest is a little less than 2 inches, the middle is a little less than 3 inches, and the biggest is 3 inches. There are also two different flower designs for you to choose from.

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How to make the origami sakura (cherry blossom)

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Turn your origami paper over to it's blank side
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Fold the paper in half equally
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Fold the corner down and lightly press down so you can make a visible crease (but not a heavy crease)
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Fold over the other corner to make another crease
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You should be left with two intersecting creases. The point where they meet is where we take the bottom corner fold and fold it over to
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Fold the corner over until it reaches that middle intersection like shown above
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Then, take the left corner flap and peel it back over to fit the edge of the diagonal fold as evenly as possible (it looks a little crooked on the photo though)
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Turn your paper over to the backside, and you'll see this part of the triangular fold sticking out. Take that corner and fold it over to fit the edge of the triangle shape.
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...And when you flip it over, this should be your result!
Next, draw a petal shape like this, and make sure you don't go over that first edge.
Cut the petal out. Then, draw a diagonal line at the top.
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We'll then cut this little piece off as well.
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Unfold the flower
This next step is a little tricky, but we're now going to re-fold the petals in a different way. Basically I focus on the center petal and slowly fold in the next two petal halves
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When you're done, you'll be able to flatten the petals into a shape that looks like this from above
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And here's what that looks like from the front view
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Next, fold the side of the petal on the left
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Then fold it in on the right, leaving creases on both edges
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Unfurl your sakura!
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And then mess around with the folds on the edges so that inbetween the petals are separated like this, and you're done! You can also glue these parts if you'd like them to stay put.

Finishing the sakura branch

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Once you’ve got enough flowers to add onto your branch, take hot glue and add a pea-sized amount of glue on the back of the flower, near the center. Simply stick it on the part of the branch you’d like it on. You can hang the branches up, put them in a vase, or decorate a desk with them. You could even glue them to yarn and use them as garland decorations. It’s up to you!

Hope you enjoy the end result!

Download the FREE sakura/cherry blossom templates below: