Flower Tower is so called because, if you look at the structure on-end, it has loops that are similar to the petals of a flower. The pages of the book are rolled so the entire structure looks like a tube or a tower. It is a fun project and it makes a great conversational piece.
One of the underlying aspects of these folded books is that you simply fold the pages over and over again somewhat mindlessly. At the end, you get a beautiful creation without having thought about it.
The Flower Tower is different. For this project, you need to do a little thinking before you start. First of all, you need to know how many pages you have in your book. Then you need to decide how many loops or petals you wish your sculpture to have. An easy way to do this is to imagine a circle cut into quarters. How many petals do you want in each quadrant? In the example shown here, there are 70 pages in the Slingshot planner and there are 4 petals per quadrant.
Do some basic math: 70 pages/16 petals = 4.375 pages per petal.
So, you’ll need about 4 pages per petal. If your pages are thin and you are not too fussy about each petal being the exact size, then you can make some petals with 4 pages; and other petals with 5 pages.
But, if you want uniformity, then you will have to remove some pages. In this example, (16 petals) x (4 pages per petal) = 64 pages. Thus, 6 pages need to be removed from the book to give a final count of 64 pages. The 64 pages will be evenly sorted into 16 petals.
On the other hand, you can just ignore all the math and “wing it”. On the right, I used 3 pages per petal and made as many petals as possible given that the day-planner had 70 pages. As a result, I have a total of 26 petal.
Either way, you’re still going to need to determine how many pages are in one petal.
Alright, enough talking. Let’s start folding!
Instructions for Book Sculpture: Flower Tower Design
Step 1:
Take a book and remove the front and back cover but leave the pages bound together. Without ripping off the pages, remove small bits of binding glue that may still be adhering to the spine of the book. |
|
Step 2:
Decide how many petals you want; how many pages in the book; and calculate how many pages will be in each petal. |
|
Step 3:
You need to start the Flower Power project somewhere in the middle of the book. Start by count off the pages in batches of petals. For example, if you want to use 5 pages per petal, then you should count in batches of 5. Open the book at page 16, 21, 26, or further along into the book. |
|
Step 4:
Hold the book open firmly. Count the number of pages you need for one petal and roll – don’t fold – roll the pages so the edge points towards the binding. |
|
Step 5:
Jam the edges of paper towards the binding and allow the book to relax a little. The pressure of the adjacent pages will keep the petal in place. This is why you need to start in the middle of the book: you need the adjacent pages to keep the petals in place. |
|
Step 6:
Count off the correct number of pages for the next petal. |
|
Step 7:
Bend these pages back and slide them towards the spine of the book. |
|
Step 8:
Continue in this fashion until all the pages have been rolled back. Right image shows the top view of Flower Tower with 4 petals. |
|
The petals near the front and back of the book will be wider since they have more room to expand. In contrast, the petals near the middle of the book will be more narrow because they are flanked by pages. |
This is a book of translucent wax paper. It is very soft and floppy but it makes a stunning display almost like a peacock’s tail.
