3D Water Lily SVG File for Cricut | Free Download for July

Today we're making a stunning water lily, the eighth flower in my Flower of the Year series. This project is delightfully simple, just like many of the other flowers we've crafted together.

Mobile users turn your phone or watch my full Youtube tutorial here.

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Materials You'll Need:

Cricut Explore, Maker or Joy or Silhouette Cutting Machine
Medium Cardstock
Eyeshadow (for shading)
Q-tips
Hot Glue

Completed paper water lily craft project.

Downloading the Free Digital File

You can find my free SVG files all over my website, the free template for the water lily SVG designs will be under the community vault and you can sign up for the password below by signing up for my newsletter. I try to send a newsletter out every week with a new free item to instant download and expand yourself with creative projects. For download link instructions for desktop or Chrome please find those here there is a 3 to 4-minute video that will walk you step-by-step on how to download and how to download for iPhone or iPad. Thank you so much for crafting with me. I'm so grateful that you're on this journey with me. Check out even more of my free flower templates here.

Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting Your Water Lily:

Step 1: Prepare Your Design in Cricut Design Space or Silhouette Studio

Free water lily SVG file in Design Space.

Download and upload the free SVG file into Cricut Design Space.
Resize the entire file if needed. Ensure that any resizing is done proportionally. I kept mine as is and the largest petal round was just about 5.1 inches.
Duplicate elements like lily pads for variety.

Step 2: Maximize Your Cutting Space

Arrange your design elements to maximize space on a 12x12 piece of paper.
Make sure everything fits neatly to minimize waste and leave room for extra scraps.

Step 3: Cutting Your Design

Once your design is ready, use the medium cardstock setting in fast mode.
Cut out all pieces for your water lily and lily pads.

Step 4: Shading and Coloring

Shading petals with eyeshadow technique.

For shading, I use eyeshadow applied with Q-tips. This technique adds beautiful, soft color gradients to your petals and leaves.
On the petals, apply a darker pink on the outside edges and a lighter white towards the center. Do this on both sides of each petal.

Shading the center of the free water lily paper craft.

For the center of the flower, use orange eyeshadow for a touch of shading at the bottom. Again, apply to both sides.
Shade your lily pads with a darker green and add vein details for a realistic touch.

Step 5: Assembling the Water Lily

Curl the petals using a paintbrush or a pen. Simply roll each petal around the brush to give it a natural curve.
Start from the largest petals and work your way to the smallest, gluing them in an offset pattern to create a full, layered look.

Gluing petals to form water lily layers.

For the center, wrap it around your finger to create an open middle before gluing it down. This ensures the flower center has the characteristic gap of a real water lily.

Curling the center of the paper water lily.

Glue the center to the flower, completing your beautiful water lily.

Fluffing up 3D paper flower with fingers.

Optional Step: Adding Lily Pads

You can choose to add as many lily pads as you like. I made three for variety.
Glue them down or leave them separate, depending on your desired final look.

Finished water lily displayed on a table.

Tips for Shading and Coloring:

Eyeshadow works wonderfully for soft, blended shading. I used a makeup palette from Nyx, but any highly pigmented eyeshadow will do.
Use Q-tips for precise application, especially for smaller areas.
Experiment with different shades and colors to make your water lily unique. Alcohol inks, paint, or crayons are also great alternatives for coloring.

And that's it! Your water lily is complete. I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did. If you did, please share your creation on social media and tag me. I'd love to see your beautiful flowers! These water lilies will make excellent centerpieces, a beautiful addition to a paper flower bouquet, or add them to a cake topper!

Looking for more 3 D Flowers to make? Check out all of the design files from the previous months below! I love creating these DIY projects for you and I am so happy you are crafting with me!

January - Carnation

February - Violet

March - Daffodil

April - Daisy

May - Hawthorn & Lily of the Valley

June - Rose