Okay, so I’ve been seeing these gorgeous paper flowers all over Pinterest and Instagram, and I finally decided to give it a shot. I went with crepe paper because it seemed like the most forgiving material for a beginner like me. I’m talking about the “paper flower with stem crepe paper” kind, the ones that look kinda realistic.
Getting Started
First, I grabbed some crepe paper in a few different colors – I went for a pale pink, a creamy white, and some green for the leaves and stem. I also needed some floral wire (the thicker kind for the stem and some thinner stuff for the leaves), floral tape, scissors, and a hot glue gun. I watched a couple of quick videos online just to get a general idea of the process, there are millions of tutorials!
Making the Petals
The first thing I tackled was the petals. I started by cutting out a bunch of petal shapes. Honestly, I didn’t use a template or anything, I just freehanded them. The trick, I found, is to make sure the grain of the crepe paper runs vertically along the petal. This helps with shaping them later. I cut out a variety of sizes, some smaller ones for the center of the flower and some larger ones for the outer layers.
Then came the fun part – shaping! I gently stretched the edges of each petal to give them a slightly ruffled look. I also cupped the center of each petal by gently pressing it with my thumbs. This gives them that nice, rounded shape.
Building the Flower
- I took one of the smaller petals and wrapped it tightly around the end of the floral wire, securing it with a dab of hot glue. This is the very center of the flower.
- Then, I started adding more petals, one by one, overlapping them slightly and gluing them in place. I kept adding petals, gradually using larger ones as I went.
- The key here is to keep rotating the flower as you add petals, so it looks even from all sides.
The Leaves and Stem
Once I was happy with the flower head, I moved on to the leaves. I cut out some leaf shapes from the green crepe paper, again making sure the grain ran vertically. I glued a piece of thin floral wire down the center of each leaf, leaving a bit sticking out at the bottom. Then, I folded the leaf in half along the wire and gently unfolded it, giving it a bit of a natural crease.
Next, I wrapped the entire stem with floral tape, starting from the base of the flower head and working my way down. As I wrapped, I added the leaves, securing them with the tape. It’s actually pretty easy to work and covers the wire nicely.
The Finished Flower
And that’s it! My first crepe paper flower. It’s definitely not perfect, it’s more on the rustic side, but I’m actually pretty happy with how it turned out! The whole process took me maybe an hour, and most of that was just figuring things out as I went. I think I am going to do it again with different colors.
