Make a Flower Holder for a Birthday Candle

March 18, 2026

Megan Hobby-Kauffman

Artist, maker, and professional joy-bringer. From my studio, Mayhen Press, I whip up colorful, story-filled designs that make everyday life a little brighter (and a lot more fun).

Forever going forward March is a month of gratitude for me. Last year my daughter, Maisie, was born just two days before my birthday. I’ve always loved the month of March. Not so much because it is my birth month but because it is the month that holds the first day of Spring. But now it is the month that we first laid eyes on our sweet girl so it has become even more special.

This year is a celebration of her but also a celebration for my husband and I - we made it through the first year of babyhood! We are high-fiving alot this month celebrating that WE DID IT! Maisie is starting to take her first wobbly steps and we can see that the infant stage is all but done.

So, as we get ready to create a little birthday celebration for her I’ve been thinking of ways to make her things that I haven’t been able to enjoy making for my boys. Like little paper flowers to hold a birthday candle!

I’ve used the Mayhen Press Scallop Stripe wrapping sheet for this project but any smaller scale pattern would work for this. You could mix and match patterns and make more than one flower if you have someone turning more than one. Or you could make one flower for the center of your cake and do sparkler candles around the edges! The possibilities are endless!

I am including written instructions for this but if you find it easier to follow along on a video tutorial you can find the video here or simply scroll to the end of this post.

For this project you’ll need:

Thicker Patterned paper
Scissors
A circular template the size you want your flower. This can be the bottom of a glass, a spool of ribbon or anything that is a circle and the size you want. I used the lid of a container candle.
Craft Knife
Birthday Candles
Ruler

Optional but helpful items:

Drawing Compass
Floral Wire (if you want to give your flower a stem)

To Make the Flower:

1. Trace around your chosen circle template on your patterned paper. Again, your circle can be any circular item you have around - a vase, CD, ribbon spool, drinking glass, candle lid, etc. I chose a lid that was about 4 in in diameter.

2. Cut out your circle. Use a ruler to find the center point of your circle or eyeball a point that is roughly in the center. Use a drawing compass (or just freehand draw) to make a small (about 1 in diameter) circle around that center point. This will be the marker for how far down your flower petals will come.

3. Use your craft knife to cut a small X over the center point. This is where the little candle will sit in the middle of the flower.

4. Use a straight edge or a ruler to lay across the center point and place a little mark on each edge of the circle. Turn the circle and do it again, dividing the circle into quarters. And then again if you want more petals. I did eight petals but you can give your flower more or less depending on the look you want. These marks will be the top points of the flower petals.

5. Lightly draw out the shape of the flower you want using the points at the edge as the top points and the small circle in the middle as the guide for where your petals should end.

6. Cut around the petals you’ve drawn.

7. Lightly bend the petals in half (don’t fully crease them) and bend them in toward the center so they form the cup of the flower.

8. Slide your birthday candle into the little X that you cut in the center of the flower, pushing it through from the top of the flower.

9. You can repeat this process to make another layer for your flower if you want more layers. You can also cut a piece of floral wire and poke it into the bottom of the candle to create a stem if you want. A stem isn’t necessary, just an option if you want your flower to stand up taller on your cake.